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Our pets may be domesticated, but sometimes we’re reminded that they’re descended from wild animals. Like when their instinctive habits cause them to wreck our couch or pee on that new rug. It’s maddening, sure—but with some effort and understanding, we can accommodate their natural needs and still maintain a…Read more...

When you see a vacuum cleaner, you see a chore: one more thing you have to do that it feels like you just did and yet will have to do again in mere days. When a young child sees a vacuum cleaner, however, they see nothing but possibility: the noise, the effort required to push and pull an awkwardly shaped machine, the…Read more...

As former Lifehacker writer Nick Douglas once proclaimed: Every sponge is bad. He wasn’t wrong then, and he isn’t wrong now. But his passionate stance made me think more deeply about my kitchen sponge than I ever had before, and I came to a somewhat disturbing realization. My sponge? Was basically always dirty.Read more...

I consider myself a clean person, but I had a real “damn bitch, you live like this?” moment when I was forced to inspect the state of my can opener. I had been browsing the web, looking for inspiration, when I came upon an article from The Kitchn that boasted a “1-minute trick” for cleaning your gross, shameful can…Read more...

Now is the time to deal with the built-up grime and burnt-on grease in your oven. You are home more often, so you have the extra time it takes to clean it properly. And since you’re cooking every meal at home, you can benefit more from the energy savings of not burning extra grease.Read more...

One of the perks of living in a desert climate is that you don’t necessarily need air conditioning—in many cases, evaporative cooling will do the trick. Since so-called swamp coolers work best with good air circulation, we can leave our windows (and sometimes our doors) cracked all summer long. The downside? Flies…Read more...

Do you have a routine on garbage night? My husband likes to make the rounds, collecting every bit of garbage in the house; I just wheel the bins to the curb and call the chore done. Whichever your approach, I’d like you to add one step: take a peek in the fridge while you’re at it. Read more...

There have been a lot of dirty dishes lately, and with every dishwashing cycle your dishwasher gets slightly dirtier. If your plates and silverware aren’t coming out clean, your glass is foggy, or you notice a funky smell in your dishwasher, it’s time for a deep cleaning.Read more...

In the olden days of 2019, disinfectant wipes had a small but dedicated market. Germaphobes and parents bought them regularly; for many of the rest of us, they were either an occasional or unnecessary thing. Now everything has changed, and the companies that make the wipes are struggling to keep up. Read more...

We’ve been on quite the home improvement kick, as tends to happen when you’ve been stuck inside for months. Last week we explored whether you can clean an oven with a lemon (spoiler: you cannot), but today we’re cleaning the science oven, aka the microwave! Will a lemon do the trick this time? Read more...

Remember the beginning of quarantine when we were all baking bread and doing big cooking projects for dinner every night? Well, now it’s summer and it is far too hot to keep your oven on for extended periods of time.Read more...

Cooking a meal for yourself or your family is often its own reward; there’s nothing better than putting all your skill, love and care into a dish that you then get to eat, and watch others enjoy. But there’s a dark side to meal prep: It invariably makes a huge mess. That’s why, if you don’t want to be left with the…Read more...

Many, many moons ago, a reader asked for my help in solving her period sex woes and that question inspired the group of women I was blogging with at the time to spiral into a “TOWELS SIMPLY DO NOT WORK” fit of pique. Since then, I’ve fielded questions about all kinds of sex messes—blood, urine, wax, massage oil,…Read more...

There are 431 disinfectants that the EPA says will kill SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. They made the list because they kill other, similar viruses. But now two of the disinfectants have been tested, successfully, against the actual coronavirus you’re worried about. Read more...

No matter how hard you scrub or soak, your pots and pans remain stained, brown, and grimy. And while well-used pans are a sign of your cooking prowess (or at least, how often you cook), sometimes you just want to see your own reflection in the bottom of a skillet.Read more...

Hotels are gross. There, I said it. It’s something we often forget about, especially if we’re staying at a place that’s a bit classier than the Schitt’s Creek Motel, but anywhere you sleep where 1) other people have slept and 2) someone else has to clean is invariably going to fail you. That’s just the way it is, and…Read more...

I have made an actual waffle in my waffle maker exactly once, but I have waffled many other foods, some of which were quite greasy, sticky, or otherwise aggressively messy. An electric waffle maker cannot be washed in the sink, and it’s not something you can just wipe down, thanks to its many grooves, valleys, and…Read more...

Bleach makes a great disinfectant, but safety is important. You already know not to mix it with ammonia, vinegar, or alcohol, but did you know that the temperature of the water also matters? Read more...