Wednesday, October 21, 2015

My Favorite Cleaning Products

Let's face it, nobody really LIKES to spend their days off cleaning their home - but it has to be done. And if you have the right tools it makes the job just a little bit more pleasant, not to mention quicker. 

Today I thought I'd share the items I use to keep my home relatively clean on a daily basis. I work full time and have a busy social life so it's never perfect but at least I'm not embarrassed if I have unexpected guests. 

My go-to for daily wipe ups in the kitchen is Mrs. Meyers - usually the Lavender scent although I do swap the scent out from time to time to change things up. 

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I buy the multi purpose cleaner and when the spray bottle gets low, just fill it with water and the multi purpose cleaner and we're good to go. This product is eco friendly, smells fantastic, and really gets all the gunk off! And the price is right so that's a bonus. 

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 For dish soap, my all time favorite is Caldrea's Lavender Pine. 

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The scent is amazing and really makes washing dishes a pleasure rather than a chore. Of course,  I have a dishwasher so I'm not washing a ton of dishes.....if I was, this would be a little expensive.  I always buy it on sale but it still costs more than a supermarket brand. To me, it's worth it and I've been using it for about 15 years, I think. 



I keep a bottle of Dawn Platinum on hand as well - I fill up the built in soap dispenser on the sink with it for soaking burnt on foods prior to washing. It truly cuts through the worst messes. And I love to cook so I do make some big messes!
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In the dishwasher I use Finish Powerball - I get the biggest box I can get through whatever company currently has the best price - it's inexpensive, and it does a terrific job. 

I keep a spray bottled filled with bleach and water in the bathroom to spray down the shower floor after each shower. The bathroom smells so fresh all day. 

I bought this squeegee with a built in pump sprayer for keeping the shower door clean.
I fill the spray bottle with a mixture of water and this squeegee off window cleaning concentrate and it takes less than 1 minute at the end of each shower to keep the glass door clean. 

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For counters in the bathroom I use Mrs Meyers also, same as the kitchen. 

Toilets and sinks get cleaned with Lysol Clean and Fresh. 
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Can you tell I like lavender? Yup, guilty as charged!

The floors get vacuumed regularly - let's face it, with 2 dogs they need it. 

For daily/quick pick ups I use my Dyson Origin DC44 Cordless Stick Vacuum which I bought during an incredible sale at JC Penney. Incredible sale. About 1/3 the regular price. Woo hoo!

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It does a fantastic job of cleaning up the pet hair and crumbs and such on a daily basis. You wouldn't believe all the stuff this little guy can pick up! And it comes with a wall charger so you hang it up out of the way and when you need it it's all charged up and ready to go. If you get it at a good price, it's totally worth it. 

For a deeper clean I use my full size Dyson Animal Complete. 

I held off on the whole Dyson craze for a long, long time but during another great sale, when my previous vacuum just wasn't cutting it with the dog hair any longer in my old home, I bit the bullet. And I love it. What a difference! It's heavier than my old vacuum so I keep this one upstairs and the old one gets used in the lower level, which gets less traffic. Every now and again I'll bring the big Dyson downstairs and do a deep clean but for everyday cleaning the old vacuum does just fine. 

My old vacuum is a Shark Navigator Lift Away Vacuum, which I have had for over 4 years now. 

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It's also a good vacuum and very light and easy to use. But it really does not have the suction of a Dyson. And although it is quite good on rugs it doesn't do nearly as good a job on hard surfaces - it seems to kick the dirt all over the place rather than picking it up. The Dyson sucks up every ounce of dust that's in it's path, whether it be on carpet or hard floors. 

To wash floors I use my Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop for weekly cleaning. 
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I fill one bottle with Bona for the wood floors and the other bottle can be filled with any all purpose cleaner and water for tile floors. The pads go right in the washing machine when you're done and come out great every time. 

This product is fantastic for wood floors, it dries in an instant and leaves the floor shiny and fresh. Sometimes I even use it in the kitchen and bathroom and it works very well on the tile floors also. 

For other surfaces, I use a variety of items. 

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Murphy's Oil mixed with water in a spray bottle gets used on the butcher block counter and the dining room table for everyday cleaning after a meal. 

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For a deep conditioning and treatment on the butcher block counter and dining room table I use Howard's Orange Oil - I will only do this if I won't be cooking for at least 24 hours so I can give it time to dry. It does a really good job cleaning and conditioning the wood. I also use this on my other wood pieces in the house - it leaves such a nice shine and smells wonderful. 

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For glass, this is one of the better cleaners I've tried. My sweetie picks it up for me at Sam's Club but Amazon has it as well. 

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I also really like this glass cleaner - I pick it up when I'm in Lowe's. 

When Fall gives way to Winter I like to swap out my kitchen cleaners for something with a seasonal scent. 

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This is usually one of my winter treats to myself - whenever I'm in Williams-Sonoma I have to get myself one of their cleaning trios as a little gift to me. 

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One year I even super-splurged and went all out with Thymes Frasier Fir - the whole line for my kitchen - dish soap, hand soap, and kitchen spray. Oh boy, that was truly a way to make cleaning up the kitchen a joy!! I know I bought it on sale somewhere but it was still a splurge....

Now that you know how truly pathetic I am - what products make your everyday cleaning life more enjoyable?






14 comments:

  1. I tend to use Windex a lot. Habit, I guess. I need to check out your mop. No matter what mop I get, it is broken in a short amount of time. I rarely use the vacuum. I left the purple Dyson for the ex when I left TX. I have a cheap vacuum from Walmart, cost about $45, and I rarely get it out. I have cheap vinyl flooring and I have 725 square feet, so tend to mostly use the Dyson handheld. I absolutely love that thing. I'm on my second one now. Nothing picks up like it does. I just go around and look for bits on the floor to suck up before I mop. I like to wash dishes, so don't even bother with the dishwasher. I don't really cook, so don't have much to clean.
    Brenda

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    1. The Dyson stick vac turns into a handheld for quick pick ups also - it's such a great tool, I definitely use it the most! The mop I've had for about 5 years now and haven't had any issues. It's kind of like a Swiffer Wet Jet with the sprayer on it to spray the floor as you go around cleaning but you don't have to keep buying their pads or use their cleaning solution - therefore much more economical. Washing dishes can be quite therapeutic in the right instance....and with the right products. I'm big into scents and aromatherapy - can you tell?

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  2. I need to try some of these...! I do use dawn already. Sheila

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    1. It's hard to beat Dawn for the tough jobs....but those others with the lovely scents really make the whole task much more pleasant!!

      Thanks a million for coming by!

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  3. I'm so glad you left me a message today! I can already tell that I like your blog. Now cleaning is one of my favorite subjects because I like a clean house. Love my Dyson, can't live without Dawn, Lyso, and Murphy's Oil Soap. My girlfriend gave me a birthday gift recently that included some special cleaning products JR Watkins goodies. I was so excited! She said that we've reached the point where there's not a lot we need so she's gifting things that we will use and enjoy. Thought that was pretty smart. :)

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    1. JR Watkins? I am not familiar!!! Google search here I come!!!
      Thanks for visiting, Stacey! It means so much!

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  4. Love Mrs. Meyer's products!
    XO Ellen from Ask Away
    www.askawayblog.com

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  5. Replies
    1. Oh, Deb, you have to give it a try!! The scent alone makes you feel better about cleaning but it actually does a really, really amazing job!!

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  6. Mrs. Meyers is at HomeGoods, right? I think that is where I've seen it but I've never tried it...will now have to do so since I have a bonafide testimonial! :-) I use a lot of these other products as well. I'm OCD and like for things to always be neat and tidy. I find that keeping the house clean as I go along makes the big cleaning day go a lot smoother!

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    1. Yes same here! I get Mrs Meyers different places including drugstore.com sometimes. Today I stopped into Ace Hardware and they had it - I picked up the new seasonal Cranberry scent - it smells soooooo good!

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  7. Great post! Do you have any experience with ever purchasing and using a small handheld vac? I want something that is totally easy to use on my basement stairs which are carpeted and seem to hold pet hair. We have an older Dyson model, and also a central vac, but I think a handheld would work better for me. Any thoughts?

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    1. I've been using my Dyson Stick Vac on the stairs - the stick comes off and you can use one of the attachments. I absolutely love that stick vac - I used it just this morning for a quick run around the house and you wouldn't believe all it picks up!! They actually have a good sale on it right now at JC Penney through Brad's Daily Deals - I will try to email you the link!

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