Spotless Classroom Cleaning Tricks

Spotless Classroom Cleaning Tricks–Revealed! From stubborn whiteboard stains to mystery sticky spots, educators share resourceful ideas to quickly clean classroom messes.

As you look around your beloved school are you annoyed that your desks are dirty, you have crayon on your walls and there are Sharpie stains on your whiteboard? With help from NEA Member Benefits, your fellow educators have devised plenty of ways to clean stubborn messes quickly and cheaply. If you’re in need of some cleaning inspiration, try these educatorapproved, smart and even fun ways to conquer your nagging classroom cleaning chores. Whiteboard magic

Use shaving cream to clean classroom desks, suggests Joey Green, an expert on wacky uses for everyday products and author of “Joey Green’s Cleaning Magic.” The great thing about shaving cream is “it’s basically condensed soap. When you wipe it off, you’ve cleaned off the desktop.” At the same time, you’ve made cleaning a fun project that students can do, and will want to do, themselves. “Small children (and even older ones) enjoy finger painting on their desks using shaving cream,” agrees Sara Van Donge, who has been a K-8 dual language teacher for 16 years. It takes between five and 15 minutes for the shaving cream to clean each desk. The timing is perfect because “the foam starts to diminish after about five minutes, but children still enjoy [playing with] it for up to 15,” says Van Donge. By the time the teacher moves from desk to desk and finally covers the last desk in the classroom with foam, the first desk is ready to be wiped off with a clean damp towel or sponge. If someone accidently used an indelible marker on the classroom white board, or dry-erase board, it’ll come off if you wipe the board with a paper towel or napkin moistened with Coffee-mate nondairy creamer, Green says. “Rubbing alcohol will do the same thing.” Many Pinterest boards show other clever ways to clean whiteboards using hand

Shaving cream clean sanitizer, vinegar-water, WD-40 and Febreze.

Crayon eraser Toothpaste works well to remove crayon marks from walls, says Green. Choose a white, regular flavor toothpaste without tartar control, whitening agents or other chemicals. Apply it with a sponge or toothbrush. “It just takes the crayon marks right off the walls” at school or home, even on wallpaper. Kids can help or do the job themselves, Green adds.