Next time you have an upholstery odor to eliminate, skip rifling through your cleaning supply closet and head to your liquor cabinet or bar cart instead. There you’ll find a simple, inexpensive cleaning solution that’ll tackle those smells in mere moments. The trick? A bottle of vodka. 

That’s right — a spritz of straight vodka can deodorize clothing, furniture, upholstery, and even mattresses. It can also be used for many of the same tasks as vinegar, such as degreasing and disinfecting, since vodka’s high alcohol content instantly kills germs and smelly molecules. Vodka works on both clothing and upholstery, which is especially helpful if you have pillows that can’t be machine-washed or sneakers that smell like a locker room. 

All you need are two things: a spray bottle and vodka. Save the top-shelf stuff for your martinis — any inexpensive, unflavored bottle of vodka will work. (Flavored vodkas may produce a sticky residue, so leave those on the liquor store shelves and in the memories of your college years, where they belong.) As for the spray bottle, any size or shape will do, as long as it has a mist setting — you don’t want it shooting a straight spray of vodka.

Step 1: After you’ve filled a spray bottle with straight vodka, hold it about 18 inches away from the trouble spot. Spritz in a sweeping motion, lightly misting the clothing or upholstery without soaking it. On clothing, focus on the areas that collect the most bacteria, and therefore odor. (Ahem, armpits.)

Step 2: Air dry the item, hanging clothing, if possible. The vodka will kill odor-causing bacteria, and then evaporate without a trace.

Don’t worry — your clothes and couch won’t smell like a dive bar. Vodka has little to no scent, and any trace of it will disappear once it dries. That makes the liquor a great cleaning solution for anyone sensitive to smell. It’ll also inevitably save you big bucks at the dry cleaners.

One important note: While vodka can work magic on many fabrics, don’t use it on silk, velvet, or leather. Those fabrics may stain or alter texture when in contact with liquids. Before spraying vodka on any fabric, test a small hidden area to ensure it doesn’t react poorly, whether through discoloration or damage. Chances are, it’ll work like a charm. 

Cheers to that!

Fortunately, there are several ways to remove price stickers using common household items. We’ve seen everything from packing tape to citrus peels to peanut butter, but these three methods have proved to be the most effective:

Use a Hair Dryer

This hairstyling tool can be used to remove price stickers on a variety of materials, including delicate packaging and paper products. Simply plug in your hair dryer, set it to low or medium speed, and warm the sticker for about 15 to 30 seconds. Move the hair dryer back and forth to distribute the heat evenly, and the sticker should peel off easily without leaving behind any residue.

Apply Glass Cleaner

The solvents in glass and window cleaners can dissolve price stickers in mere minutes. However, this method is not recommended for items made from absorbent materials, such as unframed artwork, woven baskets, or coffee table books. The first step is to spray the price sticker with Windex or any generic glass cleaner. Take a paper towel and place it over the sticker, spraying it a few more times so it’s fully saturated. After about 15 minutes, you should be able to effortlessly wipe away the price sticker with zero residue.

Try Nail Polish Remover

An acetone-based nail polish remover will strip that pesky price sticker as quickly as it strips your manicure. It even works on car window decals and novelty stickers on water bottles and laptops. That said, this method is best suited for nonporous materials such as glass, plastic, or metal. Do a spot test if you’re concerned the acetone will damage the finish. 

If it doesn’t, take a cotton ball, cotton round, or paper towel and let it soak up some of the polish remover. Place it on top of the sticker and set a timer for five to 10 minutes. When time’s up, rub the sticker with a microfiber cloth or something mildly abrasive to easily remove it.

The next time you need to peel a sticker off a birthday gift or a brand-new acrylic organizer, try one of these quick fixes for a residue-free removal. The days of blacking out the price in permanent marker are over.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done: The blades are often hard to reach, making them a challenge to keep clean. But before you go out to the store and purchase an extendable duster or some microfiber rags, it’s worth noting that you probably already have the perfect cleaning tool lying around the house: a pillowcase.

That’s right — the humble pillowcase is an excellent mechanism for tackling the plethora of dust mites atop your ceiling fan. It’s even better than a duster or a rag, which could just scatter dust onto the floor, or worse, your soft furnishings. Pillowcases effectively trap the dust inside and prevent it from falling onto your freshly made bed and other furniture.

Upcycle an Old Pillowcase Into a Powerful Cleaning Tool

First, you’ll need to gather the proper supplies. Grab an old pillowcase with an opening at one end. (Don’t use a fresh one that you still sleep on.) You’ll also need a step stool or something else you can stand on so you can easily reach the fan.

Once you have everything ready, turn off the fan and wait until it comes to a complete stop. Carefully slide the pillowcase over the first blade. Once it’s fully covered, pull the fabric back toward you to capture all of the dust inside. Repeat the process with each blade at least once or as many times as necessary to ensure no speck of dust is left behind.

When you’re done, head straight for the trash can. Hold the open end of the pillowcase over the bin and dump out the dust. You can also take the pillowcase outside, turn it inside out, and shake out any remaining dust. Once you’ve gotten rid of most of the dust, wash the pillowcase as normal.

If you don’t have any old pillowcases lying around, consider purchasing an inexpensive new one, like this microfiber option. The material does a particularly good job of trapping dust, and it comes in a two-pack so you’ll always have a cleaning cloth in rotation. Just be sure to keep your dust-removing pillowcases separated from the ones you sleep on, or you might wake up with red, itchy eyes.

The next time you do a load, get a new tube of tennis balls and throw two or three in the dryer with your wet laundry. Skip the dryer sheets, which can leave behind an unpleasant residue. The power from the tennis balls bouncing around will break up clumps of clothing, which, in turn, improves the overall airflow and helps your laundry dry quicker and more efficiently than it would otherwise. The force from the tennis balls can also help pound out wrinkles, leaving your garments smooth and ready to wear, no ironing board required.

Tennis balls are especially useful for bulkier items such as comforters and pillows. Much like hitting a pillow helps fluff it up, the force from the bouncing balls helps distribute the material to keep it evenly fluffed.

They’re similarly helpful when it comes to washing down jackets. Putting your down jacket through the wash will likely cause it to lose some of its puffiness. To restore its original shape, put the jacket in the dryer with two or three tennis balls. Then set the temperature to the lowest heat setting or, if possible, no heat at all. As you run the dryer, the balls will pound away at the jacket and evenly disperse the down filling, helping to revive the jacket’s volume and fluffiness.

If you’d rather not use tennis balls for any reason, wool dryer balls are another excellent option. Though they’re lighter and thus lack the force of tennis balls — meaning they’re less effective at pounding down jackets and comforters back into shape — wool dryer balls can help reduce wrinkles and static electricity. They’ll also work to separate tangled clothing and cut down drying time. As a bonus, this means lower energy bills each month, as you’ll end up running the dryer for shorter periods.

Balloons are so much more than just festive decorations; it turns out, they’re also incredibly useful for getting rid of dust. It has to do with the static electricity that’s created when you rub a balloon against some hair or wool fabric. This static electricity can be used to attract oppositely charged dust particles, which stick to the balloon much like they would to a handheld duster or microfiber rag.

Here’s how to do it: Blow up a balloon with your mouth or an air pump, tie the end closed, and then vigorously rub it against fabric (wool is best, but polyester, cotton, or fleece will also do the trick) or hair to generate static electricity. Then take the statically charged balloon and lightly run it along any dusty surfaces. The gentle nature of the balloon makes it particularly useful for objects that may be damaged if you use a vacuum cleaner, such as wall art or sensitive electronics. Once you’re done, just throw the dusty balloon in the garbage and pop it. (Make sure to do this in or over the trash bin so the dust doesn’t go flying everywhere again.)

Another useful tip is to blow up a few balloons, rub them to generate static, and then place them around a particularly dusty room. If you’ve ever seen natural sunlight shining into a room, you may have noticed all the dust floating in the air. This trick can help trap those particles before they end up on the floor or all over the furniture. After a while, you should notice the balloons have collected some of that dust.

You can also utilize the air inside the balloon to help dislodge dust particles from hard-to-reach areas. This includes the cracks of a computer keyboard, the charging port of a cellphone, and anywhere else that would be impossible to reach with a standard duster. Fill up a balloon with air and then hold the end closed with your fingers. Angle the end toward the dust and slowly release the air by loosening your grip. The slow release of air should help dislodge any annoying dust mites.

When a clean, dry towel is tossed into your wet laundry, it absorbs some of the moisture, speeding up the drying time. Since the towel will absorb water, however, the trick is to remove it after five to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the load. If the towel becomes too damp, it will have the opposite effect and slow down drying time. Think of it like a wet sponge sitting on top of drying dishes. The dishes won’t completely dry until the sponge is taken away or dries itself. After you remove the damp towel, hang it up and let it air dry while your clothes finish drying.

Adding a fresh towel to the dryer is also beneficial when laundering bulky items such as bedding, outerwear, and other towels. It helps keep items separated and allows for better air circulation. You know when a load is so heavy, it just clunks around in a big wad? A dry towel will help prevent that.

Quicker drying time also means less power used, ultimately saving you money. And saving money is always a good thing.

When you need a freshly laundered T-shirt dried in a hurry, try this low-effort hack to cut drying time in half — just don’t forget to remove the bath towel after 10 minutes or so.