A perfectly-formed home cleaning kit is the key to successful cleaning.
The ideal cleaning kit is practical, organised, easily transportable and contains a range of essential products and tools to guarantee great cleaning results.
A perfect cleaning kit will help you get great results and save you time and frustration during both big jobs and small. You'll always have everything you need on hand, will notice when products run low, and will also be able to keep all your supplies neat and organised.
Best of all? Building a perfect cleaning kit is surprisingly cheap (and easy!) Today, we're sharing our perfect cleaning kit formula, so you can build your own at home. Equip yourself with professional cleaning kit now and start cleaning better and faster today!
Essential products for your home cleaning kit
Having a variety of products to hand will make cleaning the house a breeze. No more time wasted making trips searching for products, or using the wrong product only to find it ineffective - with a selection of products, you'll be equipped to tackle anything your dirty house throws at you.
1. All-purpose cleaner
If you have just one product in your home cleaning kit, make it an all-purpose cleaner.
The main benefit of an all-purpose cleaner is that it offers great results across multiple surfaces - it's in the name! This makes it an invaluable product to have on hand when cleaning fro room-to-room.
They're great on things like kitchen and bathroom countertops. We prefer a spray version for ease, but you can also choose to use a diluted concentrated solution.
2. Glass & mirror cleaner
Glass and mirrors are easy to clean, providing you have the right product to hand.
A good glass and mirror cleaner will remove grime and marks without leaving smears or stickiness.
At Expert Home Tips we like to make our own by mixing 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol, 1/3 cup white vinegar, water, and a few drops of essential oils in a spray bottle.
3. Every household cleaning kit needs a disinfectant
Bathrooms, we're looking at you.
For truly germ-filled areas, nothing's going to do as good a job as disinfectants, which are purpose-made to kill germs and bacteria, preventing illness and sickness amongst your family.
Always have a disinfectant in your home cleaning kit for tackling kitchen surfaces you've cut meat on in the kitchen or wiping around the toilet seat.
Our favourite disinfectant is Zoflora because it comes in a variety of beautiful fragrances.
4. Furniture polish
Most modern-day cleaning kits don't include furniture polish, but we're never without one.
Not only do furniture polishes smell lovely, but they really do bring up wooden furniture, unlike any other product.
They'll reduce water-marks and add a gleam and shine to even the dullest of wood.
5. Don't forget a limescale remover!
Don't spend hours on end scrubbing at limescale when a product can do it for you.
Modern limescale removers are extremely effective, and a must-have in any home cleaning kit. Spray onto shower screens, around taps and draining boards, leave for a few minutes, and it's amazing what a good job they'll do.
There are many great limescale removers on the market, but here at Expert Home Tips, we often prefer using the humble lemon.
Cut one in half and rub onto limescaled areas. Leave the juice to do its thing for 30 minutes, before wiping clean.
This really is an amazing natural solution.
6. Washing up liquid
We can't express the importance of washing up liquid enough.
You've seen what washing up liquid can do for greasy pots and pans - it's just as powerful in the bathroom too.
The only downside to washing up liquid? The suds.
Which is why our favourite use of fairy liquid is for scrubbing the bathroom sink and shower.
Teamed with the rough side of a sponge, washing up liquid is all you need to remove dirt and grime around the sink, on shower tiles and more. Just wash it away once you've scrubbed surfaces smooth.
7. Bleach
Another product no cleaning kit should be without is bleach (or hydrogen peroxide).
Due to its highly abrasive nature, we don't recommend using bleach every day, however, it is extremely useful for some common cleaning tasks.
One of these is cleaning the grout between tiles. The results really are amazing, and a testament to why bleach is an essential product to have on hand.
Make sure you know how to get the bleach smell off your hands with the tips in our other article.
8. Surgical spirit
Hello, sticky substances!
Although rare, things such as label glue, grease and gum are extremely hard to remove.
What you need is surgical spirit.
Just a tiny amount of this inexpensive product will remove all manner of sticky things quickly and easily, without spreading the mess.
In houses with little children, it's even more essential to have, as surgical spirit works wonders for removing crayon marks too.
Home cleaning kit - essential tools
One tool certainly does not fit all.
This you'll know, have you ever tried to clean an entire shower screen with a toothbrush, or dust a table with a sponge.
Here's what we recommend having in your household cleaning kit to be prepared for anything.
9. A toothbrush is a cleaning kit essential!
An old toothbrush (or even several) is absolutely essential in every household cleaning kit.
Toothbrushes are unrivalled, not only for the obvious tasks like scrubbing sink taps, but they're also great for getting into drinks holders in cars, grout and much more.
Next time you're throwing your old one out, pop it into your cleaning kit instead. It will definitely come in handy.
10. Cleaning cloths
We recommend having a few generic cleaning cloths in your kit, as you never know when they might come in handy.
They're ideal for using alongside multi-purpose cleaners or disinfectants for wiping down bathroom cabinets, kitchen tops, the outside of your bathtub and more.
Just be sure to clean them periodically, otherwise they'll spread germs and dirt, hampering your cleaning efforts.
11. Microfibre cloths
Alongside your cleaning cloths, we also recommend stocking your cleaning kit with some microfibre cloths.
Microfibre is extremely effective at picking up dust and other debris, making these cloths useful for dusting. Additionally, the fibres are much finer than those of cotton, enabling you to get deeper into crevices, whilst also providing additional abrasion for removing marks and built up dust/grime.
12. Gloves
We never clean without wearing rubber gloves.
Rubber gloves provide a barrier between you and cleaning work. This not only includes harsh chemicals, but also grime and other nasties too.
With your hands protected, you can get on with scrubbing without having to worry - speeding up the process and leaving your hands in good nick too.
13. Sponges
Another thing every household cleaning kit should have are sponges.
You should have at least two so that you can prevent the transfer of germs from the toilet to the chopping board.
At Expert Home Tips, we like to have four - both a large and a small one for each room.
14. Cleaning wipes
Often considered a 'short-cut', cleaning wipes can be extremely convenient and practical for some household tasks.
Some jobs, such as cleaning the toilet seat and other 'filthy' surfaces, are most-easily tackled with cleaning wipes. Their 'one use' reduces the risk of germ transfer, and also allows you to pick up dirt such as hairs and dust, and dispose of it in the bin.
Cleaning wipes have a high, environmental impact, so use them sparingly throughout the home. Never flush them down your toilet, even if the packaging says they're flushable.
15. Paper towel
You don't need a lot of it, but we do recommend you have paper towel in your household cleaning kit.
There is nothing that brings up mirrors and windows like a sheet of paper towel. It not only acts to dry the surface area post-cleaning, but it also buffs it free of marks and smears.
Again, paper towel isn't particularly environmentally-friendly, so don't make a habit out of using it.
TOP TIP: We find newspaper just as effective for buffing mirrors and windows. If you're an avid news reader, try using this instead of paper towel to reduce your environmental footprint.
If you still have room in your cleaning kit...
Still got space?
If you can, we also advise squeezing the following into your cleaning kit.
16. Why your cleaning kit needs a squeegee
Squeegees - your bathroom's best friend.
Once you've finished cleaning that shower screen, tray and tiles, give everything a good wipe down with your squeegee.
It will remove any remaining residue and also prevent water marks, leaving gleaming results.
Squeegees can also be used to remove hair from carpets. Simply pass the dry, rubber side over the carpet pile. You'll be shocked by how much hair your vacuum doesn't pick up!
17. Lint roller
If you have pets, a lint roller is a must-have item.
Lint rollers are truly amazing at picking up hair from just about anywhere.
Run it along your sofas, chairs and even carpets to remove their fuzzy coating.
TOP TIP: Lint rollers are also great for cleaning lamp shades. Try it next time!
18. Feather duster
Depending on the layout of your house, it may be worth considering having a feather duster in your cleaning kit.
Feather dusters make easy work of cleaning the top of shelves, cabinets and, of course, those pesky ceiling cobwebs.
Just be sure to start cleaning up high first, to prevent dust falling to lower surfaces later on.
What do you have in your cleaning kit? Let us know what you couldn't live without in the comments below.
I like to use a hairdryer on my silk flowers and use vinegar on a lots of sticky things.
We love using a hair dryer to blast dust from all sorts of things too Sharon. Great tip! :)
I have a soft blusher brush I keep for dusting delicate ornaments, which gets into all the intricate bits.
That's a fab idea, Jo!
Wooden cocktail sticks for getting into those REALLY hard to reach corners, particularly on cookers, cotton buds dipped in spirit vinegar or rubbing alcohol, are also useful for this (much better than sticking them in your ear) Don't forget to thoroughly rinse out your sponges and microwave them for a minute or so while still damp, to sterilise them for their next use - remember to let them cool before handling!! Microfibre cloths, while very effective, are not particularly eco-friendly when it comes to disposal, so perhaps bear that in mind.
Thanks for sharing those tips! Your home must be sparkling clean - it makes us want to deep clean with cocktail sticks now!
Sounds like far too many chemicals being used to me. My wife was using a cleaner a while ago and she said to me that it made a lovely smell of lemon in the house. It did but I thought real lemon would not smell that strong, so I tried some lemon cleaning a few weeks later as I always use lemon to clean my wooden chopping boards. You could only just smell it. So we never used that lemon smelling cleaner again. You have to remember you are breathing in those chemicals after using them.
That's very true, Trevor! Natural cleaning isn't for everyone, but we love it.
The most useful item in my cleaning kit is a plastic bowl scraper, ideal for picking up vomit from carpets if you have children or animals.
We've never thought of that, Angela! What a great idea.
I use small pieces of scrap paper to get between the keys of my keyboard, moving any crumbs, dust etc to the same side then taking them out, also turning the keyboard upside down and gently shaking it to shake out any loose dust and crumbs. Best to make sure the computer is turned off first!
Great idea! Have you thought about trying the sticky side of a post-it note for this? The stickiness will pick up any crumbs so you won't need to shake your keyboard about too much.
What can be used for general household items
Hi Cyndy! It depends on how you're hoping to clean the items. Would you be hoping to remove dust or more intense grime? I would ordinarily give items a clean with a dusting cloth dipped in a small amount of polish, but it really depends on the item!
I find that liquid hand soap is just as effective as bathroom cleaner for giving the bathroom basin a quick clean, especially combined with a plastic scrubby. Try it!
Could that end up being quite expensive?
What do you recommend for cleaning Lino floors?
The brand HG sells a vinyl floor cleaner, or you could make a floor cleaner with hot water, 250ml of white vinegar and a few drops of washing-up liquid.