Cleaning Supply Basics

With so many products available on the market to clean your home, which ones should be in your rotation? Here are some of the products for your consideration that I've used for years to keep our home clean.

• Clorox Disinfecting Wipes: I love using these for bathroom and kitchen surfaces. The solution used for these wipes is bleach-free, which means I won't accidentally bleach out my clothes if I rub up against a damp surface, but the wipes still manage to kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. The label claims it is safe for use on finished wood surfaces, but I would do that very sparingly or not at all. If you do use them on wood, make sure your wood surface has a good finish on it (found on high-use pieces, such as a kitchen table). Use other cleaners for finer wood furniture. I also appreciate how easy and effective it is to take a wipe and go around the house to wipe down high-touch areas when sickness has "ravaged" our home. Heads up as the wipes will leave streaks behind on glass, mirrors, and chrome fixtures.

• Toilet bowl cleaner: I prefer liquid toilet bowl cleaner to tank inserts or gels that stick to the inside of the bowl. Liquid cleaner clings to the surface and its blue coloring lets me know if I have missed an area when I squeeze it out (also a great way to find out if your toilet bowl is leaking water from the tank!). Be careful with tank inserts, as they often contain bleach which can impact the rubber flapper and eat through it causing leaks over time. Lysol toilet bowl cleaner is my personal favorite.

• Scrubbing Bubbles Foaming Spray: This product is great for the pink bacteria that shows up in bathtubs and shower stalls, water spots and calcium deposits, soap scum, and mold. It really goes to town on breaking down soap scum (the dingy gray ring around your bathtub or on the floor of your shower stall) so you don't have to use a lot of elbow grease to get it off.

• Windex Window cleaner: Other generic window cleaners I've used before just don't have the degreasing power found in Windex. In addition to using this for windows, I also use it as a degreaser to clean off the grill countertop, kitchen sink and kitchen counters, cupboards and drawer fronts in the kitchen and bathrooms, and stainless steel appliances.

• Duster, such as Swiffer: I love the 360° wand where the duster fibers wrap completely around the wand—it's great for cleaning blinds! I do think it helps to trap dust and not release it back into the air, but it is not as effectively as damp dusting which we will talk about in another post.

• Swiffer dry/wet mop: There are just some places where it's too cumbersome to use a vacuum so the Swiffer wet/dry mop really comes in handy, especially for hardwood/tile floors, under furniture and hard to reach corners. I like Swiffer wet pads for the bathroom tile/linoleum, but they do tend to streak my wood floors, so I prefer my steam cleaning mop for those.

• Easy-Off Fume-Free Oven Cleaner: I use this product for my oven and for my stovetop. I don't like to use the cleaning cycle that comes with my oven, as I believe (whether I'm right or wrong about this) it shortens the lifespan of the oven's electronic control panel. If you've use the oven cleaning cycle before, you know how hot it gets and how hot the cabinets around the oven get. I think this high-heat can aid in the breaking down of the control panel components. To override this, I use the oven cleaner spray. Now, it's true this will require a little more elbow grease, but when you follow the can's instructions, the cleanup of baked-on oven messes is easily done. AND, it's great for degreasing and cleaning the burned on grease and food found in the enamel wells of my gas stovetop. Look for the fume-free "flavor" in the blue can.

• Pledge Furniture Spray: I am my mother's daughter here, as we've been a Pledge family for decades. There is something comforting about its lemony smell and I do think it prolongs my time between dusting by repelling dust fibers better than just dry dusting alone. I pretend it has hydrating properties for my wood furniture, especially given the dry climate we live in; but, it's not something I use on high-use wood surfaces like the kitchen table, as it does not react well to water and the finish can get blotchy when you set things on it. I also like using it on my leather furniture.
  

You may also wish to clean your home more naturally and without using "harsh" chemicals. Here are some items you may wish to use instead of the ones listed above.

• Kosher salt: this is great for cleaning cast iron. The kosher salt provides a grit to break down stuck on foods.

• Hydrogen peroxide: you don't have to dilute it with water! Spray directly onto mold in your shower, use to brighten grout, disinfect surfaces, clean clothes and the inside of the washing machine. There are many uses for it. Do your research online to make sure you're using it properly. Never combine hydrogen peroxide with ammonia, chlorine bleach, or vinegar as it can cause unsafe gasses to form.

• Hydrogen peroxide and baking soda: I like to make a paste with these products to clean the grout in my kitchen and bathrooms.

• White vinegar: Mix 1 part water with 1 part vinegar (1:1) to clean coffee pots, windows, the lint trap from your dryer, countertops, glass, faucets, showers & tubs, toilets, and floors. The pungent smell from the vinegar will disappear as it dries.

• Baking soda and white vinegar make a great disinfectant for sink drains and garbage disposals, just remember they aren't as potent as bleach and other household cleaners are at eliminating germs.

Other items you may wish to consider having in your cleaning bucket or utility closet:

• Old toothbrush for scouring: comes in great for cleaning grout or other hard-to-reach corners and edges.

• Magic Eraser: This truly magical piece of foam is great for removing scuff marks, grease, grime, soap scum, etc. from places other cleaners can't seem to reach. Be sure to scrub lightly on painted, acrylic, enamel, stainless steel, etc. as it can scratch or remove paint/color from surfaces. Read the label on the box for best results.

• Squeegee for windows: This is one of the best tools I've purchased for cleaning mirrors and glass. If you want a streak-free surface when you clean, you've got to use a squeegee.

• Microfiber clothes: I prefer these over paper towels as they are great at absorbing liquids and wash up really easily. If you wash them separately and never use fabric softener on them, they stay pretty lint-free as well.

• Febreze fabric cleaner: Because there are really things that don't fit in the washing machine or soft surfaces that can't be cleaned with a cleanser, this spray really freshens things up. If you are looking to disinfect your soft surfaces, like pillow inserts or mattresses, use an antimicrobial spray such as Lysol spray or Febreze Antimicrobial.

• Shower spray: These sprays are great to use to help keep water spots and soap scum at bay. Some require daily sprays after every shower, others once-a-week, so read the label. They really can help lengthen the time between cleaning your shower or tub. We use the once-a-week Wet & Forget.

• Vacuum cleaner: I love my Dyson cordless stick vacuum with all of its attachments and bag free dirt collection. It really makes for easy, quick cleaning.

• Steam mop: My Tineco steam mop/vacuum combo really cleans my hardwood floors quickly and without streaks or sticky residue often found with other hardwood floor cleaners and pads.

• Sponge

• Toilet brush

• Rubber gloves

• Bucket or caddy

Now simmer down and get on it! xx