In many cases, the equipment you use to clean your home matters more than the actual cleaning supplies. More often than not, a rag, sponge, mop, or vacuum will make the task easier and produce better results than a spray or cleaning solution.
But with so many cleaning tools on the market—including a lot of gimmicky items—it can be hard to know which ones you actually need. To help you get a head start on your next deep clean, we’re sharing the top ten most essential cleaning tools that every household should have.
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Important Cleaning Tools to Keep The House Sparkling Clean
Dish Cloths
In addition to being useful for drying hands and tableware, dish towels may be used to shine recently cleaned surfaces like kitchen worktops and stovetops.
They can also be placed on the counter to clean up spills of all sizes and serve as a place to drain hand-washed dishes. Launder your dish towels more frequently than you think necessary—at least once a week, but preferably after every use—to keep these surfaces sanitized and bacteria-free.
Microfiber Cloths
Microfiber is much more effective than cotton rags or sponges at picking up and absorbing dirt and other particles. The combination of its minuscule fibers, known as “microfibers,” and static electricity makes microfiber much more capable of grabbing onto dirt, dust, baked-on food, or soap scum. Using microfiber cleaning cloths will significantly improve the ease of cleaning almost everything in your home, from the refrigerator to the bathtub.
Telescoping Duster
There are various sorts of dusters available, but the telescoping duster is among the most practical. You can clean hard-to-reach areas without bending over or climbing a ladder with this long-handled duster, such as the tops of cupboards, window casings, and baseboards. Using a rubber band, cover the broom’s rushes with a dry or wet microfiber cloth to make your own telescoping cleaning tool if you don’t already have one.
Squeegee
A squeegee is a necessary tool for any house with glass shower doors and can be used for a variety of cleaning tasks. Use it to quickly dry off tile walls to avoid mold and mildew growth, or use it to wick water off glass shower doors to avoid soap scum and water spots creating an unsightly film. And, of course, squeegees can be used to leave windows, windshields, and glass-topped furniture streak-free after they’ve been washed.
Cleaning Brushes
Occasionally, a scrub brush works better than a cloth or sponge for cleaning confined areas where hard-to-remove debris may accumulate. Grout, tile, fixtures, and stubborn stains can typically be cleaned with a little elbow grease and the right scrubbing equipment.
A scrub brush can be purchased for almost anything, but you can also use an old dishbrush or toothbrush as a cleaning tool. Scrubbers come in a variety of sizes and types to suit any kind of task, from little detailing tools to strong electric scrubbers for large areas of tile floors.
Mop
Mop floors are vital for cleaning tile or natural stone, and they are also quite helpful for many other cleaning tasks. When mops are used dry or moist, they can also be utilized as telescoping tools to clean baseboards, walls, window casings, and other difficult-to-reach areas of the house.
Vacuum
Another necessary item is a vacuum, although its applications go far beyond just spot cleaning floors. Dust, dander, pollen, and other allergens must be kept away from mattresses and upholstered furniture with the help of a vacuum. Furthermore, a vacuum equipped with the appropriate attachments may be used to clean anything and anything, including the needles from holiday garland and the inside of your automobile.
Brush for the toilet
Although a toilet brush is technically a scrub brush, it is significant enough to be regarded as a distinct instrument. Cleaning a toilet bowl, where human waste and bacteria can accumulate and leave a stained basin, requires a decent toilet brush.
Dustpan and Broom
It is simple to overlook the usefulness of a basic broom and dustpan in the midst of the craze for robot vacuums. A good broom is the best cleaning tool for hardwood or laminate floors in your house. (Aim for once-a-week vacuuming in more trafficked areas and once-a-month vacuuming in less frequented sections.)
You can get the most out of your cleaning regimen by using specialty brooms. Using a rubber-bristled broom to sweep up pet hair is quite easy if you have pets. Look for a broom made for heavy-duty outdoor tasks if you perform a lot of work in the garage or outside.
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