All The Clever Ways You Should Be Using A Squeegee Around Your Home
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If you have a squeegee at home, you might not know it, but you actually have one of the most versatile house care tools at your fingertips. A fun word to say, squeegees are flat blades across a long T-shaped handle. They come in many different shapes and sizes, including tiny ones meant to clean the screen of your smartphone, plus ones big enough to clean motor oil spills up off the floor at the auto shop. While most of us might just consider window washers when we think of squeegees, they are actually much more useful. You can use them in the kitchen, bathroom, and even in your car.
Maybe you are looking for something to spice up your everyday cleaning routine, or simply want to know how you can use a squeegee during spring cleaning. Well, we have the answers for you. These are all the clever ways you should be using a squeegee in and around your home.
Keep a squeegee in your bathroom to keep things clean
One of the most popular ways to use a squeegee around your house is to keep one in the bathroom. When you have a squeegee on hand, it's easier to keep things dry and avoid water spots forming. You can purchase a small, handheld squeegee, like this one from Home Depot, at most home improvement stores. Hang it on the hook in the shower, so each time you're done rinsing off you can squeegee off the tile walls and glass door. You will notice your shower looks cleaner for longer without the build up of the hard water.
Yet the uses don't stop there, either. When you clean the mirrors in your bathroom, you might also notice that it's hard to get the small bits of lint off the mirror. These can come from paper towels, or even the cleanest of rags. To avoid this, after cleaning simply move your squeegee down the glass to clean up the debris.
Store a squeegee under your kitchen sink for cooking spills
It's a great hack to keep a squeegee on hand in your kitchen cabinets, too. This is especially helpful if you have stone countertops, like marble — as they will need to be dried immediately after any spills to prevent damage. So if you spill water, ranch dressing, or even an entire bowl of brownie batter you now no longer have to waste heaps of paper towels cleaning up the mess. If you have a squeegee, you can just transfer the mess directly from the counter to the sink or trash with one reusable tool.
The squeegee can help in other places around the kitchen, too. If you have a flat top stove, you can use the tool to get the final bits of product and water off of it after cleaning. The same can be said for a glass dining table. Because you cut down on the needs for rags and paper towels, the squeegee can go a long way towards making your home a little bit more eco-friendly.
Try a squeegee for clean floors
Using a squeegee on to clean up spills on your floor is a great alternative to mopping them up. This is especially true if you need to rid a room of liquid and it has a drain, like a bathroom or utility room. Instead of mopping the water up, you can simply use the squeegee to gather the water towards the drain. This works for spills, but also for intentional wetness, like soapy water after you've scrubbed the tiles.
Squeegees are safe for dry or slightly damp use on most flooring types, including traditional hardwood, LVP, linoleum, and tile. This is because squeegees are made of soft rubber, so they don't cause any scratches or marks. You can even use squeegee on concrete floors, such as in the garage, to gather oil slicks into a dustpan during the clean up process. You should never pour oils down the drain as they can solidify and cause damage to your pipes. Throwing them away is also not recommended, as it is a pollutant. Using a squeegee is a great way to get every drop off your floor before you take it to a recycling facility.
Keep your pool algae-free with a squeegee
Keeping your pool algae-free can be a bit of a headache, especially if you don't want to get on your hands and knees to scrub it. Yes, a perfect cocktail of pool chemicals can keep it relatively clean. But, even with that and a cleaner roaming around the bottom, you still need to be attentive to the sides.
The best squeegee hack for this is to purchase one with a longer handle. This way, you can remain standing, while still accessing the sides of the pool. The pressure of the squeegee will aggravate any debris sticking to the surface. They will then fall into the water for the pool vacuum to take care of. If you can't find a squeegee with a handle long enough for you, you can also use duct tape to attach a short one to the end of a pole or broom.
You can also use a squeegee to clean the bottom of your pool when you drain it. The other algae sitting around on the bottom is far easier to gather with a squeegee than a broom. Plus, there won't be any bristles for the gunk to stick to.
Remove snow from your car and porch with a squeegee
When you need to clean snow off your car on a cold winter's morning, a squeegee is the perfect tool for the job. While they can't help much with any ice, when pressed against a window covered in snow, a squeegee's rubber ends form a perfect seal that pulls the snow right off. While you can typically use your windshield wipers, if they are broken or your car is still off, a squeegee can do the trick, too. It's also great for removing snow from your passenger windows.
The same can be said of a light dusting of snow on your front steps or porch. Using a broom doesn't work as the snow tends to grip onto the bristles. If it's not deep enough to shovel, but you still want it out of the way, using a squeegee to scrape it off is one of the handiest snow removal hacks.
Dust your baseboards with a squeegee
Cleaning your baseboards is not a chore that most folks love doing, or if we are being honest, remember to do at all. Luckily using a squeegee makes the task significantly easier. Much like cleaning the pool tiles, clean baseboards require you to bend or squat for a long period of time if you are using the more common method of a rag. This can be painful for most people and simply impossible for others.
So to make everything easier, you should use a squeegee instead. When pressed against the wood of the baseboard, the rubber seal the end of the tool creates is perfect for scooping the dust right up. You can push it towards the end of the wall into a broom and dustpan, or create a small pile that you can vacuum up at the end of the chore. Whatever you choose, your baseboards will thank you for it.
Use a squeegee to clean ceiling fans
Ceiling fans are notoriously hard to clean! Luckily, using a squeegee can make things just that much easier. While the tool doesn't help much with the base of the fan, you can use it to easily knock dust off the blades. First, lay a towel or tarp underneath the ceiling fan. Make sure the fan is off, then hold the blade you want to clean steady. Use the squeegee to pull the dust and grime off the blade and onto the fabric waiting to catch it below. Then, you can shake the towel off outside or pop it in the washing machine.
For an extra clean, it is possible to remove the blades from most ceiling fans, as they are just attached by a few screws. In this case, you can use the squeegee to first remove the dirt. Then, if they are a waterproof material, gently wash the blade with warm, soapy water. You can use the squeegee again at the end to make sure all the water is off of it before reattaching.
Smooth bumpy wallpaper with a squeegee
Nothing is worse when installing wallpaper than getting stuck with air bubbles! The little devils always seem to pop up, no matter how careful you are smoothing down the paper with your hands. If you use a squeegee to do the smoothing, however, you are far more likely to have success. This makes using this cleaning tool a helpful hack when installing wallpaper.
If the paper is already on the wall and has bubbles in it, you should place the rubber end of the tool so that it's pressing the wall at about a 45 degree angle. Don't press too hard, as you don't want to tear anything. Pull the squeegee down towards the floor and it should remove the air and flatten the paper. Whatever you do, don't just pop the air pockets with a pin as they might deflate, but their outline will still be there.
Tidy TVs and other screens with a squeegee
Cleaning TVs can be tough, but using a squeegee on them can help with a streak-free finish. It can ruin a good movie night when bits of paper towel are left on the monitor or little water spots dot the screen. Yet when used correctly, the squeegee can help prevent this. If using the tool, however, just be sure never to press too hard. You don't want to damage the sensitive screen and ruin or distort the picture.
While a normal household squeegee will do the trick for the TV, for something smaller, like the glass screen of your smartphone, you can even purchase a purpose-built one. Available from most online shops, like Amazon, these squeegees typically also come with a built-in cleaning spray that you can wipe right off using the device. This way, you don't have any leftovers from the cleaner (or the debris you were cleaning off) left on your phone.
Use a squeegee on fabric to remove debris
In addition to hard surfaces, you can use a squeegee on fabric to get things off of it. Things like tons of pet hair on your couch, crumbs on the bed, or even both of these things from your carpets. The key to this hack is the friction between the rubber end of the tool and the textile. Much like a rubberband always seems to pull and pinch the hair on your head, the rubber from the squeegee can catch hairs and pull them into a ball that is easier to throw away or wad up.
Some businesses, like Amazon, even sell pet hair-specific squeegees that have small teeth on the bottom. You can use these tools on your stairs, pet beds, or floor mats in your car to gather up pet hair. They work so well that they pull dander and debris that stays behind, even on a freshly vacuumed floor.