Hey! Welcome to part one of my three part The Busy Mom’s Guide to a Clean Home series. Today, I will introduce to you my quick cleaning toolkit. Cleaning is an unpleasant chore. There’s no doubt about it. Honestly, I didn’t mind it as much before I had my son. But with kids comes more messes and less time. Boo. Thankfully there are lots of products on the market that make keeping house easy. These products not only reduce time, but will bring you one step closer to your supermom badge.

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General Cleaning Products

Disinfecting Wipes
I used to work in health care so I am very anti-germ. These babies are quick, easy, and disposable. Plus they work great to remove stuck on jelly and marinara sauce.

Glass + Multi-Surface Cleaner
I just recently heard about window cleaners that moonlight as Multi-Surface cleaners. (Or is it the other way around… ) It was totally a “duh” moment for me. Why wouldn’t they be able to combine a disinfectant with a streak-free shine. The best part is if I get a little too trigger happy and splatter a mirror there are no steaks! Love.

Microfiber Cloths
These are often sold with automotive supplies, but let me tell you, these little guys are miracle workers for your home. They are reusable, washable, and lint free. Dust with them. Clean surfaces. Wash dishes. Clean glass. These replace my paper towels, rags and sponges.

Cleaning Caddy
This is more like cleaning sidekick than product, but it is essential to my routine. A caddy will keep all your products in one place, so as you are going room to room, you don’t have to keep going back to retrieve forgotten products or carry an armful of stuff around. Plus, it helps keep clutter in check. Because everything has its place, you won’t be searching for the furniture spray that fell into the back of the closet. I like to have a couple of caddies for different rooms.

Timer
This is my secret weapon to quick cleaning. To quote Parkinson’s Law, “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” So, I like to work in 10 minute intervals. Normally, I set Kai up with a fun activity and I can sneak away for at least 10 minutes. If he is “helping” me, I’ll set the timer for another 10 minutes and finish the bulk of my cleaning.

My Favorites:

Dusting

Duster
My husband is not a sensitive guy. He can smash is hand in a car door and not shed a tear. If he gets around dust, his eyes water and his nose runs like crazy. He looks exactly like I do at the end of The Notebook. So I have to keep those dust bunnies at bay in order to avoid a hubby breakdown. My favorite tool is Swiffer Dusters. I try to use them every day and it keeps dust at bay.

Wood Furniture Wipes
My husband has a love affair with wood furniture. We even have a few pieces that were hand-made by him and my father-in-law. Wood is beautiful, but can be hard to maintain. These will clean, shine, and protect your wood in just one swipe. So easy.

My Favorites:

Floors

Sweeper
I’ve mentioned before that I have a toddler and a dog. I also have a husband that works as a mechanic. Needless to say, my floors collect a lot of dirt. Again, its Swiffer to the rescue. This lightweight fighter really throws a mean hook against dirt and dog hair. Plus, Swiffer wet cleans up that sticky substance that mysteriously appeared under the high chair. It doesn’t totally eliminate the vacuum or mop, but I only have to break them out once a week now.

Mop
I like to use a steam mop to sanitize the linoleum in my kitchen and the tile floors in my bathrooms. It’s quick and mess-less and best of all, no bucket is needed.

Vacuum
We had to buy a new vacuum a few years ago. Even if I vacuumed the same spot 20+ times, the dog hair just wasn’t moving. Now, I have a confession to make: I dream of Dyson vacuums. Honestly, I doubt I would vacuum any more often if I had one, but they are just so darn pretty! Haha. Back to reality and my budget didn’t quite cover my dream vacuum. So I did a LOT of research and fell in love with a Shark. It uses a bagless system (which I love) and it even has a pet hair attachment for furniture. I’ve been using it for six years now and it still runs great! Plus its so lightweight that I can take it up and down stairs with no problem. Now I only need to vacuum once and all the dog hair disappears. Magic.

My Favorites:

Kitchen

Baking Soda
Have you ever had a mystery smell in your refrigerator? You know the one that vaguely smells like tuna, but you haven’t had fish in weeks… Its nothing a little baking soda can’t fix. (Plus if you ever have a kitchen fire, its got you covered there too.) Just lift a corner, stick it in the back of your fridge, and change it every couple of months. Easy.

Dishwasher Tabs
I have tried a ton of dishwasher detergents and I am super picky about my dishes. I really like detergent tabs because there is no need to measure, clean, or pre-wash my dishes.

Plastic-Wrap
It’s not only great for leftovers, but I use plastic wrap to line my refrigerator and freezer shelves, it protects against any accidental spills and drips and that cuts my fridge cleaning time in half.

Oven Cleaner
Ok, so I’m not the best at always cleaning the inside of my oven. The outside, sure. But nobody but me ever sees the inside. Easy-Off Professional No-Fume Oven Cleaner is awesome. It does a great job cleaning, also it won’t run you out of the house with its odor. I wouldn’t recommend sniffing the stuff, but I get frequent migraines and this stuff didn’t bother me like most other cleaners.

My Favorites:

Bathrooms

Toilet Bowl Tabs
There is nothing worse than a gross toilet. While these unfortunately don’t scrub your toilets for you, they cut down drastically on how much time it takes to clean them and they help prevent staining and rings

Shower Spray
I’m all about daily shower spray. I don’t think there is any cleaning task that I hate more than cleaning the shower. We have super bad water out here in the country, so its not an easy task. But with a daily shower spray, I just spray it on after my shower and it does the cleaning for me. Ta-da!

My Favorites:

Good Scents

Scented Wax Melts
My friend gave me an addiction to wax melts. (Thanks, Jaimie.) I love them because even if I don’t touch anything else, my house always smells awesome. Nothing gives away a not quite clean house like odor and in a house full of boys, odor is an issue. I love the plug-in warmers and my favorite scents (at the moment) are Luna and Sun-Kissed Citrus. They smell so yummy! Almost ever retailer is selling their own versions now too. Which makes them super convenient. I haven’t tried many, but I do sometimes steal a sniff in the store (Am I the only one?) and they smell delicious.

Fabric Refresher
Along with the wax melts, I like to occasionally mist any soft surfaces with a spritz of Febreeze Allergen Reducer. It helps keep my couch smelling less like dog, which I prefer. No offense, Gusto.

My Favorites:

So there you have it, my favorite time-saving cleaning products to make your home happy and your guests jealous.

Be sure to come back next week. I’m giving you my best tricks and tips to keep on top of dust and grime. Want to know how I keep a clean house in under 30 minutes a day? You won’t want to miss this.

Now its your turn, tell me in the comments below:

What are your favorite “get clean quick” products?