A few weeks ago I looked at the leather seats in my car and felt distressed by the endless scuff marks and general wear and tear they’ve taken from the kids over the years. From soccer cleats to camping trips, it was really a losing battle I was trying to win. While I regularly clean my seats with special sprays and treatments it seemed like it just wasn’t restoring my beautiful leather to it’s natural condition, and I’d all but given up.

But then I read a random cleaning tip in Good Housekeeping that you can use Neutrogena liquid facesoap to clean leather seats. I tested it out and was amazed that the kid grime easily lifted off and my seats look great again.

Do you have nail polish on your carpet? My friend said she used shaving cream to remove it and it worked like a charm. (I always wonder how someone finds out which random household items clean up hard to clean items. What act of desperation makes you put shaving cream on your carpet to get rid of nail polish spills?)

Another hard to clean spot is the microwave. In fact, it’s one of my least favorite jobs on the planet. Our microwave is built into our cabinetry and I’m too short to even see in there half the time. I figure ignorance is bliss, right? So when I do clean it out it’s pretty horrendous. I like to put a damp cleaning cloth with a dab of dish soap into the microwave for 15-30 seconds. It steams up and loosens the caked on grime and the then you can just wipe it down with a towel.

Question: What household items have you found to clean hard-to-clean items?