Feeling inspired to keep your home as clean as can be? You’re not alone. Sharing cleaning tips is big news on Instagram and other social media platforms thanks to the popularity of Mrs Hinch and others who are helping others make light work of cleaning.
From steam cleaner to steam mop, there’s a wealth of cleaning products out there that can help you keep your house sparkling, but how do you know what to buy. With so much choice it can be easy to spend all of your money on items you might not necessarily need.
Make sure you’ve got all of the essentials for your cleaning routine with this handy guide.
Washing up liquid
It’s a staple for washing your dishes, but washing up liquid also has several other uses. From being a fantastic carpet cleaner to cleaning your glasses, you can use washing up liquid instead of many other types of cleaners, making it a super affordable and useful staple. Washing up liquid easily cuts through grease, so if you’ve managed to spill on your worktop or are faced with a tough stain elsewhere around your home, give washing up liquid a try first!
A variety of sponges, cloths and cleaning aids
Keeping your home fresh and clean will require several different sponges and cleaning aids to get the best results. While sponges and scourers are great for tackling surfaces and items around your kitchen and bathroom, they’re not great for more delicate surfaces. You should stock up on microfibre cloths for easy dusting and wiping, and look at specialist cloths for windows to make it easier to keep them clean and smear-free.
It’s important that you keep your sponges and cloths clean – left around your home they can be a breeding ground for bacteria. Many people will put them in their dishwasher or washing machine, and there’s always the option of bleach or disinfectant.
A steam mop
Mopping floors can be a tough job, especially if you don’t want to step back onto a wet floor! More and more people are adopting hard floors in their home, especially in places like the kitchen, hallway and living room. A steam mop can make it really quick and easy to keep your floors clean, and good models will mean that your floors dry quickly afterwards. Steam Insider has some fantastic reviews of different steam cleaners to help you pick the right one for you. Steam mops are an affordable tool that is worth buying to save you time and energy cleaning.
Bicarbonate of soda
Bicarbonate of soda is one of those cupboard items that are always useful to have around, especially when you’re cleaning. Bicarbonate of soda can be used to help you clean sinks and plugholes, refresh your mattress, deodorise your carpets and more. It’s another affordable product that you’re likely to have in your home already, so start using bicarbonate of soda for cleaning around your home.
Air fresheners
It’s always handy to have some air fresheners around to keep your home smelling great. Febreeze is great for keeping your sofas, cushions, rugs, bedding, etc. smelling great and it can also be used to refresh items like artificial flowers. Remember to keep some in the bathroom as well, for obvious reasons!
Chemical-free products
You don’t need to have products that are full of chemicals to keep your home clean. Not only can they be damaging to the environment, but they’re not the best to have around when you have kids or pets. As people become more eco-friendly, you’ll start finding that there are more and more products around that will help you continue to keep your home clean, without the chemical damage. If you want to get creative, you could also consider making your own cleaning products using items you have at home.
All-purpose cleaners
All-purpose cleaners will help you with a lot of different tasks at home. When you’ve got tough marks to tackle in the kitchen or bathroom, you’ll be able to use just one product to help you sort them out. If you can pick up an all-purpose cleaner that has disinfectant ingredients, you’ll be able to use in places like the sink, toilet, etc. to keep things hygienic around your home.
The right laundry products
Your clothes require different types of products to keep them looking their best. While colourful clothes can normally be easy to clean if you don’t mix the colours too much, white is a tricky one to crack for some people. If you find that your white sheets and towels often end up going a bit yellow or even grey after a while, you need to look at your technique and try something different to keep your lights bright.
You should learn how to bleach your clothes to keep them looking fresh and white, and invest in some whitening products for ongoing upkeep. If you can, try to dry white clothes outside instead of in the tumble dryer, this will help to bleach stains naturally and will make them smell great too.
A really good vacuum cleaner
Investing in a good vacuum cleaner will make it so much simpler for you to keep your home free from dust and debris. You’ve got a range of options to choose from now such as handheld, cordless and bagless. You can even get models that combine all three options! A strong vacuum cleaner will pay for itself when it comes to cleaning the stairs or carrying out regular maintenance around your home. You can usually find some special offers around vacuums too to help you get a good deal on a top of the range model.
Making sure you have the right products in your cleaning kit will make it much easier for you to stay on top of your household chores. While items like a dishwasher are a nice to have, you’re always going to need those basic items to keep your home looking ship-shape. What are the cleaning products that you can’t live without around your home?
