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marie26_gw

Top cleaning helpers to help you keep on track

marie26
14 years ago

This should probably be in the cleaning forum but we do discuss how we need to keep on top of everyday cleaning.

My absolute best item is my Scooba. It works wonders and the only thing I need to do once it has finished its work is wipe down the edges. I don't know how I survived without it, especially since I **hate** doing floors.

What product helps you the most?

Comments (5)

  • western_pa_luann
    14 years ago

    Hoover FloorMate...

    and my husband!

  • holleygarden Zone 8, East Texas
    14 years ago

    Any new gadget. When I got my microfiber cloths, I went around cleaning everything with them. Then I got a steam machine. Went around steam cleaning everything. The fun usually lasts me for a few weeks. When I don't have a new gadget, I rearrange. Even just moving a potted plant to a new place makes me more excited about cleaning.

  • ccjc
    14 years ago

    Vinegar is an amazing cleaner for removing hard water stains. (Just make sure you don't use it on granite!) It works great on bathroom tiles, on stainless steel, in the toilet bowl etc. to remove the hard water stains.

  • maryliz
    14 years ago

    I also want to sing the praises of vinegar. Plain old white distilled vinegar and hydrogen peroxide are natural disinfectants. I took a spray top off another bottle and put it on the black hydrogen peroxide bottle. I bought a huge jug of white vinegar, and put some in a spray bottle. I keep both of these spray bottles under my kitchen sink.

    Both substances are relatively harmless to pets and kids, but will kill viruses and bacteria. In combination, they kill more stuff than either one alone.

    Vinegar won't cut through a ton of grease. You might still need the store-bought spray for tough messes. But for everyday wiping up of crumbs in the kitchen, it works just fine. Plus, it's cheap. You can even spray it on food to disinfect it if you wish.

    Oh, and one unexpected benefit is that the vinegar smell discourages our one naughty cat from going up onto the counter to look for crumbs. She only does it when we're not looking. What a brat! We wipe down our counter tops with vinegar before going to bed in the evening.

    Vinegar also cleans glass (mirrors, windows) nicely. If you get streaks, it's because you're removing the residue left by other cleaning products. So give it some elbow grease until the streaks go away. Next time you need to clean, keep using the vinegar and a lint-free rag.

    If you have a drain that is getting slow, try dumping some baking soda down there, and then add vinegar. Remember the mini volcano you made in grade school? The same chemical reaction will mechanically lift gunk off the inside of the pipes. If it's really bad, you need something stronger.

    There are all kinds of household uses for simple stuff like vinegar and baking soda. Too many to list here. Look around online for more ideas.

  • maryliz
    14 years ago

    I want to give credit to one more magic cleaning helper -- my (purple!) FlyLady Rubba Scrubba. It is a brush with rubbery bristles that grab onto spider webs, dog hair, dust bunnies, dead flies, etc. I'd never touch any of those yucky things with my bare hands, so I use the Rubba Scrubba to sweep them into a dust pan. When I'm done, I just wash it off in the kitchen sink with soap and water.

    I want to get a second one to act as a lint roller for our clothing, and tie a ribbon to the hole in the handle so that we won't use it for the dirty jobs.