Essential Cleaning Supplies

It’s very important to use the proper cleaning supplies to get the job done appropriately.  You wouldn’t want to use window cleaner to clean your wood table or furniture cleaner on your window, would you?  Using the proper cleaner will save you time, energy and frustration. 

A steamer is a very good investment because you could use it to clean the entire kitchen, bathroom and even windows and mirrors…and when you’re done, you can use it to steam your clothes!  If however, you are using cleaning products be sure to read the labels and take all necessary precautions.  For example, if a product is labeled “all purpose” that doesn’t mean that you could actually use it everywhere.  Products that contain strong chemical like ammonia may permanently damage laminates or other plastic surfaces.  Sometimes strong cleaners are not necessary to get the job done.  The only thing you might need is mild soap and warm water.

Divide your products up by what you will need daily and weekly and what you will need for a large “spring” cleaning.  Keep the daily and weekly cleaning supplies all together ready to go in one location and in one convenient bucket, pail or other easy to carry container. 

Start from the ceiling and work your way down to the floor.  An essential cleaning supply would be rags to dust cobwebs in the corners, ceiling fan blades, and the tops of shelves and ledges.  There are a lot of products out recently that advertise “a better way to dust”.  The truth is that an old rag will work just as well as these new products.  Plus, they are more cost effective because the rag is probably an old shirt or sock that has lost it’s mate and can therefore be washed and used again rather then thrown out adding to the planet’s waste.  Rags work well with cobwebs on their own but, to dust shelves and some ledges, use a little bit of furniture polish.  So in addition to rags in your cleaning kit, make sure to tow along furniture polish.

Another important cleaning supply is window cleaner, unless of course you’ll be using your steamer.  Even though a product advertises “streak free” you don’t have to pay extra, just use newspaper to clean your windows with the cheaper window cleaner and you won’t have any streaking.  Keep a paper bag with your cleaning supplies to throw away the newspapers when you’re done, then you can just throw the paper bag into the recycle bin.

Other essential cleaning supplies include anti-bacterial spray.  There are a lot of products out there that work well and are specifically made for cleaning different parts of the house.  Most are okay to use on an array of surfaces.  So, include in your cleaning kit, a spray that is specifically designed hard to clean soap scum and mildew for the bathroom and then a spray that can be used on their kitchen or bathroom surfaces.   

The last thing to clean in a room is the floor.  Besides the vacuum and mop, you will need some other supplies.  You will need a bucket of HOT water for the mop as well as a floor cleaner.  You don’t need to keep these products in your cleaning kit because they are much too big to lug around from room to room.  Just keep them handy close to the location they are needed. 

When your cleaning supplies are organized and easily accessible, the job of household cleaning can be fast, easy and efficient on a regular basis.