7 Cleaning Tools You Need to Have at Home

“A clean home is a happy home,” as the saying goes. But many think that this is easier said than done, and rarely is house cleaning anyone’s favorite task. Realizing that it’s time to clean a dirty sink, a stained toilet bowl, or a couch surface smothered with dust bunnies can bog someone’s thoughts down for the rest of the day.

On our part, however, we’d like to dispel a few myths about cleaning: it doesn’t need to be tedious, it doesn’t need to take the whole day, and you won’t need expensive and top-of-the-line implements to keep your house clean for longer, as for the most part, cleaning like a pro lies in choosing the right tools and technique.

Also Read: Why Commercial Cleaners are Important?

If we were to run a class for students living in flats, small homeowners, and apartment dwellers called “Cleaning for Dummies,” a portion of it would be dedicated to basic cleaning tools that can be acquired by anyone, and these tools should be within easy reach when it’s time to air things out. With these in your closet, pantry, or supplies cabinet, cleanup will be easy and efficient—and so, you’ll have less of an excuse to procrastinate.

Here’s our lineup of seven simple, handy, and fool-proof cleaning tools you need to have at home in order to keep it clean, free from germs, and ready to receive new guests.

1. Broom and dust pan set. Any home should have at least one broom and dustpan set at its disposal. Use your broom and dust pan to sweep up solid particles like dry food and crumpled paper. We recommend keeping a small-sized, portable set in the kitchen, and easily accessible for use in case a glass breaks into shards.

2. Microfiber cloth. Consider buying microfiber cloth to clean off surface debris from almost any household implement you have, be it a crusty stovetop or a mirror. Microfiber is made out of very polyamide fibers that do a great job of picking up hard-to-reach dirt particles. Thus, you can pair microfiber cloth up with various cleaning solutions for use on kitchen appliances, countertops, and the like.

3. Vacuum cleaner. Among all the other tools in this list, it’s probably only the vacuum cleaner that demands a little more investment from you. Look for a good variation of a stick-hand vacuum that can easily be transferred from room to room, and whose vacuum head can easily suck out dirt from those hard-to-reach nooks and crannies.

4. Stain Remover. Stain remover will be your best friend against the unseemly—as well as unsanitary—stains that appear on your walls, flooring, and furniture. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for what surfaces you can use the stain remover with, and how to remove each particular type of stain. For most cases, this will only involve spraying a layer of stain remover on the given surface, then scrub it out with a cloth or small brush.

5. Spray bottles. Keep the various solutions that you’ll need for housecleaning—water and detergent, stain remover, degreaser, and the like—in spray bottles. Alternately, you can remove the original bottle’s plastic cap and attach a spray head. Here’s a pro tip: keep all of your spray bottles labeled so that you’ll easily know which is which.

6. White vinegar and baking soda. You likely already have these items in your pantry and use them for cooking. But did you know that white vinegar and baking soda are also key ingredients for a lot of home cleaning remedies? You can easily search for instructions on how to make white vinegar and baking soda-based cleaning solutions. White vinegar can be used on everything from a coffee maker to a rusty toilet bowl; baking soda can restore the white color of your tiles.

7. Lint roller. If lint particles are starting to fuzz up on your couch seats, come after them with your trusty lint roller. Get the kind with the big handle for those peel-off adhesive sheets. Those will be of easy use on everything from shirts to felt sofas, to tablecloths and linens.

Good luck, and here’s to a breezy time getting those germs out of your home-clean-home!