My Housekeeping Heroes

It seems widely believed that having a clean home means constantly buying the “right” products — highly specialized cleaners for all the different surfaces throughout the house, a tool with only one purpose, and a cabinet of supplies you use once and never pick up again.

But when I think about a clean home, and how I keep mine clean, I realize the thing doing the heavy lifting is the systems, not the products.

The systems I have around cleaning are what make the difference, not a cabinet full of the newest, trendiest cleaning products.

Instead of just buying whatever I see on TikTok, I prefer to focus on simple routines and a few dependable tools that support them.

These are the products I’ve kept coming back to over the years: my housekeeping heroes. These are the things that make everyday cleaning easier, deep cleaning more manageable, and maintaining our home feel less like a chore.

The products that make my daily and weekly maintenance easier

In this section:

• everyday cleaning sprays

• different cleaning rags and their purposes

• dishwashing essentials

^{A quick note: some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them. I don’t share products just to share products. The tools and supplies below have earned their place in my home because they make my routines simpler and my home easier to maintain. I’m sharing them because I genuinely love using them in my home. Thank you for supporting my work here at The Living Standard!}

If you learn one thing from this list, please let it be the beauty of a multipurpose cleaning concentrate. I’ve been loyal to this Mr. Clean lavender concentrate for almost 6 years now. Cleaning concentrates do the work of 5 cleaners, but in only one bottle. I put a small amount in my favorite spray bottle, fill the rest with water, and use it all over the house. I clean the kitchen counters every day with it, as well as furniture throughout the house, and I even mop with it. What keeps me coming back to this one is the effectiveness and the smell (pleasant, but not overpowering like a lot of cleaners out there).

The one thing I don’t use my multi purpose cleaner on is glass, simply because of streaks. So I do allow this singular product because it’s so effective, and a little goes a long way — I’ve had the same bottle for almost a year.

This is my go to disinfectant, antibacterial spray, and sanitizer. It does it all. I keep this as a finisher behind my normal cleaning. If I made a raw meat mess in the kitchen, I’ll go in with this after wiping away any excess liquid. It only takes two minutes for it to disinfect a surface, and you don’t need to wipe it away. I also spray it on the toilet after cleaning it, because most multipurpose cleaners have to sit wet for 10 minutes to disinfect — and who is letting it actually sit that long?

It’s also great for spraying fabrics that hold onto scents: couches, curtains, throw pillows, rugs. It actually breaks down the odor instead of just masking it with fake fragrance. This is the one I buy in bulk, as well as the spray bottle* I use.

*It’s important hypochlorous acid is in an opaque bottle, as light hurts it’s efficacy.

It feels silly to buy rags to clean a dirty toilet with, so I don’t. I just cut up old/stained t-shirts into rags. I’ve had some of them for years. Usually by the time I’m ready for more, I have a few t-shirts that desperately need retired. I reserve any white ones for bathroom use so they can be bleached. Everything else gets used all over the house for deep cleaning projects (cabinets, baseboards, windows, etc.).

I don’t buy dusters because I have microfiber cloths. They pick up dust like nothing else. Anytime I need to dust anything I give it a once over with my microfiber cloths, then wipe with my spray too depending on the surface. They’re also perfect for cleaning your car interior!

Laundry tip: Don’t wash your towels (and especially microfiber ones!) with fabric softener. It will coat them in a waxy film and lessen their absorbency. I don’t even buy fabric softener anymore for this reason (more on that later).

I do like having a bit nicer ones (but still very cheap) dish rags to use on the kitchen counters and table. I keep whichever one I’m using hanging on the side of our fridge for easy access so this is the one area I choose to upgrade a little bit. I love these magnetic hooks for hanging wet rags and towels to dry out in-between uses — helps a lot with smells building up!

I unfortunately do not have a dishwasher, so as someone who loves cooking from scratch nearly every day, I’m constantly doing dishes.

• dish brushes + a dish brush caddy to keep them tidy

• a cute dish soap container so I don’t have to stare at an ugly plastic bottle the whole time

• a pan scraper that saves me every night (this is the closest I’ve found to the Pampered Chef ones, iykyk)

• baking soda! I use it multiple times a week to easily break up stuff stuck on my pans. In the pan, simmer a spoonful of baking soda with a thin layer of water over a medium heat until the water evaporates. The stuck on bits should come right off when you wash the pan.

• my favorite: a stone stand that elevates everything listed above off the counter, making cleaning so much faster and easier (keeps water off the counter too)

The products that make deep cleaning jobs less annoying

In this section:

• the random products that make my house sparkle

• vinegar: the multi-purpose hero

These are so underrated. My favorite way to use them is to get scuffs off walls, baseboards, door frames, or basically anything that has random scuffs or stains. It is the ONLY thing that got Sharpie off my counter. Plus, one pack lasts forever.

This is maybe the closest item on this list to “single purpose” but I’ll allow it because it’s just that good. Murphy’s Oil Soap is unmatched. It’s a product my whole family uses and has since I was little. It’s the best cleaner out there for anything wood — floors, furniture, baseboards. If you have even a small amount of wood in your house I highly recommend it. It’s very effective for any type of kitchen cabinet too as it breaks down grease incredibly well. And because you dilute it, it lasts forever. I love filling up a bucket with some Murphy’s Oil and just deep cleaning every single piece of wood in my house. It makes everything look so good and shiny. I also know some people use it to shine stainless steel appliances.

As a lover of stainless steel pans, Barkeeper’s Friend has earned its place in my house. I use my pans every day so they easily build up stains on the bottom and sides. About once a month I try to deep clean my pans. I do this by first putting a baking soda paste all over and letting it sit before washing it off. This is so I’m not wasting as much of the Barkeeper’s Friend and only using it for the toughest stains. Then, I make a paste with Barkeeper’s Friend and tackle any stains still on there. This maintenance is what will help my stainless steel pans last as long as possible and continue to look good.

I also use it to scrub my stainless steel sink. BUT, it does contain abrasives, so if you do this make sure your sink is truly stainless steel and mix your powder into a paste first (or use their liquid version).

I keep all of our old toothbrushes and use them to scrub all the little spaces that are hard to get with a rag. Seals and crevices on sinks, tight corners in the shower, and about 10 more random places as I find a use for them.

Vinegar is definitely my number one cleaning product (maybe besides my multipurpose cleaner). I always buy in bulk, I can’t ever be caught without vinegar.

Here are the main ways I use it:

• Descaling tea kettles/coffee machines

  • Google for your specific setup but running a cycle mixed with vinegar will clear out mineral buildup

• Cleaning the microwave

  • I fill up a glass pitcher (a mug would work too) with half water and half vinegar. Microwave for a minute or two so it gets the microwave steamy. This makes getting all the gunk off so much easier! I can’t even remember how I cleaned the microwave before I learned this.

• Homemade shower spray

  • Mix 1 part water and 1 part vinegar with a few squirts of dish soap - I mix it right in my spray bottle. To clean the shower, I spray the mixture on a wet shower/tub, let it sit for 10 minutes, then scrub with my go-to shower brush. I do this every other week and love how clean our shower stays.

And my favorite use for vinegar is actually in the next section.

I may still be on the hunt for my perfect detergent but there are some laundry products that will always be staples in my house.

I’ve been on a journey to simplify everything around my house. Not only is vinegar great for so many uses around the house, it secretly belongs in your laundry room too. Vinegar has totally replaced fabric softener for me. Fabric softener has waxy chemicals that coat fibers, which may make clothes feel softer at first, but overtime leave a buildup that holds odor. It does the same thing to your machine. Using vinegar in place of a fabric softener actually restores natural softness, eliminates odors, prevents static, and keeps your washing machine mildew-free. It will save you so much money too.

I have white towels, some white sheets, and a ton of white cleaning rags and kitchen towels. Why? Because nothing ever feels as clean as a freshly bleached load of towels. Whites are the only color I use hot water on too, so they just feel unbelievably clean.

Similarly to fabric softener, dryer sheets aren’t all they’re promised to be. Not only are dryer balls cheaper in the long run, they’re more eco-friendly than the single-use sheets. Dryer balls reduce drying time and soften clothes without chemical residues and fragrances. These are the ones I use and have had for years.

I use mesh laundry bags to separate delicates like bras and underwear from my other clothes. I don’t want to go through the hassle of doing a whole other load just for delicates, but it makes me feel a little better that they’re all together and sort of protected from everything else. I also use them for my silk pillowcases to limit how much they rub against other fabrics to hopefully extend their life.

I know a lot of people that don’t air dry any of their laundry. And I get it, it’s faster and easier to just throw everything in the dryer. But, air drying clothes can significantly extend the life of your clothes. There are lots of dryer racks out there, and some people are even choosing to go back to clotheslines. We thankfully have a lot of shelving in our laundry room so I have a bunch of hangers in there on a rod. I hang up all of my pjs, my silk pillowcases, my bras, and my more expensive clothing like sweaters and leggings. Really the only thing I tumble dry are sheets, towels, t-shirts, and jeans. It really does make such a difference and I feel like my clothes last so much longer now.

Want to keep this list handy? I’ve saved all of my housekeeping heroes in one place here: My Housekeeping Heroes

This is one my secrets to having a very clean house:

I have certain audiobooks and podcasts that I only let myself listen to while I clean.

This keeps me motivated to clean because I’m always wanting to listen to the new episode or wondering what’s going to happen next in my book. It’s also nice to just throw on headphones and check out with a good podcast in the background. You could even do it with music. I also usually throw on reality tv while I fold laundry.

Just because cleaning is a “chore”, doesn’t mean it has to be miserable. Find small ways like this to make it slightly more enjoyable for yourself.

This list of products is so simple compared to what I used to think was necessary to keep a house clean. Now, I want the products and tools I buy to have several uses and really pull their weight. My focus is real, effective cleaning and tools and systems that make it as easy as possible. I don’t need a full cabinet of aesthetic bottles and fancy gadgets, I just want a few staples I know I can always rely on. Reducing friction will make it easier to clean which means you will be more likely to actually clean your house.

These are the housekeeping heroes I return to again and again.

This is a lineup I’ve formulated over years of trial and error, figuring out what I like and don’t like. I can genuinely see myself using these for the rest of my life — that’s how much I love them and how much they support my systems and routines.

I hope this list gives you a few ideas for simplifying your own routines and choosing tools that truly earn their place in your home.

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