HELP I NEED PRODUCTS- hired a housekeeper 4 hours a week!!!!

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

Poor gal has no idea what she got herself into...
I so am not an expert on household cleaners etc...
Can you share with me your favorite products etc...
If you have a good price as to where to get them feel free to share that too....


Neve
http://home.nc.rr.com/ourbabytristan
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[jojo2324]

Hee hee, my place of expertise...:D

Well, for the kitchen I like 409. Also, I am absolutely in LOVE with Clorox wipes. They just finally started packaging them 75 to a container, instead of 25. I think Costco has a generic brand (Kirkland, right?) that works just as well.

In the bathroom, Windex, and either Scrubbing Bubbles or Comet for the tub, toilet and sink.

I think the Swiffer dusters work really well, and don't kick all the dust around like a regular feather duster.

Do you have a vacuum cleaner? For carpet powder, I use Arm and Hammer Pet Fresh. I think it's in a blue box. I don't like how fruity and sweet everything else is. The Pet Fresh smells...fresh! :) If you have a canister vac, I just threw one of the citrus deordorizing discs in there, and it smells heavenly! If you don't have a vac, I highly recommend the Eureka Mighty Mite! It rocks, and is really easy to tote around the house.

Murphy's Oil and Pledge for wood.

All of these things (except the vacuum cleaner) I've seen at BJs.

Have fun not cleaning!! :)

[jojo2324]

Oh, and a Libman mop! But not the sponge type.

[new_mommy25]

I LOVE the Clorox wipes! They make cleaning my kitchen so much easier.

[August Mom]

You might ask your new cleaning gal what she prefers.

We like Lysol for toilets, Windex for mirrors and windows, Lysol Basin Tub and Tile Cleaner for shower/bath and Clorox or Lysol wipes for general wiping (although I see these as more of a convenience item and might use a spray cleaner if someone else was being paid to clean for me).

[Tondi G]

We have a cleaning lady every other week for 3 or 4 hours... LOVE IT!

The products she likes to use are

Windex for windows and glass
Cleanser (comet or ajax)
Clorox Cleanup (for tile/bathroom)
Pledge Hardwood floor cleaner spray (can only find this at Smart and Final... I suppose it is for businesses??)
I like Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen spray (there is always 409 or fantastic too... go smell them and see what scent you like!)
My cleaning lady also introduced us to Fabuloso (the purple one is lavendar scented and it actually makes the house smell so fresh and clean.... DH loves the smell of this stuff!)

I also always have Oxiclean on hand for laundry stains and she has been known to use some for cleaning miniblinds and such!

That should get you started ... GOOD LUCK... you are going to be SOOO happy!

~Tondi

[papal]

Neve, the cleaning lady that my cousin hired brings her own supplies.. you might want to check if yours does too before building up a cleaning supply stash!

[justlearning]

Not to sidetrack the main question here...butI've heard that you're only supposed to use warm water mixed with vinegar to damp mop hardwood floors (drying them as you go along so the water doesn't sit on the hardwood), so that's what I always did in our last house. I heard that Murphy's Oil/Soap and sprays like Pledge are bad for hardwood floors--even though they look nicer with those--because they make it very difficult to later refinish your floors due to the build-up on them.

Has anyone else heard this too? Does it matter if your hardwood floors are newer vs. old? Our last house was built in the '30s but we're now getting ready to move into a brand new house with lots of hardwood flooring, so I'm curious what you all have to say about cleaning hardwood floors.

[ppshah]

Yes it's true, you're not suppossed to use Pledge or Murphy's oil as they cause wax build-up. We have a cleaning person come every week and have her mop our hardwoods with plain warm water.

Also we had a bathroom redone recently and the glass door guy said not to use windex on the glass door b/c the ammonia in it is bad for the brushed nickel finish. I forget the one we have but it doesn't have ammonia. We still have Windex for mirrors etc.

This is our usual list of cleaners:

Lysol - for mopping ceramic tile in kitchen and bathrooms
Lyson toilet bowl cleaner
Fantastic/Lysol all purpose cleaner/409- whatever is on sale.
Lysol tub/tile cleaner
Windex

hth

[egoldber]

My old cleaning service used whatever I had. I just hired a new service and she had VERY definite preferences. We use:

Fantastik (I like it because is NOT antibacterial)
Windex
Soft Scrub
Mr Clean
Endust

This cleaning lady also requested plastic gloves and a particular type sponge and mop. So I would definitely ask her.

HTH,

[Momof3Labs]

For dusting furniture and floors, I LOVE the microfiber cloths from Wal-Mart!!

[anutalp]

I'm second to not using Murphy's Oil on my HWF - never ever!!!
The best thing to use is Basic H. It was recommended by the company that did HWF in my house. It's a natural liquid, smells much better than vinegar and enviromentaly friendly. The floors look great, the smell is wonderful. You can buy it on web or in speciality HWF stores.
Other cleaning supplies that my cleaning ladies use are:
- Windex - like in the moovie "My big fat Greek wedding" - you can use it on everything :)
- Soft scrub for tub, sinks
- Natural Cucumber liquid for my marble bathroom floors and walls
- Lysol Gel for toilet
- Daily Lysol for shower
- Pledge - wipes and spray
That's what I remember by now.
Hope that helps.

EDD - Windex w/o ammonia, of course, only with vinegar. I buy it at Home Depot. I have very beautiful Pella windows and it's contraindicated to use ammonia cause it will remove some layer.

[jojo2324]

Oh, I know!! I used to dread cleaning the Chicco Mamma after dinner, but with the wipes it is so much easier! Those things are the best. :)

[HoneymoonBaby]

Simple Green works just about anywhere in the house, and it's all-natural. Get the lemon scent, though, because the green kind smells nasty. It comes in a huge container, and it's concentrated, so you mix it with a certain amount of water for each purpose. It's like $10 at BJs for a giant jug of it.

For smaller, quicker jobs, I like Method cleansers at Target. They come in yummy smells, work really well, are fairly cheap (under $4 for a good-sized spray bottle), and again, they're all-natural.

If I absolutely MUST disinfect something (I'm not big on anti-bacterial stuff for the most part), then I use good old Clorox bleach mixed with water. Cheap, easy and effective. Lysol spray is good for this, as well.

[jamsmu]

Neve,

No products... but I am soooooo jealous. Enjoy!! :)

[Melanie]

We use Simple Green a lot, but I just found these great cleaners at Costco:
http://wishingfish.com/spraycleaners.html
http://www.methodhome.com
(and an interesting story about the company: http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/28/technology/business2_coolbottle/ )

They smell WONDERFUL.

My MIL works in a furniture gallery and they say not to use Pledge or Endust or any of those b/c they get between the finish of the wood and the wood and cause problems. I believe b/c they have alcohol in them? They recommend Guardsman.

[Imperia]

Yep,

it's true Murphy's Oil Soap will cause build up and actually dull your floors over time. Warm water and vinegar (white vinegar) is the best to clean wood floors and cabinets.

Imperia

[Imperia]

I have always wanted a housekeeper/cleaning person, so I am jealous!
I figure since I stay home ATM I can clean, right?

Things I like:

ORANGE CLEAN: this smells yummy and cuts grease well. I much prefer it to 409 or Fantastik and I use it on everything.

Clorox Clean up with Bleach: I use this on some surfaces like my counters when they get chicken juice one them or my grout needs a good clean, try to avoid it though because bleach is bad for the environment.

WIndex with Vinegar wipes for mirrors

Plain water and vinegar for cabinets and wood floors

OXY Clean for spots on carpets and laundry: If you don't have some, buy some trust me, it's good stuff.


I don't use comet or Ajax etc. I have been told by numerous people they can scratch the heck out of things like fiberglass tubs, corian, your stove etc. My tub is a roman tub and it's fiberglass so I just use Orange clean on it with a soft plastic scub pad. Also if you have black appliances (like we do) watch out about using paper towels on them to clean, the fibers can scratch.

\Imperia

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

Where do you get this...I am not into too much "smells", but the thought of lavender does peak my interest heavily????????
Neve
http://home.nc.rr.com/ourbabytristan
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[MartiesMom2B]

I know that there is lavender scented cleansers at Target.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[Tondi G]

I've found it at my local grocery store and I believe at Target as well..... I think kmart carries it too! But make sure it is the Purple one.... the other colors don't smell so good! It is made by Colgate Palmolive...... I think Smart and Final carries it too if you have those stores!

Good luck!

~Tondi

[urquie]

Bon Ami Cleanser
POLISHES STAINS AWAY WITHOUT SCRATCHING

is great for cleaning anything you are worried about scratching, it's very gentle and great at getting the job done. i use it on my smooth top stove instead of the expensive cleansers they suggest.

[llcoddington]

I use the exact same products and really like them.

Lana
mommy to Lauren 12/5/03