The baby oil trick, plus 15 other genius cleaning tips courtesy of the internet.

Every now and then a cleaning hack comes along that makes us question our entire existence.

From strip soaking to cleaning our washing machine (yeah, apparently that’s a thing we’re meant to do), the internet is full of time-saving hacks to help us get through the dreaded weekly cleaning ritual.

And while we’ve all been spending more time at home over the last year or two, people have been sharing their genius cleaning ideas online. Here are 14 of the best that will change the way you clean forever.

Watch: Four cleaning hacks that will make your life so much easier. Post continues below.

The quick tip to make your stainless steel sparkle.

Melbourne mum-of-two, Chantel Mila (@mama_mila_) has shared her tips to make your space that little bit brighter, and we have never seen such a beautiful sink, thank you very much. 

The mum-of-two took to Instagram to explain to her followers that a very common household product can go a long way in creating the shiniest sinks you've seen.

All you need is a drizzle of baby oil and a sponge. Pour the oil over your surface, buff it out and voila! Long-lasting shine ahead. Check out her tips in the video below.

The three-step trick to remove scratches from your oven or fridge. 

Anyone who has a stainless steel oven, fridge or microwave knows that they tend to get scratched... a lot. 

Thankfully, Brisbane mum and stylist Liz Amaya has shared the surprisingly simple way to remove scratch marks from your appliances. And the good news is, you pretty much have everything you need in your bathroom.

Sharing her genius hack on TikTok, Liz explains that you want to "scrub over the scratch using whitening toothpaste" and an old toothbrush.

"Go with the grain of the stainless steel. [Then] wipe over with a damp microfibre towel."

To make things extra shiny, simply wipe over the spot with an oil of your choice.

THAT'S IT. 

All that steam softens up your stubborn stains, and a usually pesky wipe down is made simple.

Voila!

The ridiculously easy way to clean your dirty oven trays.

Yep, that weird gunky stuff on the bottom of the tray can actually come off.

For those who have tried to clean oven trays before, you'll know it's no easy feat and often involves a lot of chemicals, scrubbing and bursts of pent up frustration. But according to TikTok user Mama Mila (@mama_mila_) there's a much simpler way to do it - and there's no scrubbing involved.

All you need to do is wrap your trays in aluminium foil and then place them in the bath with hot water. Then - stay with us here - add a dishwashing tablet and let them soak for two hours.

According to Mila, the chemical reaction between the dishwashing tablet and the foil will leave the trays sparkling clean.

It's really THAT. SIMPLE.

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The $8 Coles product that cleans your shower in 10 minutes.

There's no chore we despise more than trying to remove the dreaded soap stains from the shower screen (or “glass cancer” as one mum online so so aptly puts it).

Thankfully, a few wise women from the Mums Who Clean Facebook group shared a genius cleaning hack that cuts through shower grime and it doesn’t involve any elbow grease.

The secret is The Bar Keepers Friend Cleanser & Polish, or as the all-knowing mums call it, BKF. And the best thing is, it’s only $8.

Niki was one of the mums to share her success with the cleaning product on Facebook.

“I’ve tried everything to clean that shower glass, I’ve used everything under the sun! And who would have thought an eight buck can of powder would have done the trick,” Niki told Mamamia. 

And she says it’s really simple to use.

“At first I just sprinkled it on the glass and tried to clean it that way with a normal cloth. It comes up good but as soon as the glass dries it comes back with the white soap scum so I grab a scourer, made it into a paste and scrubbed the glass.

“I left it on for a good 10 min just like easy off bam. All up I think it was a good 35 minutes while my kids were asleep.”

"A fellow mum on the group gave me the idea of using it. I thought it wouldn’t have worked but it did... I’ve done both my showers now," she said.

Leah also clued onto the hack after trying countless other cleaning products.

"So mad at myself for not thinking of the BKF earlier," she commented on Facebook alongside a picture of her sparkling clean shower.

"Honestly it was SO easy to come off, I've really tried everything, my shower took me about 10 minutes all up once I picked up BKF," Leah told Mamamia. 

"It literally got rid of all my hard water stains, back to brand new!"

The $12 product that cleans the grout from your floors.

Another grout cleaning hack! 

The Queen of Clean has shared a clever hack to effortlessly clean the dirty grout on tiled floors.

The secret is Vanish Napisan Gold Pro Stain Removal Powder.

Yep, the same powder we use to whiten our clothes also helps whiten our floors, too. And the best thing is – it’s only $12.

Professional cleaning queen Rebekka Ladner adds two scoops of Napisan to a bucket of water, which she uses to mop the tiles with before scrubbing.

She then rinses the tiles and mops them one final time with hot water and methylated spirits.

And the results are oh so satisfying.

“Bunnings sell two grout brooms, one is $10 and the other is in the $20 range. Just be careful as obviously the floors are extremely slippery when mopping,” she shared on her Facebook page. 

"Napisan [is] $12 a tub... and sometimes a big tub is on sale for $20. Two scoops to a whole mop bucket of water just seems better value to me and smells so much more pleasant."

The grossly satisfying way to clean your washing machine.

Err... did you know you’re actually supposed to clean your washing machine?

Not only can the machine be a breeding ground for salmonella and other germs and bacteria, but it can also be especially prone to build up if you prefer using the ‘cold cycle’ to save energy.

According to the Facebook Group, Mums Who Clean, you just need a couple of dishwashing tablets to clean the inside of your machine.

Lauren, a mum from Queensland, tried the tip after reading about it on the Facebook group and the results were grossly satisfying.

EWWW. Image: Facebook / Supplied.

She placed four dishwasher tablets directly into her empty frontloader drum before running the machine on its hottest cycle. While she used Fairy, All-in-One Lemon Dishwasher Tablets which retail at $19 for a pack of 44, she specified that any tablets would work.

Victorian woman Nivedita also tried the hack with Pine O Cleen's new washing machine cleaner, describing the texture of the water as "chunky dirty custard". Speaking to Mamamia, she said she added the liquid into her machine's detergent shoot, before running a complete cycle.

The simple trick to get rid of your oven door grease.

Dishwashing tablets aren't just great at cleaning your washing machine and oven trays, you can also use them to clean the grease on the inside of your oven door.

NSW mum Ellie shared the hack earlier this year on the Mums Who Clean Facebook group.

"I’ve given up because I just couldn’t get the grime off [but then] I took the dishwashing tablet advice and here we are! Clean glimmering oven door,” she wrote.

“I literally just got the dishwashing tablet and dampened it under the tap for two seconds.

“Then I scrubbed until the tablet wouldn’t do any more [before I] got a new one. It was incredibly simple and easy to do, just a bit of hard work."

The disgusting but effective laundry tip that cleans what washing machines can't.

For more on laundry stripping, read our earlier article here.