The most annoying thing about cleaning? How much time it takes— especially compared to how quickly everything seems to get messy again!

Thankfully, we don’t have to live in an endless cleaning cycle if we don’t want to do so. Instead, we can use clever tips, tricks and hacks to get our homes organized and clean, help them stay that way, AND achieve that pristine state without sacrificing tons of our time. Here are 13 of our favorite time-saving and organizational tricks!

1. Slant your storage.

   Do It On A Dime

   Nothing ruins a perfectly organized cabinet as quickly or as immediately as looking for an illusive canned good hidden behind a whole bunch of others. Fix that problem forever AND make your canned goods truly organized by slanting some shelving inside and storing those cans on a slope.

2. No wire shelving!

   Do It On a Dime

   While wire shelving is great when you slant it for easy can storage, it’s not so great when traditionally installed in our pantries. The bumpy surface makes organizing our pantry staples difficult, not to mention keeping them that way. Luckily, the solution’s simple: cover them with sturdy foam core board from the dollar store!

3. Dance through your dust.

   Goodful

   In a completely unscientific poll, we discovered that dusting and cleaning the floors rank up near the top of the most tedious, most hated chores. Make at least one of them a little more fun by Velcro-ing microfiber cloth to some slippers, and then just dance the dust and muss away.

4. Save time on stink in the kitchen . . .

   OnePotChefShow

   One of the biggest cleaning time sucks? Trying to get things to look and SMELL as clean as you know them to really be. Tupperware is one of the most notorious culprits, but luckily there’s an easy solution: stick a receipt in it.

5. . . . and in the bathroom.

   AndreyPopov via Deposit Photos

   Yes, the bathroom should be in the top two rooms you clean frequently, but sometimes the stink can outpace even the most fastidious cleaning schedules. Instead of sacrificing even more time, just sprinkle a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the inside of the toilet paper roll.

6. Corral cables.

   TricksHacks

   And once those toilet paper rolls are used up, repurpose those cardboard rolls to FINALLY get one of the most annoying problems under control and organized: tangled power cords.

7. Avoid the ickiest splashes.

   East Idaho News

   If you’re toilet training toddler boys – or just living with men with some, ah, poor aim – you know that unfortunate splashing and misfires require even more frequent commode scrubbing. Cut down on that need with this simple-but-genius “potty protector”.

8. Donate dryer sheets to your cookie sheets.

   Rachael Ray

   Who has time to scrub caked-on mess off of baking sheets and pots and pans? Not us! Thankfully, all you need to do is repurpose some dryer sheets, then leave the pans to soak while you use your time on other things.

9. Slide your shoes into storage.

   Famous Footwear

   Is there anything we own that gets out of control as quickly as our shoes? For such small items, they end up taking up a lot of space. This clever solution makes use of a popular and previously hard-to-organize space – under the bed – and repurposes those baking sheets we’d be getting rid of otherwise.

10. Tackle T-shirts.

    Do It On a Dime

    The one item of clothing that gives shoes a run for their hard-to-organize money? That never-ending pile of T-shirts, of course! Fold them faster with a frugal, easy-to-make dollar store DIY folding tool, then store them in rows like the pic above to fit them all in your drawers and make finding the exact one you need that much easier.

11. Foil your oven.

    HouseholdHacker

    There’s no kitchen cleaning task more tedious or time-consuming than cleaning the oven. Extend your time between cleanings and make the process a little easier just by lining yours with some aluminum foil.

12. Make use of hidden wasted space.

    BuzzFeed

    The best way to find a place for everything is to find wasted space— like that gap between the wall and your refrigerator! This sliding hidden pantry DIY from Buzzfeed is perfect for extra spices, canned goods, and other non-perishables, and can be easily made out of simple plywood.

13. Use binder clips to free up freezer space.

    Good Housekeeping

    If there’s ever a time that we fervently wish we were more organized, it’s when we’re hungry and digging through a crowded freezer in search of dinner. This smart and simple idea from Good Housekeeping keeps every bag of vegetables, fries and the like organized and out of the way, using one of our favorite multipurpose tools: binder clips!

    For even more fun and helpful binder clip ideas, check out this list here.

Of course, there’s more ideas where these ones came from! For even more cleaning and organization ideas, be sure to check out our:

• 10 Cleaning Habits You Need to Stop Right Now
• 6 Clever Time Saving Hacks You’re Going to Love
• 13 Tricks to Help You Maximize Your Kitchen Space
• 25 Brilliant Space-Saving Hacks for Your Laundry Room

Do you have any time-saving cleaning and/or organization tips to share? Have you tried any of the ones on this list? Which hacks are you going to implement in your home first?