I’ve been thinking about writing this post for awhile. Granted, cleaning isn’t very glamorous, but it’s unavoidable, and anything that makes it easier is a huge plus in my book.
Over the years, and years, and years, of cleaning my room (when I was younger) and my house (now that I’m an adult), I’ve figured out my favorite products to clean almost anything. This isn’t a sponsored post, by the way, it’s just me sharing the things that I think work best.
I managed to snap photos of pretty much everything I’m going to mention, and I will link to those items that are available online so you can compare prices. As always, I’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments, too.
Laundry Products
For laundry, we’ve shared our love for Tyler Candle’s Diva laundry detergent over and over again. I put about 1/4 c. in my wash along with the usual amount of unscented laundry detergent and it makes everything smell amazing!
I’ve had the best luck with Shout stain remover (especially for greasy stains), and for lighter-colored fabrics I can also make a paste of powdered Oxi-Clean and a little water.
I also love my wool dryer balls to help soften fabrics and my hair and lint balls for the washing machine.
Silver and Copper Polish
There are a ton of metal polishes out there, but I’ve used Wright’s Silver Cream forever because it gives everything such a lovely patina. Their copper cream is great, too (pro tip for cleaning copper: give it a quick polish after every use and don’t let it air dry).
For silver flatware, nothing will clean it as quickly as Hagerty’s silver dip. Nothing smells quite as bad, either! 😉 Be sure to test a piece first; I recommend you use Wright’s on any antique or delicate pieces.
Hard Floor Cleaner
If you read my post about my iRobot Braava m6 mop last year, then you know that I am a huge fan (read all about it here if you missed it)! It’s great on all of our hardwood and tile floors and saves me so much time. I still vacuum because our golden retriever sheds like it’s his job, but if we didn’t have pets then the dry sweep function of the Braava would easily take care of it.
I’ve got Lenny set up to mop three days a week, but I can also control him from my phone in case I need him to do some extra work when I’m away from home.
Furniture and Wood Polish
The two Method sprays are the ones I use to clean and polish my wood furniture. They smell like almonds and as you can tell by the fluid level of the one on the left, I use them often! I usually just use an old washcloth for all of my cleaning; I replace ours every few months and demote the old ones to the cleaning basket.
The Quick Shine is the best thing I can recommend to bring hardwood floors back to life. We’ve lived in so many older houses with damaged floors, and this puts a shiny coating on the floor and almost seems to magically fill in scratches. You use it after you’ve cleaned the floors; just squirt it on and spread it with a damp mop (I like the wide ones that have terrycloth covers). Be sure to mop your way out of the room and let it dry for about an hour before you walk back in!
Carpet Cleaning
While we’re on the topic of floors, Spot Shot has always been my go-to stain remover for carpets and rugs. We’ve worked with them in the past, but Amy and I both used their product long before then.
If you have pets and the accompanying stains and odors, I like Skout’s Honor, too.
Kitchen and Bath Essentials
These are my favorite kitchen basics. The Williams-Sonoma hand soap and lotion are one of my favorite ways to pamper my hands after doing the dishes, plus I love changing colors and scents seasonally.
The round veggie brush and sponges are part of my monthly shipment from Grove (here’s a link if you aren’t familiar with them). That helps me remember to change my sponges monthly, too. I always have two going and every day I put one in the dishwasher so it doesn’t get slimy.
The all-purpose cleaner has lasted me for years and years because it’s concentrated, and I learned after starting this post that they’ve discontinued it. The good news is that you can buy it pre-mixed (I’ve linked to it below) and the Pear Blossom Agave scent is amazing!
My favorite granite cleaner (it really, really works!) is one that I make myself. The recipe is in this post and you can also download the labels. We don’t have granite right now, so I just use the Caldrea spray, but when we did, this kept it from getting hazy.
For stainless steel, this is the bomb–I’ll never use anything else. I used to use plain old olive oil, but think Zep is even better. I have an old washcloth that does nothing but clean the fridge and range until it gets retired to the trash.
Last but not least, I wrote an entire post on cleaning hard water and soap scum off of shower doors (see it here) and one of my secret weapons is the tub & tile cleaner that I buy from Grove. I pair it with my steamer and it blows away the grime. Sometimes I’ll use a magic eraser, too (aren’t they the best?).
By the way, the glass cleaner in the above picture is great, too. I keep one bottle upstairs and one down.
The only other thing I was going to mention was Soft Scrub Gel with Bleach (in the green bottle), but it’s been discontinued which is one of the great tragedies of my life. It was my favorite thing to disinfect my kitchen sink. For awhile I could buy it on Amazon for a crazy high price (black market Soft Scrub?!) but it appears that it’s now gone forever. Alas.
So those are all my favorites–I’d love to hear yours!
