School’s out for summer! I LOVE summer. Its an opportunity to spend more time with my kids, de-stress, sleep in, take naps, and catch up on all of the things that don’t get done during the school year. One of those things is cleaning! I obviously clean throughout the school year, but there are definitely things that get neglected – especially at the end of the school year.  We start playing outside, going to the lake, and the end of a school trimester is always busy with grading. In other words, there are parts of my house that would mortify me if you saw them (ahem…master bedroom and bathroom).

I’ll be tackling a lot of those spaces over the next week or so when the kids and I aren’t finding something fun to do. I feel so much more sane with a clean house! So since I’m forcing myself into the cleaning spirit, I thought I would share some of my favorite cleaning supplies. Stick with me 😉 I know this is at least somewhat interesting because there are a lot of pins about cleaning on pinterest. Come on, you know you have a cleaning board 🙂 AND, just the other day someone I know was asking for vacuum advice on facebook. I really love my vacuum…like really. I’m not a cleaning expert, nor do I have the cleanest house on the block (probably far from it). BUT, I do have a husband with a dirty job, kids, and an old smelly dog (I didn’t mention myself because obviously my house would be immaculate if it were just me….no comments from past roommates please), and I at least like a clean house and am able to make is presentable for pretty regular guests because I like to be social. Trust me, I think there’s at least one product here you haven’t heard of and is a must have with kids or pets:

• Kids and Pets

We should buy stock in this. We use it more often than I wish we had to. We use it mostly on our carpets when somebody spills something or the dog has an accident. It does a great job on stains, neutralizes odor, and doesn’t bleach the carpet. Its non toxic and non irritating (it doesn’t even seem to bother my extremely sensitive skinned children). Just a couple of weeks ago, one of the little rascals sat on an ink pad and then played all over the house before I realized it. There was ink all over the carpet, but it completely came out. Its also cleaned puke, hot chocolate, and plenty of other things I don’t want to talk about 😉

• Honest Multi Surface Cleaner

I love this because you can use it on pretty much everything. I don’t have to stock a bunch of different cleaners; I can use this on counters, wood table, toilets, floors, etc. I think it does a great job and its free of ammonia, SLS, SLES, fragrances, glycol, dyes, phosphates, 1,4-dioxane, chlorine, bleach, DEA, formaldehyde, triclosan, or caustics. I don’t know what most of those are, but it makes me feel good that they care to tell me that they are trying to make it safer. Now lets get gross – I think it does an exceptional job on cleaning the tile grout around the toilet (better than anything else I’ve tried). You can get this on the Honest website or at Target.  Honest also has several other products of which I am a big fan. Like, I was honestly a little sad when we didn’t need the diapers anymore. They are the cutest and also saved us from diaper rash problems we had with other diapers. If you are interested in any of their products, new customers can use this referral link for a coupon.

• White distilled vinegar

Cheap and effective! Like I said, Parker has a dirty job. He works outside in the heat in jeans, boots, and often a hard hat and safety vest. Not surprisingly, he comes home a bit gamey. Also, with the invention of front loader washing machines, mildew smell can be an issue. We finally landed on vinegar as our solution. I pour a bunch of it into laundry that needs extra help. It takes care of the smell, and I read somewhere that its a natural fabric softener. Two birds, one stone (maybe three birds because I think it is actually taking care of detergent build up in the washer). A quick google “confirms.” We also use vinegar to clean the shower (see below), and its also the easiest way to clean the microwave (just poor some in a bowl with water and microwave it). It basically steams the microwave and makes the gunk much easier to wipe down.

• Baking soda

This works with vinegar and dish soap and lemon juice to clean the shower. We just put all of the ingredients in a dish wand and scrub it down. We also add baking soda to the laundry sometimes. Baking soda and vinegar form a little bubble volcano, so be ready for that. I learned a lot of the baking soda and vinegar tricks on pinterest, but I can confirm they work!

• Borax

Gives me a shiny kitchen sink. My mom never used this, so I feel like its been an amazing discovery 🙂

• Shark Rotator Professional Lift Away

I really think this is a great vacuum! I can see its really working by the full canister I get everytime (#pethair). Its self propelled, which makes it easier on my back. It also swivels to get around furniture, and the canister lifts away from the base to make stairs easier. It is also really easy to clean, which is super important to me. I don’t want a huge hassle everytime I need to empty it. It comes with some great attachments that even allow you to vacuum under appliances. Mine also came with a free steam mop, which makes mopping a cinch. I recommended the vacuum to my mom, and she also loves it! #suestampofapproval

So there they are. Do you use any of these? What are your favorite cleaning products? What’s the best way to clean a stove top? I can NEVER get that looking perfect. #weirdthingsadultingmademecareabout

Jalene

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