Cleaning Supplies

I'm going to be doing a major house cleaning within the next couple of weeks and am curious as to your cleaning supplies and routine.

What do you use on your kitchen counters? Cabinets?

How about your floors?

Do you wash your walls? With what?

What do you use in your bathroom? Do you have a fiberglass bathtub/shower? How about your toilet?

How often do you dust and what do you use?

I use Fantastik or Lysol Kitchen spray on my kitchen counters and probably go through a bottle every week. Two of the cats are counter surfers and, despite everything I've tried, I can't keep them off the counters. I wash the floors with Pine Sol or Mr. Clean in real hot water once a week, with spot cleaning almost every night after dinner. Every other week, the floors get a deep cleaning with the Bissell animal floor cleaner. I tend to wash the walls down two or three times a year with a little Pine Sol in hot water. We have a stainless dishwasher and stove, so I use a Pledge cleaner to wipe them down. The fridge has a textured surface and I've found that Mr. Clean Erasers are fantastic for that job.

I hate cleaning bathrooms. I use either the scrubbing bubbles guys or Lysol Basin, Tub, and Tile Cleaner on the sink and in the tub...it's fiberglass and I have to be careful not to scratch the surface. The toilet gets a good scrubbing with Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner.

A good Swiffer a couple times a week throughout the living room for dusting. About every two or three weeks, I'll actually dust with a polish. And two or three times a year, I'll clean the kitchen cabinets and wood surfaces with Murphy's Oil Soap or Old English and then give them a good polish with lemon oil. I usually do that in the early spring, in midsummer (which is what I'm going to be doing in a couple of weeks) and then again right before the Christmas holidays.

I vacuum twice a week as a rule, although there are times when I only get it done once a week. Clean the windows with Glass Plus and paper towels, followed by a good wiping with newspaper sheets. The bay window in the living room gets covered with "kitty schnuffle" and sometimes that can be difficult to remove. Same with the bedroom window where their catnapper is attached. Lots of kitty schnuffle there, too.

So what's your routine? And what types of cleaning supplies do you have on hand? Nosy minds want to know (well, OK, my nosy mind wants to know).

Would you believe that I don't buy cleaning supplies? I've been using a steam cleaner on everything except the oak furniture for over a decade. The only thing I use to dust (once or twice a week) is old underwear. I've got a bottle of stainless steel cleaner and one for the Ceran stovetop that are over ten years old. I should probably dump them.

What do you use on your kitchen counters? Cabinets?
- Fantastik. It really cuts through grease and grime and you don't have to scrub to do it.

How about your floors?
- Mr. Clean (lemon scent)

Do you wash your walls? With what?
-Fantastik

What do you use in your bathroom? Do you have a fiberglass bathtub/shower? How about your toilet?
- No fibreglass.
- I use Vim
- For the toilet I use Toilet Duck

How often do you dust and what do you use?
- I use a swiffer duster for quick dusting. For indepth dusting I use a cloth and Pledge
- I sometimes use Windex depending on if I'm too lazy to get the Pledge and I have the Windex in hand from having done a mirror or glass tabe. I've always used Windex as an allpurpose surface cleaner.

Originally Posted by Winchester

I'm going to be doing a major house cleaning within the next couple of weeks and am curious as to your cleaning supplies and routine.

What do you use on your kitchen counters? Cabinets?

How about your floors?

Do you wash your walls? With what?

What do you use in your bathroom? Do you have a fiberglass bathtub/shower? How about your toilet?

How often do you dust and what do you use?

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Lately I've been buying the Pawsafe line of cleaning products and have been really pleased. The only drawback is the toilet bowl cleaner which does not have an inverted spray nozzle on it but that I can cope with. I use the all purpose cleaner for bathroom counters and floors and the porcelain flooring in the kitchen, window cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner and tub and tile cleaner.

I have tile bathtubs and showers. I dust with a Swiffer (not my cat ) duster every couple of weeks and run the Swiffer on the hardwood flooring.

for the commode i use normal cheap dishwashing liquid. for dusting i like woodworkers' tackcloth which is used in woodshops to remove sawdust. i know it's a bit odd but ilike it. i have other odd preferences too. to clean the litter scoop i'll use shaving cream then wet toilet paper over the commode. for kitchen appliances and the kitchen floor and counters and the dining room table i like "wet ones" which is really for your hands. theyre really an antibacterial wipe. i figure if it's good enough for human hands, then it's good enough for household surfaces (jmo)

Many cleansers trigger my asthma, so I stay away from them since it can't be good for any of us to be breathing in that stuff. Lysol is the worst for me, bleach is bad, too, and Tylex and all of those harsh cleansers I cannot use.

What do you use on your kitchen counters? Cabinets?
hot water and scrub sponge on counters, small sprinkling of ajax or comet for the sinks to disinfect
on cabinets Murphy's wood oil soap (about 3 drops soap per gallon hot water)


How about your floors?
on carpet just vacuum (professionally steam cleaned w/peroxide once a year)
mop hardwoods with water and Murphy's wood oil soap (again about 3 drops per gallon)


Do you wash your walls? With what?
warm water and cloth


What do you use in your bathroom? Do you have a fiberglass bathtub/shower? How about your toilet?
light sprinkling of ajax or comet cleanser to disinfect and scrub + hot water, paper towels, gloves
(no fiberglass)


How often do you dust and what do you use?
swiffer dusters, I don't dust at all ever but my husband does it once a week (the dust bothers him more than me )

Hello to Mrs. Clean from Mrs. Clean . I do clean alot...but really don't like to clean. I just feel good when everything is, well, just clean . I also have counter surfing cats. Funny thing when Larry is around they hardly ever get on the counters, he is relentless and knocks them off (gently) but firmly and he just doesn't give up no matter how many times they jump back up. Finally, they gave up when he is around. But, with me, the softy , the are on the counters. I also use Kitchen Lysol and 409 or Fantastik. For my kitchen floors I use Mr. Clean (of course ) and usually hand wash my kitchen floor once a week and spot clean in between. I do my bathroom's every week and use Scrubbing Bubbles and The Works toilet bowl cleaner. I also do toilets about twice a week. And for dusting, I use the Swiffer for a quick dusting (great invention) but for deep down dusting I use a soft rag and Endust. I also like to have sparkling windows. I have floor to ceiling windows, perfect for kitties to sit on the floor and peek out at the chipmunk family living outside the kitchen windows in the garden. My windows always have cat nose prints. I just use Windex. There is a new Windex product called Multi Surface Antibacterial, and I go through that stuff like crazy, use it on everything, from counters to glass, stovetop, microwave and walls. And, I vacuum once a week and use a Shark dustbuster in between (handheld with a spinning brush) for quick pick-ups.

I guess I am a real life Mrs. Clean, but don't enjoy it

Once a week I use Murphys Oil Soap solution on the cabinets and wood furniture. The rest of the time I just wipe down cabinets with a damp cloth and use a feather duster on the furniture.

I use a Mr Clean solution on the kitchen floor, bathroom floor, and entrance once a week. I also use it to give the kitchen counters a good cleaning once a week. The rest of the time I use Fantastik for a quick wipe down on the counters. I sweep the floors once or twice a day. I have vinyl floors and the best way to avoid scratching is with frequent sweeping or vacumming. I like the different scents of Mr Clean which is really why I use it. Right now I have New Zealand spring.

I go over the blinds really well with a feather duster once a week. I vacuum both the carpet and furniture twice a week. I only move everything to get in behind and under everything once a week. I try to do the windows once a week but I sometimes only do them every other week. I just use plain old Windex and paper towels.

I wipe down walls with a Mr Clean solution once a month mainly because I smoke.

I use Mr. Clean and Fantastik for just about everything. Mr.Clean has some really nice scented stuff.

I can't use strongly scented products because they make me wheeze. I do like the Mr. Clean Lavender Vanilla scent but I don't use it that often. I'm kind of scared of using chemicals to "clean" with. How clean is it if there's chemical residue all over? I mostly use vinegar and dish soap on counters and toilets and stuff. At least I know they won't hurt anyone. I do use a Swiffer WetJet for the hard floors, though. And dye-free Windex with vinegar for glass. I usually spray some rubbing alcohol on the counters after washing them with dish soap, for disinfecting. I use a Swiffer duster--anything else just spreads the dust around. Of course, I vacuum a lot, and scrub a lot of litter boxes (with dish soap and vinegar). But washing walls and cabinets? I didn't know they needed to be washed, unless something gets on them. . . .

If I can't clean it with water, baking soda, and/or white vinegar, it doesn't get cleaned.

Well, no, I make an exception for bathrooms, where I use Lysol foaming bath cleaner on everything. (Our cats don't go into the bathrooms anymore, so it's safe.) And every couple of years, I get crazy and decide to polish the copper-bottomed pots with ketchup -- after which they sit out on the counter for a few days, because I'm so proud of them.

What do you use on your kitchen counters? Cabinets?

Counters I just use the dishwashing detergent. Cabinets Murphy's oil soap or products formulated for cabinets.

How about your floors?

Wood & tiles floors a mix a vinegar and a wood floor cleaner.

Do you wash your walls? With what?

Spic & Span or TSP.

What do you use in your bathroom? Do you have a fiberglass bathtub/shower? How about your toilet?

I found a product line made by biokleen for bathrooms/soy toilet bowl cleaner/odor remover and other products that I really like. I also have The Works stuff and Clorox (?) has a natural line. We have a fiberglass tub but a limestone shower so I have to watch what I use.
Its either Lime away or CLR that has a ready to use spray for those hard water stains that works really well. For a cleanser/scrub I only use Barkeepers Friend. Sometimes I'll splurge and get some Mrs. Meyers or Caldrea cleaning products.

How often do you dust and what do you use?

I do not dust enough esp in the winter. I usually just use a lightly damp cloth or some sort of mitt.

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

If I can't clean it with water, baking soda, and/or white vinegar, it doesn't get cleaned.

Well, no, I make an exception for bathrooms, where I use Lysol foaming bath cleaner on everything. (Our cats don't go into the bathrooms anymore, so it's safe.) And every couple of years, I get crazy and decide to polish the copper-bottomed pots with ketchup -- after which they sit out on the counter for a few days, because I'm so proud of them.

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Ketchup? Amazing! I've never heard of that!

Originally Posted by Winchester

Ketchup? Amazing! I've never heard of that!

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It's the vinegar in it. You could just use vinegar, but ketchup is a paste so it stays on better.

Because Chumley and I have allergies, and Gary is a germophobe, we compromise.

What do you use on your kitchen counters?

Nok Out. They're bleached once a month as is the sink. Flowerbelle is the only one that jumps on the counters - and that's infrequent. She does it for attention. They all know they're not allowed up there and basically obey. Go figure.

[Kitchen] Cabinets?

BioKleen (grapefruit/orange), then "wax" with a mixture of 1C almond oil, 1/2C lemon juice

How about your floors?

Nok Out. Though there's only a bit of wood in the kitchen and tile in the bathroom. Bathroom tile is washed with a bleach solution every week.

Do you wash your walls? With what?

Yes, frequently, and our ceilings (again, the RV thing). Again, Nok Out or BioKleen.

What do you use in your bathroom? Do you have a fiberglass bathtub/shower?

Nok Out. Fiberglass shower. Gary takes off the shower head and soaks it in a bleach solution every week. He also uses some kind of clorox something on the shower every week that makes me completely gag.

How about your toilet?

That same clorox whatever it is that makes me gag. I spray it with Nok Out every night before I go to sleep as well.

How often do you dust and what do you use? I vacuum the walls, cabinets, and ceilings (live in an RV) and all the fixtures every time I vacuum, which is every 2-3 days. So I dust with those "static-grabber" dusters just once a week. But we also have four hepa filters in about 320 sq. ft. and one Odorox (a commercial hydroxyl generator: http://www.hgiind.com/ ) machine.

This site has lots of great ideas for more environmentally-friendly cleaning: http://www.lesstoxicguide.ca/index.asp?fetch=household