When you are doing laundry, be sure to pay special attention to your kitchen towels. Since they are used for myriad tasks around the kitchen -- from cleaning spills to drying dishes -- they also tend to be moist most of the time. A wet towel is a breeding ground for harmful bacteria. The next time you wash your kitchen towels, consider drying them outdoors on a bright, sunny day, and not in your dryer. The ultraviolet rays from the sun will naturally disinfect the towels. Let the towels dry completely, and even leave them in the sun for a few extra hours. The longer you leave them out, the more they will be disinfected.

If you do just one thing in your home cleaning routine, dust, dust and dust some more. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (chemical fire retardants, also called PBDEs) on furniture, mattresses and electronics are designed to keep you safe in case of fire. But these chemicals can degrade over time since they are not chemically bonded to these items, so the PBDE can end up in the air and settle into dust. By investing in high-efficiency particulate arrestance (HEPA) filter products -- from air filters to vacuums -- and by dusting often with microfiber towels, you can collect chemical-laden dust and keep it out of your home's atmosphere.

It’s long been known that white vinegar is the wonder all-natural ingredient that can be used for myriad purposes around the house. The hero ingredient in vinegar is acetic acid, which is anti-microbial and an all-natural disinfectant. If you search online, there are hundreds of uses for white vinegar in everything from cleaning the house to freshening up your clothes. One of the most ingenious uses is to soak paper towels in white vinegar, then wrap them around cloudy stemware, dirty faucets, clogged showerheads or anything else that no amount of scrubbing will get clean. In a few hours, the acetic acid will do its magic and you can wipe away the grime with ease.