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Whether you live the lazy life or cleaning is your therapy, cleaning hacks are always good to have in your arsenal. Why not make your life easier? When the washing machine came out, people rejoiced. Who doesn’t want to save back-breaking work? With these life hacks, you can cut your work in half with the same great results, just like the invention of the washing machine.

It might surprise you how well certain materials can help the cleaning process. Vinegar, baking soda, and even toothpaste make powerful tools against dirt and grime.

Get out your supplies and get ready to clean with these life hacks.

1. Jewelry

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Toothpaste makes a great cleaning agent and not just for your teeth. Use toothpaste to clean your silver jewelry. Instead of taking your jewelry to a professional, toothpaste makes a great fix. With an old toothbrush or nailbrush scrub the toothpaste into the jewelry and rinse thoroughly.

Toothpaste works on silver jewelry, but it is not recommended to try it with gold jewelry. For gold jewelry, you don’t need to buy expensive cleaners. Just drop your jewelry into warm water and some liquid dish soap. Let soak for a good 15 minutes and scrub gently to clean off the remaining buildup.

* Toothpaste also makes a great treatment for pesky mosquito bites.

2. Vinegar

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Apple cider vinegar makes a great rinse for your hair. If you are facing serious buildup in your hair from conditioners and shampoo, try an apple cider vinegar rinse. Take the vinegar and run it through your hair. It acts as a cheap and effective method to clarify your hair.

A mixture of distilled white vinegar and water make a cheap and “green” cleaner. The water helps dilute the smell of the vinegar. In addition to cleaning, white vinegar effectively eliminates strong odors caused by dirt and grime. Your kitchen may smell like cucumber salad for a few hours, but it gets rid of less appealing and hard to eliminate smells.

Another way to use the cleaner is for your shower heads. Showerheads and other fixtures are notorious for grime buildup. Absent taking a scrub to it, the best way is to soak it. Take the vinegar and water combination and pour it into a bag, preferably a bag with an open top. Submerge the fixture and tie the bag firmly. A good soak of 15-20 minutes will break down the grime.

3. Cutting Boards

Bacteria festers in the cuts and scrapes of cutting boards, no matter the material. Cleaning cutting boards of stains and the micro crevices are difficult. Try taking a few teaspoons of sugar and spreading it over the surface. With a half of lemon, scour the surface and scrub the sugar in the process. Lemon is a wonderful cleaner and the sugar gets into the small areas.

4. The Green Drain Cleaner

If you want to avoid using a chemical product to clean your drain, there is a cheaper and greener option with common household items. Take baking soda, another multi-purpose product, vinegar, and boiling water. First, pour the boiling water in the clogged pipes. Then, pour down a 1/2 cup of baking soda. For the final ingredient, combine half water and half vinegar and pour down the pipes.

If all else fails, go to the home improvement store and pick up a plastic pipe snake. They are effective at getting all the hair out of your drain.

5. Socks

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Fuzzy socks are not just for feet. In the winter months especially, dollar stores tend to sell those fuzzy socks. If you have worn fuzzy socks for any period of time, you know they attract dirt and fallen hairs like magnets attract metals. Put those socks to good use. Take a pair of dollar store socks and use them for dusting.

You can either use your hand or attach the sock to a Swiffer. The socks are especially useful for cleaning hard to reach ceiling fan blades. For blinds, attach a fuzzy sock to each side of a pair of tongs. Easily clean each blind without having to resort to the vacuum.

6. Shelf liners

This one is not a cleaner, but it makes cleaning much easier. Refrigerators become dirty quite easily. Shelves and drawers should be cleaned every few months, but who has the time? Instead, take everything out of your fridge and line the shelves and drawers with cling wrap. When there is a spill or grime, just ripped it off and start over. Simple.

7. Burners

By far, one of the most frustrating things to clean is metal burner plates off the stove. One thing boils over and suddenly you have a mess on your hands. Soaking them in dish soap or even the dishwasher does little to speed up the amount of elbow grease needed to get the job done.

Instead, place each burner in a sealable bag. Add 1/4 cup of ammonia in each bag and seal overnight. The fumes from the ammonia break down the caked on food.