40+ things most homeowners aren’t doing but need to

Test that the safety features of your automatic-opening garage door are still in good shape. That includes the safety beams, which should stop the door from closing if it detects anything the door’s path.

“Your doors are probably a series of panels that are connected with hinges and have either metal or plastic rollers on each side,” John Bodrozic, co-founder of HomeZada says. “Use an appropriate lubricant, depending on metal or plastic rollers, to keep your garage door operating smoothly and prolong its useful life.”

“Whether you live in an apartment by yourself or you have a family of five, somehow food always piles up in the fridge,” says professional organiser Christina Giaquinto, owner of Christina Giaquinto Organising LLC. At the beginning of every month, take out all the containers and perishable items and decide what is good to eat, and what needs to be thrown out,” she suggests. “If you have a little extra motivation, I suggest wiping the shelves down and doing a thorough clean after you finish de-cluttering.”

“If you notice that your sinks or baths aren’t draining as quickly, there may be a buildup causing a blockage,” says Kyle Gesuelli, home improvement expert at handy.com. “The first thing to do is try to remove anything that is obstructing the pipe manually using a pipe cleaner to pull debris through the plughole. Second, pour a cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by some hot water, which should clear things out.”

“The purpose of the range hood filter is to collect grease, so over time it will become less effective as the grease builds up,” Gesuelli says. “To clean them, simply remove them and place them in a sink full of hot water, dishwashing liquid, and baking soda. Leave to soak for 10 to 15 minutes. If needed, scrub the remaining grease off with a brush, and then rinse clean. Dry the filters with a paper towel before replacing them.”

If you own stainless steel kitchen appliances, you may want to consider using car wax to clean them rather than a surface cleaner. Simply apply a light coat of car wax to the appliance, allow time to dry and buff clean to resist fingerprints and smudges. No more kiddy fingerprints on the fridge!

Use this handy hint if there’s an unpleasant smell lurking in your couch or upholstered chair: Sprinkle a generous amount of regular baking soda onto the fabric and let it sit for at least 20 minutes. The baking soda will help to release odours and break up some light stains in the fabric.

After about 20 minutes, remove the baking soda – and the smell – with a handheld vacuum or a hose attachment for your large vacuum.

On the other hand, here are 11 things you should never clean with baking soda. 

Toilet brushes are relegated to a filthy task, and the thought of what’s leftover on that brush can leave people a little queasy. So put a splash of disinfectant cleaner in the bottom of the brush container. Not only does this help to deodorise a bathroom, but it also disinfects the toilet brush.

The space between your fridge and the floor is a magnet for pet hair, dust, food crumbs and other small trinkets. And if gone too long without cleaning, it can attract ants and other pests. To make this cleaning task less difficult, use a hair trap cleaner (also called a drain cleaning zip tool), which sells at home improvement stores for under $5. This hair trap won’t leave scratches on the floor and can reach further than a vacuum cleaner attachment. This tool will also help you when your bathroom sinks inevitably clog with hair.

I use my computer a lot in my workshop. Once, the magnetic charging port collected a bunch of metal filings. I tried blowing them out with compressed air, but that didn’t work, as the filings were small and the magnet wouldn’t let go of them. What finally did the trick was sticking a bit of poster putty in the port. The putty doesn’t clog the port and successfully removes anything that might interfere with the connection. — Travis Larson