Choosing cleaning products can be overwhelming - today we share a description of our staple products, and why we love them! In our attempt to be environmentally conscious (while staying properly sanitary) we use a combination of sustainable brands and traditional chemicals that are versatile enough that we don't need a lot of them.
Our caddies contain exactly 1 limited disinfectant, 1 glass cleaner (although water is the best glass cleaner), 1 strongly acidic limescale remover/stainless steel cleaner, and that's it for chemicals! We use a handful of microfiber rags with a sponge and scrub brush, 1 feather duster, a roll of paper towels, trash bags and finally for backup - a re-fillable Clorox toilet wand only for rare cases that our clients do not have toilet brushes. We have mop buckets and vacuum for use as-needed, gloves to keep us safe, and that's all you'll find in our standard cleaning inventory!
Secret #1. Microfiber cloths
Microfiber is designed at a scientific level to utilize a static charge (which is why you shouldn't use a dryer sheet when drying them) to attract every speck of dust and bacteria it crosses and trap it, while leaving no lint behind. When properly cared for, quality microfiber rags last up to hundreds of washes. On many surfaces, no cleaning product is needed other than water to remove bacteria - and microfiber is the top-choice for polishing surfaces like chrome or glass after they are cleaned. If you thought your glass shower wall couldn't get any clearer after a good clean, try drying it with microfiber for an extra "wow" effect!
Secret #2. Mr. Clean Multi-Purpose Cleaner
The secret to having a single, multi-purpose cleaner that's both strong enough to clean well and disinfect, while staying perfectly multi-use for any type of surface is having a chemical that's Ph-neutral or in some cases - a weak base. Mr. Clean's multi-surface cleaner has a Ph level of about 10, which is weak enough not to immediately damage soft and porous surfaces like stone, and better-yet if diluted at a 10:1 ratio with water, even has a Ph-level of 9. Stone is soft, and tends to absorb what sits on it which can cause discoloration, dulling, and damage if the wrong Ph-levels are applied (vinegar is not suitable on granite or marble), but a proper dilution of our main cleaner leaves no harm. It's suitable for intelligent use on stone, stainless steel, mop water, finished hardwood floors, and anything in-between. This cleaner is also a limited disinfectant, which means that it disinfects after sitting for 10 minutes on a cleaned surface - a normally unnecessary step in a general house clean, but there if we need it. Sanitizing is perfectly suitable for our homes on a daily basis, yet our favorite multi-surface cleaner still kills bacteria like salmonella and e-coli.
Secret #3. Public Goods brand staple cleaners - bathroom cleaner, surface cleaner, and glass cleaner.
Public Goods is a wonderful company mentioned in our blog post about our favorite eco-friendly cleaners! Their plastics are largely biodegradable (or are otherwise quasi-biodegradable longer than 6-months), they work well, and they don't break the bank. PG focuses on cleaner manufacturing as well, so their products are better than many traditional products are for the environment and our health - I've found their glass cleaner to be the best I've used. While we only stock their glass cleaner for the sake of being minimalistic, choosing any PG products can't be a bad choice.
It's hard to be as eco-friendly as we want to be. While many "sustainable" brands and products exist on the market - many of which provide wonderful products - our ideology is that knowledge is key. After learning about why you're using the products you're using, which ones overlap in their purposes, and eliminating what you can, implementing safe and effective dilution ratios to use only what you need and nothing more, we make the progress we can without sacrificing quality and without contradicting our purpose - to clean!
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