The flowers are blooming and thoughts are turning to....SPRING CLEANING! Here are some inexpensive cleaning tips for every household:

Bad smell in your garbage disposal? Run an orange or lemon rind through it. This will dispel unpleasant odors and leave the sink with a clean smell. Grinding a dozen or so ice cubes sprinkled with baking soda also has a deodorizing effect. If you choose the latter method, do not run the water when the ice cubes are grinding.

Want a smooth-running kitchen drain? Your best bet is prevention. Once a month, pour half a cup of baking soda, then half a cup of vinegar down the drain. Rinse with cold water.

Need to get rid of mildew in the shower? Fill an inexpensive spray bottle with 1 part bleach and 3 parts water. Coat the mildewed area and let it sit-do not rinse! Mildew will wipe away easily. But...because mildew thrives on human skin cells that slough off during showering, it will return. Just keep your spray bottle handy and always wear gloves when working with bleach.

Coffee maker looking grungy? Add vinegar to the water reservoir until 1/4 full. Fill the reservoir with water until full. Run the coffee maker through its usual cycle (without a filter). Turn off the coffee maker and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Run the vinegar and water mixture through the coffee maker again. Let cool for another 10 minutes. Run plain water through the coffee maker; let cool for another 10 minutes. Hand wash the carafe and filter basket in hot, soapy water.

Dishwasher not getting your dishes clean? Give the interior of your dishwasher a good cleaning by running it empty with half a container of Tang. The citric acid will remove much of the buildup in your dishwasher. Another alternative is running a cycle of vinegar with some baking soda in the pre-wash cup. And if the interior still isn’t glistening, run one more cycle with the vinegar and baking soda to top it off.

But the best spring cleaning tip of all is....to let the professionals do it for you! Call MyGuy to learn about great cleaning companies that offer old-fashioned, thorough spring cleaning for your home or office.