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I try not to use toxic or polluting substances, so basically:
Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day/Method/Ecover or Seventh Generation all purpose cleaner
Mrs. Meyer's/ or Attitude bowl cleaner, CLR for hard stains/lime
Seventh Generation for laundry (I also use Persil powder and liquid)
Watkins glass cleaner
Barkeepers Help powder for scrubbing
Ecover for hand dish washing
Simple Green for floors
Because I have a baby and 2 small children and 2 pets, I prefer to use eco-friendly and non-toxic products. Even organic when possible. I'm loving Celadon Road's products lately as they are very versatile (can use one cleaner for a number of jobs) and work great. I use their laundry detergent to clean my carpets and especially love their lemon mint glass cleaner and citrus all purpose cleaner.
Vinegar
Bar Keeper's Friend
Any brand magic erasers
Optional and helpful but not on my must have list are:
Baby wipes
Baking soda
Windex or (I think) Clorox stuff in the pump containers can dab a paper towel onto to wet it
For all hard surface floors, a Hoover Floormate is an absolute must have item in my house! I've had one now for nearly 3 years. What it does to your floor, is almost as amazing as the color of dirty water that it picks up into it's storage tank......when you think your floor is clean already. Trust me, it doesn't matter how much you "mop", it isn't clean if you can't get the dirty water up from the floor.
We have two smallish children (one 8, one 5). We were getting crushed by illness a few years ago. Constant sniffles, barfs, etc. Just seemed to keep passing stuff around between the kids. One day when mom and dad were ready to pull their hair out, dad's light bulb went off. Realizing the kids are constantly playing on the floor (hardwoods), I realized that probably wasn't a good idea, but absolutely unstoppable. So, off to Target for the Hoover.
Our floors were new. We were mopping them every weekend. Smelled great. Looked great. Then I decided to use the Hoover (two days after a full mop). The water that was coming up and into the canister, looked like coffee! After I was done, the hardwoods were smooth (could slide with your socks), sparkled, and the whole house smelled fresh and clean. Floors remained super clean for two weeks. Did the machine again, and the water was still coffee-like, but not as bad as before. Again, smooth, sparking, and spotless. They stayed clean for about a month after that. Did it again at the 4 week mark, and the water looked more like milk chocolate instead of black coffee. And it just kept getting lighter and lighter from there. Basically, the floors weren't getting nearly as dirty anymore, and what dirt was there, was fresh from the point in time from the last time I used it, instead of some left over for god only knows how long. It got to the point that we were only needing to do the floors about every 6 weeks, and the dirty water was looking like beach sand in color.
Best part, the flu's, sneezes, throat infections, sinus infections, all dropped off DRAMATICALLY for all of us. Especially the kids!
The Hoover Floormate is a thing of pure beauty for hard floors. Does a tremendous job on tile too, especially the grout! Worth every friggin' penny!
PS: For windows? A simple Mr. Clean Magic Erasure Bar (sponge), a cheap squeegee, and a paper towel, and your window will look like it's not even there. Absolutely best thing I've ever come across to clean glass. Have that haze on the inside of your windshield in the car that makes it hard to see when the sun is in your face? Use that technique, and it'll sparkle and let you see 100%. Have a wood fireplace with glass doors, whereby the soot on the inside of the glass is all nasty and messy to get off? Use the erasure bar and it'll all come off with the first pass without a single problem or streak left behind (that's how I discovered them 10+ years ago for glass).
I have lots of things that are necessities. Many of which are single or limited use products. For example - pumice stones on a stick (Pumie) for cleaning toilets (although they're great for getting soap scum stains off of shower floors too). Or Weiman glass top cleaner - for cleaning our stove top. One product I like a lot is Williams Sonoma "pop up" sponges. Use them everywhere.
When it comes to something like squeegees - I wouldn't buy cheap. I'd buy professional quality. They last forever - and the replacement rubbers are inexpensive.
I have never been happy with most of the "all purpose" products that many people tout. Like vinegar. "Jack of all trades master of none" IMO. Robyn
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