Okay, few of us can afford cleaning services that do one our homes to look presentable when friends or family come by. This is especially true during the holiday season that has spring certainly follows winter, there will be a need to have your home looking nice sometimes. It's for this reason that you need to check out these top 10 fast and easy cleaning tips.

1. Dust your window coverings. Using the soft bristle brush that came with your vacuum cleaner, do a quick once over your drapes, miniblinds or other window coverings. If you leave your windows open, that nice breeze also can bring in dust that's been captured by your window treatments.

By removing at least the top dust and dirt from your draperies, your home will actually stay cleaner because the dust will not re-deposit onto your clean furniture.

2. Check the mail than chuck it. Make a point to limit touching your mail more than once. Don't get it from a mailbox, set it on the counter, only to move it later on to your desk in the office, only to review it once or twice, etc. etc.. See where I'm going with this?

Stand over a trash can and go through your mail. Organize it by getting read of everything that's of no interest in creating a pile for important mail and for things that need additional review.

Take the important an additional review piles of mail and place them in organized containers in your bill paying area.

3. Use paper cups. If your family has children, chances are your dishwasher is full of cups and glasses. Use once paper cups not only keep your counters looking uncluttered but also cuts down on germs and bacteria.

4. Wax on Wax off. To make your bathroom fixtures shine, use a liquid car wax. This works especially well on fiberglass tub and shower units. When something even faster and easier? Go to your local janitorial supply store and buying a gallon of Armor-All - all purpose protectorant. Simply spray it on anything where you want a quick shine to show through.

5. Clean your dishwasher. Visit the local hardware store or janitorial supply and pick up some CLR [ calcuim - rust- lime] remover or Lime Away type chemical.

Unload all dishes from your dishwasher and pour a cup or two of CLR or Lime Away chemical directly into the bottom of the unit. Now simply run your dishwasher on the pots and pans cycle. This will remove all hard water and mineral deposits that cause your dishwasher not to clean as well as it once did. For safety sake, when complete, you may want to rerun your dishwasher again to make certain all the chemical has been removed.

6. Freshen your garbage disposer. If your garbage disposer is making noise, get a container of cleanser like Comet or Ajax at the store. Shake a good portion of the cleanser into the garbage disposer, fill the garbage disposer with ice and add a few more shakes of cleanser on top for good measure. Run the garbage disposer without water for a minute or two. The cleanser acts as an abrasive while the ice will create a scouring action to clean and disinfect your garbage disposer. The final step is to rinse well with water by simply turning on the faucet for a couple of minutes.

For that fresh and clean scent for your garbage disposer, throw a lemon into the machine and grind it up. no need for those expensive garbage disposer cleaners and fresheners.

So there you have it. Six quick and easy cleaning tips that can make your home sparkle with a lot less work.