Getting ready for that big, once-a-year house cleaning job? Check out these tips for stocking up on equipment and supplies.
Every house should have cleaning items like a vacuum cleaner for carpets and rugs. A wet and dry vacuum will help when cleaning things that are up high or when something overflows. You can use this for all kinds of jobs; it can even pick up broken glass. Then you will need a cleaning caddie so you can carry supplies to the area where you are working. Next you will need two buckets, one for washing and one for rinse water. Add a wet mop, sponge mop, floor scrubber, floor squeegee, and a window squeegee with extension handles to reach higher areas without using a ladder. You will need a five-foot ladder to help in cleaning unreachable places. You also need a two-foot ladder for changing light bulbs and to reach up and get things out of your kitchen cabinets that are hard to get to.
Don't forget two brooms: an angle broom for sweeping in a small area and for doing corners and edges. The push broom can handle large area likes the basement, sidewalk, or driveway. You also need a dustpan, dust mop, and a lamb's wool duster.
For your bathroom, be sure to get a toilet brush, disinfectant cleaner, and glass cleaner for the mirrors and chrome. If there is a window in your bathroom, use glass cleaner for it. You will also need phosphoric acid cleaner for tile and fixtures. Pumice stone will remove hard water stains from the toilet. Using a toilet bowl cleaner once a week will keep your toilet bowl looking like new.
In the kitchen, keep on hand a supply of dishwashing soap, oven cleaner, and steel wool pads to clean hard burnt-on food. You will also need all-purpose cleaner, a commercial wax remover, floor wax, or a floor finish if you do not have wax floors. Sponges are helpful, along with cellulose sponge for washing and absorbing jobs. Keep on hand scrub sponges for sinks and anything that needs a gentle abrasion to get cleaned. Always keep dish clothes and dishtowels well stocked.
For the rest of the rooms in your house, collect dust rags and old clothes for dusting and applying furniture polish. The four main cleaners that you want to keep in stock are all purpose cleaner, disinfectant cleaner, a heavy duty cleaner that also is a degreaser, and a glass cleaner.
Now you are armed for any kind of cleaning job, and the germs will be on the run!
