9 Two-Minute Tricks for Using Cleaning Wipes That Experts and Celebs Swear By

Reaching for a cleaning wipe is so much easier than tracking down the disinfectant spray and paper towels—especially when the container is cute enough to stash on your kitchen counter or in your car. But the real magic? Cleaning wipes can tackle a lot more than countertops.

From dusty plant leaves to deodorant marks on your favorite black top, these two-minute tricks are the kind of satisfying little wins you’ll want to try the same day you read them. We tapped Will Gahagan, CEO and co-founder of eco-friendly wipe brand Biom, for his customers’ most creative uses—and rounded up some wipe-worthy celebrity habits too.

1. Dust air vents in two minutes flat

“Nobody thinks about them until you look up and see the dust,” Gahagan says. “Grab a disinfecting wipe, wrap it around your finger, and run it through the slats. Floor vents, ceiling vents, the return by the hallway. Takes two minutes and it’s weirdly satisfying.”

2. Keep a stash in the backyard

Between the grill, the garden and the kids, your hands are constantly getting grubby outside. Gahagan says customers love keeping hand sanitizing wipes in a waterproof container out back so they’re not running inside every time things get messy.

3. Tame your car’s center console

Your steering wheel and cupholders see more action than most surfaces in daily life, which makes the car a smart spot to stash wipes. Gahagan recommends a dispenser (he uses the Biom Mini) that keeps the wipes from drying out—so they’re ready the second coffee spills.

4. Dust real (and faux) plant leaves

A damp, mild, residue-free wipe—or even a baby wipe—gently lifts dust off indoor plant leaves. Bonus: cleaner leaves absorb light better, so your houseplants will thank you.

5. Tame static and flyaways

Running an unscented dryer sheet or a damp wipe over your clothes or hair instantly cuts static cling and smooths flyaways. It’s one of those tricks you’ll wish you’d known years ago.

6. Clean baseboards and blinds

Wrap a wipe around a flat spatula or a pair of tongs and easily slide it between mini-blind slats or along tight trim gaps. It gets into every spot a vacuum attachment can’t reach.

7. Erase white deodorant marks

A quick swipe with a barely damp wipe or baby wipe lifts powdery white deodorant streaks right off dark shirts—no soaking the fabric or starting a laundry do-over.

8. Freshen the base of your trash can

Drop a disinfectant wipe into the bottom of your kitchen trash can underneath the fresh bag. It catches small leaks and neutralizes those lingering odors you can never quite place.

9. Refresh dirty shoe soles

A fast pass with a disinfectant wipe over the rubber soles of your sneakers keeps outdoor street grime from getting tracked across your floors.

The celebrities that swear by cleaning wipes

Stars have strong opinions about wipes—ranging from germ-conscious travel routines to emergency substitutes for actual bathing.

Naomi Campbell’s airplane protocol

The supermodel went viral on YouTube for showing her non-negotiable flight routine. Donning rubber gloves, she uses antibacterial wipes to thoroughly sanitize every surface around her seat, including the remote, seatbelt, TV screen, tray table, window and plane walls.

“This is what I do on every plane I get on,” she explained. “I do not care what people think of me. It’s my health and it makes me feel better!”

Lisa Rinna’s hotel sanitization kit

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum is known for bringing disinfectant wipes whenever she travels to sanitize light switches, TV remotes and hotel room phones.

“Hotel rooms are gross,” she told Bravo in 2016. “I’m sorry, but if you think of the who, what and where that TV changer has been, you would wipe that whole f***ing place down just like I do with my alcohol wipes. By the way, I also wipe my plane seat down and everything around me. You betcha OCD baby, but if that keeps the bodily fluids/germs off of me, then it’s so well worth it folks!”

Lisa Barlow’s dedicated wipe closet

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star and Clorox brand partner discussed her cleaning routine with Homes & Gardens last year, sharing that she’s “obsessed with clean” and even built custom cabinets in a dedicated basement room specifically for her wipe stash.

How to choose a cleaning wipe

A quick note before you stock up: not all wipes are created equal. Many conventional options contain plastic fibers (like polypropylene or polyester) that don’t break down very easily in landfills, plus harsh ingredients.

That’s why Gahagan says Biom skips PFAS, phthalates, parabens, triclosan, known endocrine disruptors and plastic fibers—even the wipe substrate itself is 100% plant-based fiber. “If we don’t feel comfortable using an ingredient in a formulation regularly in our own homes around our own kids, it’s out,” he says. For disinfecting wipes? He recommends looking past the industry-standard quaternary ammonium compounds (often called quats), bleach and ammonia.

Let’s take a moment to celebrate the humble cleaning wipe: Because the easier a cleaning product is to grab, the more likely you are to tackle those little messes before they become big ones. And that’s a giant win!