The secret to maintaining a clean home is not to purchase expensive, top-of-the-line cleaning products that will break the bank. The secret is to be resourceful and understand what properties really work to get down to the nitty-gritty of stains, messes, and hidden bacteria. Take a tour throughout your home, and you'll likely find everyday items to clean with. Check out these five cleaning hacks using common household items.

1. Baking Soda—It's Not Just For Cake

Perhaps the most versatile of common household items is the ever-so-dynamic baking soda. One might even call it a miracle ingredient because there are immeasurable ways to use this to your benefit during your cleaning checklist. Not only can baking soda be used to clean your sofa, but when combined with vinegar, it becomes the perfect solution for rejuvenating a dirty oven. Got stubborn oil stains lining your carpet? Baking soda's got your back. Scrub down that grimy bathtub with a paste composed of one teaspoon of liquid soap, a few drops of antibacterial oils, and baking soda mixed with water. Old toothbrushes are splendid tools for cleaning cabinet doors, as long as you apply a layer of both vegetable oil and baking soda. And lastly, we all know how stubborn coffee stains can be. Fortunately, baking soda can take the java right out, regardless of the surface.

2. When Life Gives You Lemons, Use Them to Clean

Lemons are arguably the second handiest cleaning resource out there, thanks to the natural polishing properties from its acidity. It's also a natural degreaser. First of all, you can cut them open and use them to remove stains from faucets. A critical cleaning chore that often goes overlooked is cleaning the interior of a microwave. Put 15 drops of lemon essential oil and 1.5 cups of water into a microwave-safe bowl, and heat it up in there for 5-10 minutes. This will steam the interior walls and lining of the microwave, facilitating your ability to then take a sponge and seamlessly wipe away the remaining food and other leftover debris. Garbage disposal fosters an unfathomable quantity of bacteria and germs—it's basically the esophagus of your sink's piping system. Freeze lemons into small ice cubes to sanitize it.

3. Choose Your Fighter for Clean Surfaces

There are many different surfaces around your home that you want to keep tidy and clean. Still, fortunately, there are also countless everyday items to choose from that can make your life easier. Dust your window blinds with a mixture, half vinegar, and half water, using an old, clean sock. The knitted material gets down into embedded dust and dirt. Baseboards are breeding grounds for dust and hair accumulation, and dryer sheets can do just the trick. Coffee filters can wipe away the surfaces of televisions, computer monitors, and other screens. And finally, a clean pillowcase can make the blades of a ceiling fan spic and span.

4. Ditch the Dishes

The dishwasher in and of itself is a household cleaning hack, as it rids us from the burden of washing our dinner dishes. However, you can use it for so much more. The following household items are dishwasher safe:

• Rubber flip flops
• Canvas sneakers
• Baseball caps
• Makeup brushes
• Non-electrical plastic
• Rubber kids' toys
• Contact lens cases
• Mouthguards
• Hairbrushes and combs
• Showerheads
• Plastic and metal garden tools
• Refrigerator shelves

5. Add These To Your Grocery List

While it might seem unsettling that items we eat daily harness cleaning properties, we should at least use them to our benefit. Here is a list of foods that can each contribute their own helping hand.

• Walnuts - It's nuts the wonders that these little gems can do for wood furniture. They contain an oil that can remove light scratches from the surface, as long as you buff it with a cloth.
• Mayonnaise - This thick paste traditionally used for tuna salad can aid in the removal of water stains on wood. However, it needs to be done relatively soon after the mess is made, or it won't work. The mayo covering the stain can then double as a polish for the furniture.
• Bananas- Use the peels of these yellow fruits to polish silver or leather around your home.
• Vodka- Aside from mixing well with cranberry juice, this particular alcohol can get down and dirty with mold and mildew. Put it into a spray bottle, and you'll have shiny, streak-free windows as well.
• Potatoes- Combine salt with a potato to scrub iron pans, as well as fireplaces.
• Ketchup - The hotdog condiment can clean everything from cast iron to stainless steel. Apply ketchup to brass surfaces, or even to stuck-on food wherever it may be in your home. Keep it on overnight, and by morning, you should be good to go.
• Citrus - We already know the magical effects of lemons, but they share the limelight with other citrus fruits. Grapefruits, combined with kosher salt, can effectively clean your tub and sink.
• Coca-Cola- This other type of soda can be extremely beneficial for removing the oil leakage stains in your garage from your vehicle.