Spring Cleaning And Beyond At Your Disposal

Tools for a Clean Home
Photo by JESHOOTS.com on Unsplash

Based on my experience and experimentation with cleaning products I have eventually come up with a list of products that stand tested for their reliability in accomplishing a pleasing squeaking clean look around the house. These products have helped me keep my surrounding spic and span not just seasonally or during holidays. They have stood the test of time having well served their purpose in many American homes. I want to share not just what they are but how I use them.

I can affirm unhesitatingly that keeping a few simple products around your abode can be superbly effective in maintaining your cleaning regime. I will reference each of these products as I describe my cleaning regime for various parts of the house-

1. Pure Baking Soda

2. Disinfecting Wipes

4. Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner

5. Midsized Bucket

6. Cleaning Sponge

Floor Cleaning:

 One of the best investments I have made to clean my floors is buy the Swiffer Sweeper Floor Mop Starter kit. Upfront some may consider it a costly investment but the Swiffer wand is durable and lasts long if we properly stow it. I have had mine for 13 years! It is lightweight and easy to maneuver around nooks and corners of the house. In my opinion the Swiffer dry cloth is an ingenious idea. It sweeps all the dust particles along with the larger tidbits lying around the house. I keep a dust-pan handy to lift off the larger tidbits that I bring to a corner for an easy pick. Finer dust particles just stick to the dry cloth and it always surprises me to see the dust that gets trapped in there. If the floor isn't too dirty the dry cloth can actually be reused a second time. Often I am able to use one cloth twice in a row. The refillable dry cloths aren't expensive and readily available at various retail stores.

Swiffer Sweeper Refillable Dry Cloths

For wet mopping of floors I use the Clorox Easy Wring Cotton mop. The cone wringer attached to the wand allows for easy wringing of water in the bucket and the mop itself is durable , can be detached and replaced if it gets too dirty.

In my humble opinion, some of the most popular wet-mopping cloths that have a rectangular pad are less flexible in covering tough to reach areas. Wet mopping cloths are advantageous if you wish to disinfect the surface. Disinfecting  wet mopping cloths do work but often they are too wet. Also there are many mopping tools available in the market that come with special cleaning solutions and built in spray to reduce the effort of filling up a bucket while mopping.  I have observed that the mechanical spray components tend to get jammed and if the cleaning solution isn't attached properly to the wand then the product doesn't work. Through trials I have realized that the old-fashioned easy wring mop has served me the best. It is an economically eco-friendly process of mopping your floor. The long wand helps you cover more area. The hard scrubbing action of the cotton mopping cloth yields superior cleaning results.

For cleaning carpets, the Shark Performance Lift-Away Duo clean Vacuum UV 700 model  is another wise investment made by me . I bought mine at my local Costco store. This is an extremely versatile product that really does a great job at vacuuming all kinds of floors. It is bag less and emptying out the debris-bucket is easy and accessible. It's not heavy, the different parts are ergonomically designed to fit around the main stick; parts can be easily detached and assembled as per usage. Please read the instructions booklet that comes with the purchase of the product. Most issues with vacuum cleaners arise because we are not patient about reading the instruction related to the parts !

Kitchen Cleaning:

Every kitchen needs a dish cleaning sponge. But there is so much variety that it can get quite exhausting just to go over the variety in the kitchen aisle inside stores. There appears to be a great demand for fashionable and cute looking sponges to keep our dishes sparkling clean. However my search is more focused on what I want to achieve with that sponge. In my opinion, for general every day the Scotch-Brite heavy duty scrub sponge is the best. Its design- one side rough and another side smooth, makes it an extremely versatile tool in cleaning up a variety of material from utensils ,stove tops, sinks, to bath tubs.

Image by Botpopbot from Pixabay

Go for a dish cloth  to wipe your tables, after food has been consumed at the family table. Here the choice of cloth matters. I use the 100% cotton waffle weave or soft ring-spun cotton dish cloths easily available at retail stores like Wal-Mart. I pick up the 12 inches by 12 inches square shaped cloths as I find them to be the ideal size for cleaning purposes.  These dish cloths are a good picker of food particles and absorb sticky matter like oil quickly. Wringing the soiled cloth in water is easy and most importantly it dries quickly. I wring them out in warm water after each use and they remain odorless this way. Every once in a while soaking them in warm water with a tablespoon  of detergent in a small bucket for about half hour or so and then washing them will keep them fresh and super clean. Using dish cloths at home reduces  the intake of paper towels and this is one of the easiest ways to be environmentally friendly.

For my bigger steel pots often times I have had to use Stainless Steel Scrubbing Pads by Scotch-Brite to get rid of the tough-to-clean thick and oily brown stains. Please be very careful and read directions on handling of cookware before using scrubbing pads that are made of fine steel particles.

Scotch-Brite Stainless Steel Scrubbing Pad

Deep cleaning the dishwasher is something that shouldn't be overlooked in our cleaning regime. It may happen that dishes used for cooking and eating egg when placed in the dishwasher tend to leave an egg-odor after the cleaning cycle. When this happens I pour a tablespoon of white distilled vinegar into the floor or bottom of my dishwasher and let the dishwasher cycle run its usual course. The vinegar actually helps in sanitizing and deodorizing the internal body of the dishwasher and can be used frequently in this manner. Most online articles on the uses of vinegar give this advice and it works !

For cleaning the microwave it's best to remove the turntable and clean it in the kitchen sink just as we do with any other glass-dish. Let it dry or use a paper towel to dry it before placing back in the oven. I soak my dish cloth in a solution -made of one to two tablespoon of vinegar and a cup of water, and then use the dish cloth to scrub the internal body of the microwave. This achieves great results.

Appliances with a stainless steel body show oil and grime marks easily. Again many products exist to make these appliances shine. Per my experience most such appliance shiners should be used as a second step in the cleaning process. Water is the best cleaning agent to begin with! Use your moist dish cloth to do the cleaning.

Cleaning Brick-a-Brack:

Keep trash bins in bathroom and study rooms in addition to having them in the kitchen area. Line up all the trash bins with trash bags by size so that it is easy to dispose of the trash on the trash pickup day. Whether you are living in a college dormitory or a full house with family it is always best to eat at one place and maintain strict controls on disposing uneaten food only into one trash bin present in the kitchen area.

When I replace a full trash bag I tend to incorporate a neat trick I picked up, upon reading the packaging literature on the many uses of baking soda. I sprinkle a tablespoon of baking soda at the bottom of the trash bin. This actually kills the foul smell ! Another method of cleaning the trash bin is to use disinfecting wipes and wipe the whole bin before inserting new trash bag.

Dusting  the house has become relaxing ever since I discovered the Swiffer Duster. The feather duster along with the extendable wand is really lightweight to use. The duster itself is disposable and refills are required. It helps dust out window blinds, light fixtures, fans that are placed in the house at variable heights. It's an excellent resource for taking care of cobwebs.

A multi-surface disinfecting spray is definitely a handy must in the house. I have used the Seventh Generation's Lemongrass Citrus Scent plant based cleaner  to clean all my glass around doors & windows, glass tables, wooden tables, chairs and even countertops. We all have our preferences and most such multi surface cleaners are proving to be efficacious in cleaning surfaces around the house.

Bathroom Cleaning:

An intensely used area at our abode is the bathroom vanity sink. I dab a bit of Comet Cleanser into the sink. Then wet my cleaning sponge to spread up the dabbed cleaner and scrub the entire sink area. In less than a minute the sink is glistening clean. I rely on antibacterial wipes to sanitize and shine up the faucets .

The same Comet cleaner is very handy in cleaning the floor of shower areas and bathtubs. It is always desirable to have scrubbers with handle when cleaning the bathroom space. I dislike using most of the bathroom cleaners we see on the shelves of retail stores. They release powerful vapors that I detest  inhaling and leave me with much guilt related to the harshness of chemicals present in them. The only ones in my opinion that are beneficial and eco friendly are the Method company products. One in particular that does some wonderful cleaning work for me is Method's Eucalyptus Mint Foaming Bathroom Cleaner.

If there is one thing that makes you dislike cleaning it is the very thought of cleaning the toilet bowl. The day I decide to do this I take a deep breath, and imagine a scenario as if I am jumping over a messy muddy pool. I have to get over it right? My thought flows figuratively-once you jump clean you are clean!

I rely on the good old toilet bowl cleaning wand. Often people detest the use of the wand because over a period of time it gets stained and is unsightly. I have bought new ones just to get rid of the unsightliness. However following a few simple steps in maintaining its cleanliness right after use can prolong its lifetime usage. The wand brush can be kept clean if you keep it in the bowl right after use and keep it close to the toilet bowl water-spout while flushing. The next step is to keep a midsized plastic bucket filled with water ready beside you. I pour this bucket of water over the toilet brush and its bristles like a mini water-dump at once. This act ensures a better clean. Let the water from the wand drip out gently into the bowl instead of lifting the wand immediately out of the bowl.  Honestly, I keep thinking of young college-goers who are living in dormitories and who are just starting out in life and navigating their way around how to live by themselves. Will they be able to wrap their heads around this mundane yucky task? Perhaps this is the reason why I ventured to search online for easier products that can achieve this kind of cleaning with far less anxiety . There are two products that stand out-

Clorox Refillable Toilet Wand System

and

Clorox Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner

The Clorox Refillable Toilet Wand System and the Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner are quite easy to use and don't involve cleaning the wand or dealing with any of its unsightly residues. I will add my two pennies worth of insight at this time. As I read reviews on these products I was able to conclude with a certain feeling that the convenience they offer comes with some undesirable consequences like the refillable toilet brush falling off the wand and the cleansing capsule causing  plumbing issues . Please read the reviews and arrive at your own judgment.

Conclusion:

The Covid pandemic will leave us with a legacy. I think we started paying attention to cleanliness in our living spaces like never before. It's always good to be living in clean surroundings not just because it keeps us healthy but because maintaining cleanliness is intrinsic to human nature and we have since ancient times used our intelligence to keep our surroundings clean. The desire to remain clean shows our ability to think about our environment.

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