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What Cleaning Products Do I Need in My Home?

woman in yellow apron holding a bucket of cleaning supplies

Do you ever get overwhelmed with all the cleaning products available? Do you find yourself wondering, “what cleaning products do I need in my home?”

The reality is that no list of cleaning products can get you the same kind of clean as a professional cleaning service. Call TLC to schedule a cleaning service today. A deep clean by a professional team is a great head start to keeping your home looking its best.

In between scheduled cleanings, however, it is useful to keep the essential cleaning products on-hand. There are many options to choose from, yet there are only a handful of items you need to have on hand for everyday use. So you don’t overspend on all those fancy cleaning lotions and potions, keep reading to see a list of what cleaning products you need in your home.

What cleaning products do I need in my home?

woman shopping for cleaning products at the store

-Baking soda can mitigate odors and remove hard spots to clean, such as soap remnants, scrapes on your footwear, and even light grease.

-White Vinegar also removes odors and grease, serves as a disinfectant, and does not leave marks behind, so it is perfect for making your windows sparkle. It can be used to clean many areas, including many kitchen surfaces, and is an excellent floor cleaner.

-Rubbing alcohol actively destroys bacteria. It cleanses and decontaminates all those surfaces where microorganisms and other nasty stuff resides. Fathom to think about what might be lying in the cracks and crevices…yuck!

-Dish soap is a mild cleaner; it doesn’t ruin the surfaces that require a gentler cleanser. Dish soap is a
PH neutral product. It is also a cost-effective cleaner because you don’t need to use much to achieve your desired results.

-Furniture polish brings out the shine on wooden furniture, plus it often has a pleasant smell.

-Bleach is a crucial cleaning product to keep on hand. It is corrosive and works well on harder to clean areas. Word to the wise: Don’t mix bleach with other cleaning products as you may experience a chemistry experiment gone wrong!

-All-Purpose Cleaner is the best product to have and can serve as the only one you have in your home because it can clean multiple surfaces and hard to remove marks. Best of all, you can make your all-purpose cleaners using some common ingredients. Click here to learn how to make your own.

What cleaning tools do I need in my home?

man and woman playfully fighting with cleaning products

Of course, you need to have more than the cleaning product to apply them as needed. Here is of recommended tools you should have available.

-Microfiber cloths are multipurpose cleaning cloths. They can be used wet or dry and for tasks such as dusting, wiping down kitchen surfaces, and even inside and outside of your car.

-Toothbrushes (find one that you are no longer using) have many useful cleaning purposes. They can be used to scrub and shine areas lightly and to get to those areas that are hard to navigate with other tools. Word of caution: Don’t keep your cleaning toothbrush(es) anywhere near your toothpaste. You wouldn’t want to grab one to brush your teeth accidentally.

-Paper towels are the good ole standard “quicker picker-up.” These are a great choice because you can dispose of them after use, instead of risking the spread of bacteria and other germs.

-Rubber gloves are the best way to protect your hands from unnecessary dirt and germs. They are optional, but there are lots of messes that warrant protection when cleaning them. Insert your own visual here. Gross! If you are overly concerned about the germs and bacteria hanging around and want a deep clean, call TLC to schedule a cleaning service today.

-Sponges are a necessity and can be used in many places and for multiple types of messes. Double-sided sponges are also handy because they provide two types of cleaning surfaces, one side for gentle wiping and the other for harder to clean areas. Be sure you have several sponges on hand as you don’t want to use the same one to clean the kitchen countertop and those not so pleasant places–if you know what I mean. Click on this link for tips on maintaining healthy sponges: How to Clean Your Kitchen Sponge.

-Mops have been a cleaning staple for a long time. They are more light-weight, less cumbersome to manage, and are the perfect choice if you don’t like to get down on your hands and knees to clean the floor.

-Vacuums are essential cleaning tools that existed in households for many years. They also continue to evolve; they have become more comfortable to use, lighter, and more compact. A vacuum is vital to have because it lifts dust and other hard to see remnants in your carpet. You can’t get by with just a broom!

Keep it organized

cleaning tools and supplies stored in a cabinet

If you are someone who likes to have a clutter-free environment, there are some ways to keep your cleaning products and tools organized.

-Get yourself a storage container that you can easily transport and put away in a cupboard or closet

-Determine a location that you always put your cleaning items away and place them in logical areas. For example, store all of your bathroom cleaning products in your vanity or other convenient location in the bathroom. It makes sense to store cleaning items in the area in which plan to put them to use! After all, you wouldn’t store your pots and pans in the bathroom.

Last but not least, you will want to make sure that you maintain your cleaning tools. After all, they are not self-cleaning, and they have been used to clean-up some of the most unsightly and unsanitary messes. Click here for tips on maintaining and sanitizing your cleaning tools.

Call the professionals

Now that you’re no longer wondering about what cleaning products you need in your home consider giving yourself a break.

Keep a few essential supplies and call TLC to schedule a regular or deep cleaning service today.

Cleaning Supplies List That Reduces Your Home Expense

Less is More

Less is More. Most of us have heard this all of our lives, and yet when we walk through the store looking for cleaning supplies, we realize that there is so much more out there. But are all of these products, or even types of products necessary? Are we paying more than we should in order to clean our homes? Are these products essential or is there a better, cheaper way?

Think about the multitude of products on the store shelves. How many products for laundry detergent? How many to wash dishes or clean mirrors and windows? What is the best spray or wipe to clean counters? And what oil do I need to polish wood furniture?

After all is said and done, how much money have you spent on items to clean your home? You may think, “No problem. They will last for a while before I have to buy more”, but is that indeed the case? If you have never used anything that lasts longer, is cheaper, or works better, how would you even know?

Today we are going to answer some of these questions by looking at a few alternatives that will cut down on the number of products you need to get the job done. And in our opinion, get the job done better. Our list will surprise you because most of these products will save you money at the same time, and who doesn’t like that?

Here is a cleaning supplies list of tried and true cleaning products that work well, last longer than store-bought supplies, and cost less than those commercial brands. We will even give you a few recipes to use that will amaze you when you try them.

Cleaning Supply List for Every Home:

(prices are approximations)

White Vinegar: 1 Gallon = $2.19: Good for cleaning glass and windows as well as being able to kill 99.7% of all germs and fungi.

Baking Soda/Washing Soda = $5.00/pound: Good for cleaning clothes and excellent as an abrasive to clean sinks and tubs. Pick up a toothbrush so you can hit those corners and under the faucets.

Liquid Castile Soap: $5.00 for 16 oz: Castile soap is good for cleaning anything that needs some “soapiness,” from dishes to dogs. You want this as a part of your cleaning supply list.

Lemons: The price of lemons depends on where you live and what season you are buying them. Lemons are great for whitening and helping you get that nice fresh lemony smell most people are looking for when they think of clean.

Borax = $4.45 for 65 oz.: Borax is somewhat like Baking soda, and they are typically used together. They each have different cleaning properties that make them powerhouse cleaning agents together.

Natural Salt: Cheap: Salt is one of those ingredients that we usually don’t think of for cleaning, but a little research, (hit the link above), will show you what a fantastic cleaner salt can be. Natural salt is worth a look for the inexpensive price and the number of things you can do with it.

Hydrogen Peroxide: $1 for 16 oz: Hydrogen peroxide is a natural whitener and super cheap to purchase. Excellent when you need to get proteins, like blood or grass stains out of clothes, and is a bonus when used as a whitener for sinks, tubs, and toilets.

Essential Oils (optional): Prices will vary: Essential oils are optional but worth a look. A lot of people use lemon or lavender in their multi-purpose cleaners and laundry to bump up the cleaning quotient as well as make things smell amazing.

How many bottles of commercial window cleaner would you need to purchase versus the 1 gallon of vinegar that is going to be mixed 50/50 with water? You can see that commercial products aren’t going to last you as long as these natural alternatives and you might not be as pleased with them.

Simple Cleaning Recipes

All-Purpose Cleaner: Mix in a spray bottle, 1 tsp. Borax, 1 tsp. Castile soap, 2 cups of warm water and 4-10 drops of lavender or a citrus essential oil – optional. Shake the ingredients up and use to clean counters, spot clean floors, toys, etc.
Scouring Powder: Mix 1 cup Borax,1 cup Salt, and 2 cups of Baking soda. Use this mixture to scrub tubs, toilets, and sinks. Not only does it work well but it works better than commercial products you will find on the market.
Bleach: This is not bleach at all but a great recipe for whitening clothes naturally. Lemon Juice, plain lemon juice. This recipe can be added into the laundry to help whiten your whites.
Simple Laundry detergent: Mix equal parts of Washing Soda, (not baking soda), and Borax. Add a bar of Castile soap, shredded, then use it as you would a commercial laundry detergent.
Window Cleaner: Fill a spray bottle half full of white vinegar and half full of water. Use this less pricey alternative to a commercial window cleaner.
The ingredients mentioned above and the recipes are not only less of a strain on your wallet but also less toxic alternatives. These ingredients go back to a time when all of the cleaning supplies we have available to us now did not exist. We don’t have to spend as much money as we do to keep our homes clean and we could end up with other benefits as well.

It would behoove you to take a look at the commercial products you are buying. Look at their prices and how long they are lasting you. Take a month and add up how much money you are spending on cleaning products, then try the cleaning supplies list above. Look at both records, not just for the initial cost but what they will cost you over time.

If you would like to learn more about how to clean your home for less, feel free to give us a call, we are ready to help.