29 Forgotten 1950s Cleaning Hacks That Still Beat Store-Bought

Cleaning has become a category of shopping, somewhere between 1950 and now. But, a flick through an old housekeeping book shows that everything could be done for mere pennies with about six basics. Most of what they did still beats store-bought.

I gather some ancient tricks as others do with the manuals themselves. These 29 are the tricks I’ve specifically tried at home — with tough Iowa water, a goldendoodle that sheds, and a family that washes dishes like a factory.

1. Make an all-purpose cleaner from vinegar and water

The 1950's recipe consists of an equal mixture of white vinegar and warm water in any bottle. It has the ability to clean counter tops, glass, fixtures, and the fronts of appliances for around 5 cents per batch.

I was able to eliminate three different sprays from under my sink, making the space feel much larger and saving me money. Here is the complete recipe along with the scented version.

2. Scrub sinks with baking soda instead of powder cleanser

Baking soda on a damp sponge can scour porcelain and stainless steel without scratching, just like powdered cleaers do but without the chlorine cloud.

The porcelain sink in the basement laundry is 50 years old, and it shows. 50 years and it still shines white.

3. Soften laundry with vinegar instead of softener

Adding a half cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle achieves what fabric softener does but without the waxy buildup that ruins towel absorbency.

Now that you understand the reasoning behind the movie, the new towels will stop working, there is no going back. The vinegar jug has earned a permanent home in the laundry room.

4. Polish furniture with oil and lemon instead of spray

Use two parts olive oil and one part lemon juice to make a solution and use a soft cloth to apply it. The 1950's manuals referred to this as feeding the wood. The spray polish just coats it in silicone shine.

My dining table was my mother-in-law's and it gets the homemade treatment she always gave her furniture. It glows like movie furniture.

5. Clean ovens overnight with baking soda paste

Mix baking soda with water to form a paste. Spread the paste around the oven and let it sit overnight. The next day, wipe out the oven and finish cleaning it with a vinegar spray. The manuals recommend this method monthly, so it never got to the point of being archaeological.

The fume-free feature matters because the oven is located six feet away from the place where the teenagers do homework. No one evacuates for cleaning night anymore.

6. Freshen drains with baking soda and hot water

Before liquid drain products became available, we performed the weekly ritual of pouring half a cup of baking soda and a kettle of boiling water down the drain, to keep the drain clear, clean, and sweet-smelling!

This has become Sunday-night housekeeping in our household. It takes about ninety seconds, and the kitchen doesn't have that mystery drain smell.

7. Whiten whites with washing soda

Adding a scoop of washing soda to a hot cycle white load boosts detergent effectiveness and lifts gray dinginess. It's the workhorse behind every bright 1950s clothesline.

Finding washing soda in the store can be a bit of a scavenger hunt (laundry aisle, bottom shelf, always) However, it is worth it!

8. Shine mirrors with rubbing alcohol

A cloth that is only slightly dampened with rubbing alcohol will remove haze from hair spray and will remove toothpaste specks from mirrors and it will dry streak free before you finish wiping it.

Mirrors in the house develop strange and unexplainable splatter, especially when there are teenagers in the house. This trick works really well.

9. Deodorize rooms with simmer pots instead of sprays

Instead of an air freshener, try simmering citrus peels, cinnamon or vanilla in water. It also adds some humidity during dry months.

An Iowa January can leave your sinuses dry and feeling like parchment paper. But a simmering pot can fix that air and replace the moisture, something no air fresheners can do.

10. Use flour sack towels instead of paper towels

You can wash and reuse thin, lint-free cotton flour sack towels for years. Use them for dishes, drying glass, drying produce, and dusting. A dozen costs less than two months worth of paper towels.

We have a basket right next to the sink, so it's an afterthought most of the time. We pretty much forgot this paper towel roll even exists since it collects dust.

11. Treat stains with a bar of laundry soap

The Fels-Naptha style old-fashioned laundry bar that is rubbed on the stains performs better than most spray pre-treaters when it comes to stains on collars, cuffs, and food spots.

One bar has outlasted four of the spray bottles in my laundry room. It doesn't look like much but it does everything! My favorite type of product.

12. Clean toilets with borax

You can sprinkle borax around the bowl and let it sit for half an hour, then brush it. The mineral essentially does the scouring for you and without the need for bleach.

We have to give it to Borax. It is having a comeback tour and we couldn't be more happy. Here are 21 more jobs borax does better than modern products.

13. Dust with cotton rags instead of disposable cloths

Rags can be made from cut-up old t-shirts and old flannel shirts. These rags hold moisture better than a disposable duster refill, and are soft and washable.

The \"rag bag\" was the first recycling program in the entire world! Where my husband's oldest and most ratty shirts go to be recycled… he grieves. Briefly.

14. De-scale the kettle with vinegar

Let the kettle sit for an hour after boiling equal parts (water and vinegar). The reason why the kettle tastes off and slows down is the mineral scale.

Most people don’t know that a kettle can regain its original boil speed after being cleaned with vinegar. If you soak a kettle with hard water build up, it will boil faster than it has in a while.

15. Clean windows with cornstarch and vinegar

Adding a teaspoon of cornstarch to your vinegar-water solution will give it a polishing ability that will remove streaks.

I was skeptical about the cornstarch, but then I did a side-by-side test on the patio door. The cornstarch side won against all odds in full afternoon sun, which is the toughest judge there is.

16. Sweeten wooden drawers with sunshine

Force the UV rays to sanitize the musty scent inside your dresser drawers by placing them outside while the drawers are open. No sachet can cover the scent.

I did this with a thrifted dresser that smelled like 1974. One June afternoon on the deck and the smell of 1974 was gone. The free fix no one believes until they try it.

17. Scour pots with a paste of salt and vinegar

To scrub clean burnt pots bottoms, use coarse salt mixed with vinegar. Grit and acid are the original scouring powder!

This saved the good soup pot after an unfortunate caramel incident. We do not talk about the caramel.

18. Use bar soap slivers in a mesh bag

Grandma saved soap ends in a mesh bag or old stocking to make a sudsing scrubber for the utility sink — zero waste before it had a name.

I have one by the sink in the garage for washing hands after working in the garden. It's a little odd, but I enjoy the soap getting to have a second life.

19. Brighten cutting boards with lemon and sun

Hydrogen peroxide and vinegar solutions would work better if you want to bleach and clean the surface of the boards. Vinegar is usually a better disinfectant and hydrogen peroxide is a stronger oxidizing agent than bleach. The cause of the bad odor that is coming from the wood is in the wood's pores, and direct sunlight will not effectively kill or remove the microorganisms.

Every couple of weeks, I put my boards on the deck railing where my neighbors can see them. They've finally stopped inquiring about it.

20. Make glass sparkle with a vinegar rinse in the dishwasher

A cup of white vinegar run through the glasses (no detergent) removes the cloudy mineral film left by hard water.

Liquid limestone is what our water contains, and I got back glasses I thought I'd lost to permanent frosting. Do this before you toss a single glass.

21. Freshen the vacuum with baking soda

Suck up a spoonful of baking soda before starting, and the exhaust will stop re-perfuming the room with old-bag smell.

Gigi, here’s a little trick for you: a vacuum that smells like dog makes the entire house smell like dog.

22. Spot-clean walls with a bread slice

Rubbing a piece of white bread on scuff marks and fingerprints on flat-painted walls can help remove marks because it doesn’t shine the wall like an eraser would.

I've been called 'bread wall mom' since the teens found me doing weird tricks in manuals, but hey, it's been worth it.

23. Keep brooms alive with a hot water dip

Dip an splayed corn broom in hot, salted water for 10 minutes, then hang it up to dry. The bristles will snap back, and it will sweep like new.

My broom has been with me for years, and it stands by me through thick and thin, whose retirement plans include staying with me until at least the next decade.

24. Polish chrome with a vinegar cloth

Water spots vanish instantly when straight vinegar on a cloth is used to wipe faucets and chrome fixtures to a mirror finish.

This is my last minute guest prep. The shiny faucets mean the whole bathroom is clean, even if the tub begs to differ.

25. Absorb closet damp with chalk bundles

A bundle of chalkboard chalk that is suspended in a moist closet soaks in humidity and prevents mildew from forming on garments, making it a no-cost closet dehumidifier.

It's cheaper than beads, and is refillable by leaving it in the sun. It also doubles as the collar-stain chalk stash. Two jobs, one product!

26. Restore shine to linoleum with milk

Older guides recommend adding a bit of milk during the final rinse when cleaning linoleum. The fat from the milk creates a nice shine. On the other hand, using a drop of baby oil in the water used to mop modern vinyl floors can have a similar effect.

I tried this out on some old linoleum at my in-laws' lake house, with supervision of course. It was shining. My mother-in-law just gave a knowing nod.

27. Fight moths with cedar and lavender, not mothballs

Cedar blocks and lavender sachets shield wool from pests without the funeral-home odor of mothballs — cedar can be refreshed yearly by light sanding.

The loss of a single winter coat to moths means your wool will live like royalty for the rest of eternity. Instead of being used as a good quality wool coat, it will now sit in a moth-proofed bin.

28. Clean lampshades and upholstery with a stiff brush

The stiff natural bristle brush removes dust from pleated shades and woven upholstery that a vacuum just pushes around.

A 'clothes brush' has one job, and that's what every household used to own one for. I got mine for a quarter at an estate sale, and it pays for itself every week.

29. Finish floors with a vinegar mop

Dirt and grime don't stand a chance against a bit of vinegar in the mop bucket— the streak free finish will make you feel like your grandma's floors 'squeak' clean.

Squeak the Kitchen Sock Sliding Testers Program In my kitchen, the sound of sliding takes on a whole new meaning. My kitchen floor has become a veritable patch of ice, thanks to some new-found traction (squeaky clean floors!). The resident teenagers' testing program shows this number to have improved measurably.

The repeating pattern in vinegar, baking soda, salt, lemon, sunshine, and cotton shows that one cleaning aisle can be replaced with these items. That's what the manuals knew, what the grandmas knew, and what the products mostly just repackaged.

The all-purpose spray and vinegar rinse are all the endorsements you need. The rest of the aisle can wait.