Cleaning Products I Use

In this economy, I've been really lucky or blessed. As a self employed house cleaner, I have not lost any business. In fact last week I added another customer to my schedule - hooray!

When the stock market went down and people where losing their investments, I was a little worried that a luxury (like my service) would be cut first. Maybe it is because I work extra hard and do a better job that my customers don't want to lose me. I know my customer's really appreciate the work I do for them. I am honest and trustworthy which give my customers peace of mind as they trust me to be in their homes.

Being a house cleaner is not an easy job ..... I work extremely hard. I clean 2 big houses everyday of the week. When I get home, my hair is a mess and my make up is scary because I sweat as I work. It's my job and I have to get through those two houses everyday to make a good living, so I work fast and steadily. The quicker I can get done, the more time I have being home doing the things I love. I hope through my cleaning blogs, that I will give you some tips to help make your house work easier. One thing to note is that I am a High Class cleaning service and I use name brand products that make the job easier, cleaner and leaving a wonderful smell behind. I want to make sure that every germ is killed by the time I leave each home - keeping my customers (and me) healthy - that is the goal.

Firstly, here are the supplies I use: Large bucket and a small bucket (nestled inside the large one). Broom, twist cotton mop (sponge mops are not good and push dirt around), Eureka vacuum, rubber gloves I use when my hands get really dry, rags, and my caddy full of cleaning supplies.

The supplies I use to clean a bathroom are: glass cleaner, 409, toilet bowl cleaner (I show Lysol or lime away - it doesn't matter), comet (I do NOT like Ajax it is too gritty and doesn't rinse away well), soft scrub, Clorox clean-up, and furniture polish, toilet bowl brush, smaller brush, pumice stone, no scratch sponges.

For a kitchen I use: furniture polish, Lysol kitchen cleaner, comet, Mr. Clean, 409, window cleaner, SOS pad, raiser blade, sponge.

I don't use Pledge anymore - see the link here:  

The furniture polish I use is mostly Pledge - any smell and I change the smell often when I clean houses to mix up the fragrance I leave behind. The low cost furniture polish I use often is Kleen Guard which runs around $1.00 per can and it does a great job. I also like Endust on some things - but it has oil in it and is best used on furniture that is dry - not on furniture that already has a good shine - it can leave an oily residue. I also use lemon or orange oil when customers have really dry furniture.

Through advertising, some people think they shouldn't use furniture polish because it "builds up".... ????? Dry furniture attracts more dust and never looks clean. You need to put moisture back into your wood furniture... Don't believe advertising - you need to use furniture polish to keep your furniture looking great, plus it aids in keeping the dust gone.

When you spray furniture polish it captures the dust so that you can wipe it up. Without it, you just end up pushing the dirt around.

I really do not like Behold or Old English and definitely not dollar store furniture polish. This is just my opinion. If you are trying to cut costs - use Kleen Guard. Windex, I really like 409 window cleaning. I hate streaks! One of the most time consuming tasks is getting the glass clean without any streaks. I've found that I like 409 the best. I also like Sprayway Glass Cleaner that I have found at Walmart. It used to be under $2.00 but they recently have raised the price and it is getting a little spendy - I use it sparingly - but I do like it a lot.

I like Windex or even no name brand window cleaner, but it seems to take a little longer to make sure it is streak free - and I am all about doing it one time and hurry.... hurry .... hurry.

The rags I use: I do like swiffer to get in-between electrionics -that is about all I use it for when I do my cleaning service. At home I love to swiffer every couple of days during the week - in between cleaning days. It really is nice to keep the dust up.

I have window towels which are flour sacks clothes - I like the large towels you can purchase from Fred Meyers ... I do NOT like the ones I've purchased from Walmart - they are not as absorbant or as big as the Fred Meyers Flour Sacks towels.. You can find them on sale quite often at Fred Meyers - this is the best value.

I use white wash clothes, white hand towels and a ridged white bar towel for dusting with furniture polish.

I've also found that when washing - the towels work best if I do NOT use any type of softner sheet. Especially with the mirror/window towels. I use clorox every other wash to keep them white... I find that if I use clorox everytime they wear out faster - so I do it every other wash. I wash them every day - so I try to make them last as long as I can.

I also put my rags in a plastic bag that is easy to tote around with me and my caddy. I put the used ones in another plastic bag. I like to change rags quite often to prevent sperading germs from one area to another - like from bathroom to kitchen.

Next I will start telling you how I use these product to clean different parts in the house.

As I have said before, I hope these tips will be helpful to you. Questions and comments are always welcome!