My Best Household Cleaning Products List

Monday - Outside Areas

On Mondays, I tackle the outside areas of the home. I tidy up the porch, garage, and car for around 10 minutes. That might include sweeping the ground, picking up trash in the car, cleaning minor spills outside, etc.

• An inexpensive push broom and dustpan - doesn't have to be fancy, friends. You're not going to be sweeping for hours at a time, so you don't need one of those heavy-duty, commercial push brooms. The one linked above works fine!
  
• A blower - This tool allows you to easily "sweep" those leaves away if you live under a lot of trees.
  
• Totally Awesome cleaner - You will see this product over and over in this post. I've sung the praises of this time and time again. It costs a little over $1.00 (yes, only a dollar) for a concentrated bottle that lasts forever. I get mine from the Dollar Tree.
  
  This is an all-purpose cleaner that can I use everywhere; floors, hard surfaces, upholstery. You name it. I use this every single day. For outside areas, I use it to clean up and car messes or minor spills in the porch/garage.
  
• Mrs. Meyer's Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner - I also love these multi-purpose cleaners. They have so many scents to choose from and are quality, very versatile products.
  
  I purchase mine through Grove Collaborative. It's an awesome resource for saving on these products and make sure your supplies are consistently stocked. You can even get a free $35 gift set on your first order by clicking this link! (You can also see my post above how to save with Grove.)
  
• Armor All - I use this to treat my car surfaces. The leather one is good for seats and the original is wonderful for plastic surfaces.

Tuesday - Surfaces

On Tuesdays, I go through the whole house and wipe down surfaces that might collect dust and spills.

• Microfiber Cleaning Towels - These are amazing microfiber cloths that have lasted for years. I use these everywhere: for cleaning, wiping minor spills, wiping down counters, making windows streak-free, you name it. Microfiber is wonderful at getting out set-in gunk and has the ability to remove germs.
  
• Totally Awesome cleaner & Mrs. Meyer's
  
• Swiffer Duster - I like to wipe down dusty surfaces with one of these. It very easily collects dust and dander!
  
• Extendable Duster - This is wonderful for cleaning fans, higher light fixtures, & crown molding.
  
• Glass cleaner - I only use this one surfaces that streak, like windows & glass tabletops. Someone told me years ago that it's amazing on stainless steel. This is my secret to getting a streak-free fridge!
  
• Granite sealer - This is not an everyday thing. A couple of times a month, I like to use this to clean my granite countertops. It cleans and seals them at the same time, which is super important to maintaining any kind of stone surface!
  
  Plus, I love the way this cleaner smells. (And yes, it is a little pricey, but a bottle lasts forever. I've only purchased two for the five years we've lived in our house.)

Wednesday - Fridge/Pantry

Wednesdays are the day I dedicate to tidying up the fridge and pantry. I throw away old or expired food, clean up spills, organize food by category, & inventory what we need to buy or use.

• Microfiber Cleaning Towels
• Totally Awesome Cleaner / Mrs. Meyer's

Thursday - Vacuum/Mop

Vacuuming and mopping is the most time-consuming of the daily tasks. Once a week, I vacuum my entire house and mop half of the hard surfaces throughout, alternating what I mop every other week.

• Dyson Animal - I love this vacuum cleaner. We bought the older version of it during a Black Friday sale a few years ago and I've been really pleased with it!
  
  It's cordless, but maintains enough of a charge to vacuum most of the house at one time. It is incredibly lightweight (so it's perfect for carrying up stairs), and has incredible suction.
  
  This vacuum knocks out pet hair and dust with ease. It's an investment, but you won't regret it.
  
• OCedar Spin Mop - For years, I used a mop that I thought was working. It was the spray pad kind of mop that I thought was doing the trick. I was most definitely wrong.
  
  I bought this mop and bucket combo after seeing a ton of people on social media rave about it. I can't tell you how disgusting my floors were after the first mop. I can show you with a video.
  
  I was disgusted and vowed never to not use this mop again. It's a game-changer.

• Mr. Clean All-Purpose - Now, the spin mop people say that it kills 99% of the germs on your floor. I've never actually believed those stats. I add a little bit of Mr. Clean disinfectant into my water when I mop. (I've used Lysol in the past too, it's wonderful as well.)
  
  I don't know how much of a difference it makes, but it does make my floors smell so clean! (I spent months testing my favorite cleaning products for mopping. You can see the full details of what I tested in my post about the best floor cleaners!).
  
• Shark Robot Vacuum - We use this every day, but it makes my Thursday cleaning task so much easier. This is our go-to robot vacuum. It's incredibly low maintenance and it works well!

Friday - Toilets/Sinks

Unfortunately, we've got to clean those bathrooms too. Fun fact: I put toilets/sinks down as my Friday cleaning task because I despise completing it. So, doing them on a Friday makes the tasks a little bit more tolerable. 😂

• A simple toilet brush - I have one of these in each bathroom so I don't have to carry it around to each toilet. This is the kind I use. It has that extra scrubber that comes in really handy!
  
• Clorox Clean-Up - Totally Awesome is my go-to for general cleaning. However, the bathrooms need a little bit more love in the germ elimination department.
  
  This is what I use on toilets and sinks weekly. This is also a place where I don't use my trusty microfiber cleaning cloths. Go with paper towels instead.
  
• Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner - This is my favorite toilet cleaner. I've tried a lot and keep coming back to this. It's simple, inexpensive, and no-fuss!

Saturday - Laundry and Catch Up

While I do have a couple of laundry favorites, this is the cleaning area where I change it up the most.

• Tyler Diva Detergent - This laundry detergent is a splurge. It's one item that I must make room for in the budget. When I tell you it is the best smelling detergent ever I'm not kidding.
  
  We constantly get asked what kind of detergent we use. It's highly scented - so much so that I can mix it with All Free and Clear and still get the same awesome smell.
  
• Tyler Dryer Sachets - Same concept for the dryer. These sachets give you an even bigger boost of scent in the dryer. I usually pop in an All Free and Clear Dryer Sheet with it too.
  
• Oxi Clean - I use this to get out deep-set stains by making a paste out of it and rubbing into clothing. I also soak my stained clothing in a concentrated mix of it sometimes, and add a little bit in each load of laundry.
  
• Speed Queen Washer and Dryer - Yes, they're pricey. But it was an investment we made when we bought our current home that i couldn't be happier about.
  
  These washer/dryer sets last forever and rarely break because they're super simple. Instead of focusing on bells & whistles, Speed Queen focuses on solid, simple machinery. I couldn't recommend these more.
  
  (These usually aren't available online - we have the equivalent of the TR3 washer and the DR3 dryer. I recommend finding a local retailer to get the best deal on these.)
  
• Blue Dawn Detergent - This dishwashing detergent isn't just for the kitchen. I use Blue Dawn dish soap to get out oil stains on clothing. Just rub a little in before washing and the grease stains will come out like magic.

Household Cleaning Products to Use for Room of the Week Chores

If you're already a Journey to Cleaner, you know there's a Room of the Week list to complete throughout the month. (Check out my cleaning system post to see it.) Here are a few essentials I use for those that didn't make the lists above:

• Melamine Sponges - You can't beat these for scrubbing stubborn stains and surfaces (say that five times fast). I don't buy the name-brand Magic Erasers; they're available on Amazon for a fraction of the price!
  
• Odo Ban - I have kids. Kids tend to be stinky sometimes. So, I fight it the best way I can think of: Odo Ban.
  
  It's a great formula for getting smells out of carpet or upholstery. Before our beagle, Hardy, passed away, I would spray this on my couch often to get rid of "old dog smell." It works incredibly well!
  
• Scrub Brush - great for knocking out any mold or mildew that permeates that shower grout. If you have an old toothbrush, that can be handy for scrubbing smaller grout lines!
  
• White Vinegar - If you don't mind a little bit of a vinegar smell, this is a great all-purpose and eco-friendly cleaner. I used to use this all the time to clean high chair tops and any surface my children might eat off of. A few years ago, it got a lot of use!
  
  Now, I use it to clean our oven and microwave without worry that fumes might hurt us. Simply mix half white vinegar and half water in a spray bottle for an effective, inexpensive cleaner.
  
• Baking Soda - Another great natural cleaner. You're not going to find a better, less expensive abrasive for everyday use! This is a wonderful way to clean and deodorize a kitchen sink and garbage disposal.
  
• Fuzz Shaver - As your furniture gets older, you'll notice that little fuzz balls start to pill up. Get rid of those fuzzies with this simple gadget! I use this on my furniture cleaning days to make my couch look like new.
  
• Upholstery and Carpet Cleaner - If you have a dog and/or kids, this might be the best investment you ever make. It's much less than renting a commercial grade carpet cleaner frequently. It works as well as the big ones.
  
  We use this all the time to deep clean couches, upholstered kitchen chairs, and carpet stains. I alternate cleaning our big sectional and my kitchen chairs every other month. That's on the “spot clean furniture” task of Journey to Clean. (See more about cleaning upholstered chairs.)
  
• Goo Gone - You never know when you'll need this formula, but I guarantee that you will. This is great for stubborn stickers, stuck-on messes, and the occasional gum incident.
  
• Bar Keeper's Friend - I talked about this in mypost about how to clean a sink. It is amazing for getting difficult scratches out of porcelain! Bar Keeper's Friend is one of those things I didn't know you needed until I tried it.

FAQs

Summary

There you have it. This list is not complicated at all! These items cover 95% of the cleaners I use in my household cleaning.

With the combination of these tools and Journey to Clean, I am able to to keep my home clean with very little effort. I'd say that's my secret to a clean house, but I almost feel silly calling it a secret. It's such a no-brainer!