Most cleaning advice gets handed down in bits and pieces, which is the whole idea behind a 22 second reel from cleaning creator @mama_mila_au. The text on screen calls it “5 home hacks everyone should know,” with a second line underneath that reads “(but no one ever teaches you!)”. What follows is five numbered tricks, each shown in just a few seconds, and nearly all of them rely on things already sitting in a pantry or a bathroom cabinet.
Her caption opens with a question, “Which trick will you try first?” and asks viewers to “save this video to make home cleaning a little easier.” She then writes out all five tips in full, which turns out to be useful, because the written version includes measurements and details that the fast cuts do not leave time for.
The first trick starts at the kitchen bench, where she pours water from a jug into a clear glass spray bottle. The next shot shows the bottle filled with an amber liquid, and then she is outside, lifting the lid of a green wheelie bin and spraying down into it. The text on screen reads “Spray water + cinnamon in bins to keep ants, rodents + flies away.” The caption supplies the amount: “Mix water and 1 tsp cinnamon and spray this in your bins to repel ants and flies.”
Tip two moves to the stovetop. A glass pot of water sits on a gas burner while she drops in slices of lemon, a scattering of whole cloves and a spoonful of dark vanilla. The label says “Boil lemon, clove + vanilla to remove cooking odours instantly.” An overhead shot shows the lemon rounds floating with cloves all around them as the pot heats up.
For the third tip she pours liquid into a frosted glass bottle and adds drops from a small amber bottle. The text reads “Mix 1 cup white vinegar + 10 drops clove oil to keep mould away,” and the following shot shows a hand wiping a grey tiled wall with a blue cloth. In her caption she describes the same mix as “amazing to remove mould around your home.”
The fourth trick happens in front of a linen cupboard stacked with neatly folded bedding. She holds a small white drawstring bag, scoops in white Epsom salt, adds a few drops of oil and tucks the finished bag between the piles. On screen it says “Make Epsom salt + essential oil scent bags to keep linen fresh in storage.” The caption is more specific and names vanilla oil as the scent she uses.
The last one is the trick most people will not have heard before. She wipes the front of a stainless steel oven with a white cloth, working the product across the door in long strokes. The text says “Buff shaving cream into mirrors to repel fingerprints,” and the caption widens that to “mirrored appliances to keep them shining.” She signs off with a friendly note: “Hope these quick tricks were helpful lovelies.”
The reel moves fast and does not show before and after results, so the sensible way to use it is as a list of cheap experiments instead of guarantees. All five rely on ingredients that cost very little, which makes them easy to test one at a time in your own home.
For the bin spray, one teaspoon of ground cinnamon is the only measurement she gives, so start with a single spray bottle of water and make a small batch. Shake it before every use, because ground cinnamon sinks to the bottom. It also makes sense to spray right after the bin has been emptied and rinsed, so you are not misting over old residue. Keep the bottle with your outdoor supplies so the job takes ten seconds on collection day.
The simmer pot is the easiest to copy after cooking fish, onions or anything fried. A small saucepan works if you do not own a glass pot. Turn the heat down low once the water boils, top it up as it evaporates, and never leave it on the stove unattended, especially with little ones wandering through the kitchen.
The vinegar and clove oil mix deserves a little more care. Label the bottle clearly, store it and the clove oil well out of reach of children and pets, and test the spray on a small hidden patch before wiping down a whole wall. Vinegar is acidic, so skip natural stone such as marble. If mould keeps returning or covers a large area, the moisture behind it needs fixing, and a spray alone will not solve that.
The scent bags are a good job to hand to older kids. Small drawstring bags, a scoop of Epsom salt and a few drops of whichever oil your family likes are all it takes. Place one on each shelf of the linen cupboard and inside storage tubs of spare bedding, then add fresh drops when the scent fades.
For the shaving cream trick, use a small amount on a soft cloth and keep buffing until no film is left behind. Try one corner of the oven door or a bathroom mirror first to see how the finish looks before doing the whole surface. With small hands in the house, anything that slows down fingerprints on the oven and the fridge is worth five minutes.
Her opening question is a fair one to answer honestly. Pick the trick that solves a problem you have this week, whether that is a bin that draws flies, a kitchen that still smells like last night’s dinner or an oven door covered in smudges, and save the other four for later.