I Tried 5 Old-Fashioned Cleaning Hacks To See If They Still Work In The Modern Day

A damp duster will pick up more dust than a dry duster — or so the theory goes.

I put my pretty pink duster under some running water, and patted it down so as not to cause even more of a mess.

The problem area I decided to address is that black hole behind the toilet. I am fairly certain that I am the only person who has touched this area in over a year.

To address the magnitude of the problem, I did decide to drench the the pretty pink duster and really have it go to work.

The result was a sad and retired duster, but it did pick up most of the dust. I lost a duster, but that black hole has a new lease on life.

Next, I decided to cleanse my showerhead. Again, this is not typically an area that I would think to clean.

However, when you think about the fact that this is where the water that is supposed to clean you comes out of, it all makes a little more sense.

I fashioned this little contraption and filled the bag with vinegar, which has known germ-killing and erosive qualities.

I left it on for a Netflix episode and did enjoy how squeaky clean I assumed it was after. It didn't look much cleaner, but the knowledge that it was will be enough for me until the next round of cleaning.

Washing dishes is one of my least favorite activities. Without a dishwasher, my hatred of scrubbing dishes becomes even more serious.

My grandma always told me that baking soda works to remove grime, which, as you can see, this pan had plenty of.

It felt a little weird to use powder on my dishes, but then it reminded me of my childhood and the days that detergent came as powder.

I'm sure it still does, but I would just go with baking soda if I were you. The way it bubbled just a little bit was satisfying — and it left me with a smooth, clean pan.

While I'm fairly certain this hack is meant for silverware made out of real silver, I am always curious whether toothpaste has multiple polishing qualities.

I squeezed a little out onto a paper towel and got to scrubbing.

Of all the hacks, this onedefinitely had the most noticeable impact. I can literally see my phone's reflection in the knife. That was not the case prior to polishing.

I decided to save the most fun hack for last. We all remember playing with shaving cream in preschool, and I was more than ready to relive the fun.

Only this time, I was cleaning while I was having fun. Crazy!

The instructions here are pretty simple. Smear some shaving cream onto the mirror to clean and defog it.

I will admit that the mirror was fairly clean to begin with, but it definitely fogs up whenever anyone's taking a shower.

However, after the shaving cream treatment, it was a little less foggy when I got out of the shower.

The rest of my bathroom was, however, still very foggy, hence the lack of usable photographic evidence.

Not only is my mirror clean, so are a few other parts of my apartment that hadn't gotten any TLC in a while.

Granted, I did essentially murder a feather duster, but it was worth the elbow grease.

While I still don't like to clean, it's good to know that there are multipurpose products around the house that I can use instead of buying another batch of supplies.

I'm definitely polishing my mom's silverware with some toothpaste as a good deed (and because it was fun).

Be sure to SHARE my experience with someone you know who loves (or hates) to clean!