Today’s post is about something less exciting but very important: cleaning! I am a bit of a cleaning and organization freak. I am lucky to have the help of a housekeeper with the big stuff, but still, I feel like I am always cleaning or organizing something. (And I am just one person . . . How do you people with kids do it??)
I don’t know, but I do know that if my space is not clean, I can’t think straight. Today, I wanted to share my essentials—the things I cannot live without.
Bissell Green Cleaner
If there is one product I have influenced all of my friends and family to get, it is this. I cannot recommend it enough. It comes out multiple times a week. Jaime and Tyrion both get hairballs on the reg and/or decide to throw up all over my light-colored carpets. Add to that: I am clumsy and regularly spill coffee or wine. This comes out and cleans up any mess, getting tough stains out of my upholstery and carpets. As a runner up I like Folex’s carpet spray a lot. It dissolves messes and stains like magic.
My Dyson Vacuum
I got a Dyson vacuum maybe eight years ago and never looked back. I can’t even imagine using a corded vacuum now. It makes vacuuming so convenient and sucks up any mess. The exact one I have is the Cyclone V10. I’ve had it forever. I got it when I first moved to Brooklyn, which would be about 7 or 8 years ago, so again, it has held up really well. They have other more sophisticated versions now, but this suits me just fine. My handyman mounted it to the wall inside my pantry, which was a total game changer . . . it takes up zero space!
Laundry Care
Back when The Laundress had their big recall, I polled my audience for detergent recommendations, and Diva came highly recommended. What a name, but it smells beyond. I am frequently asked what fragrance I have on at the gym or when running errands (times when I’m not wearing perfume), and it’s this detergent. It’s heaven. It’s hard to describe the fragrance. It’s clean and fresh with a little bit of musk. It smells great but also goes with any perfume I’m wearing, so I don’t have to worry about it conflicting. I have gotten countless friends to buy it, too, just from them asking about the smell! For my whites, I use The Laundress’s Whites Detergent. And a handful of these scent beads, because they smell sooooo good! (The scent beads mix well with Diva too.)
Recently, I have been trying out Snif’s detergents, and I like them a lot. Rain Check, in particular. But Diva reigns supreme in this house. I don’t think anything can ever top it!
Stains, etc. I love Oxyclean. I find that using the Laundress Whites Detergent keeps my sheets bright and white, but every now and then, I will add a scoop of this to my laundry for an extra boost. I also use it as a paste to treat stains. I keep Tide Sticks in every drawer and every bag as again, I’m super uncoordinated and always seem to be spilling on myself. I also love The Laundress’s stain solution for something that is a little more gentle than Oxyclean (but still effective!). It’s either that or Oxyclean, depending on the garment.
Kitchen and Sink
My favorite surface spray is this one from Homecourt. I have protective glass over my wooden dining table, and this gets it clean without any streaking. It also works wonderfully on my soapstone counters. And I absolutely love the Neroli fragrance. It kind of doubles as a home fragrance.
I use the surface spray with these “paperless” paper towels. I bought these in 2020 and have not needed to repurchase so would say that they were a very good buy!
Dish Soap: I bought this one from Homecourt, and I really like it but I actually refill it with the Mrs. Meyers soap which is less expensive and comes in such good scents. Their tomato vine scent rivals Flamingo Estate! I just like that the Homecourt container matches my sink and counters, which are black.
Jewelry
I really like this $10 cleaner for a quick clean. It’s surprisingly effective. For a deep clean, I pull out my ultrasonic jewelry cleaner. I coat the pieces I’m cleaning with dish soap and let the device work its magic. For more stubborn tarnishing, I use dish soap and a straw cleaning brush (a little random but I have found it’s a great way to get between the links of chunkier bracelets.
Polishing my Silver
In my experience, the best silver polish is Wright’s Silver Polishing Cream. It’s what my mom uses, and I’ve tried others and found that nothing else quite measures up. The other thing I really love is this set (a polishing cloth and brushes), which helps you work the polish into more ornate detail work and little crevices. Of course, you can wash the cloth and reuse it again and again.
Extra Credit
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