As someone who pays a lot of attention to detail and praises good organization, cleaning the house isn’t just a chore on my weekend to-do list; it’s a process for which I tend to prepare the day before, so that instead of wasting an entire weekend achieving nothing, I can get the job done in a couple of hours. And no, I don’t spend tons of money on fancy cleaning products and machines, and definitely do not rely on cleaning services; I do it all by myself, with the help of a simple trick: I use quality cleaning supplies, spend exactly 1 hour (sometimes 2 hours, when I do seasonal master cleaning) on every room and handle all distractions: Matthew is at his grandmother’s house, my husband is out of the house, and I’m listening to my favourite songs on my earphones. Talk about a cleaning adventure.

However you wanna do it (or whichever way is most convenient for you), have in mind that the most important thing for a successful cleaning spree is having the right cleaning supplies: your mops, brushes, cloths, gloves, brooms and all chemical products need to be of exceptional quality so that you don’t end up cleaning and calling a cleaning service afterwards. That’s a whole lot of money to spend and an entire weekend ruined. Not affordable.

So when it comes to choosing a set of good cleaning supplies, I rely on Vileda; ther product palette is wide and it has everything I need, the prices are pretty reasonable for something that needs to be changed eventually, and more importantly, all their products I’ve tried so far are long-lasting and do the job very effectively. Plus, Vileda has a sustainability policy that considers the environment, which means: green elements! Here’s what I have in my cleaning kit:

Mops, brooms and brushes

My laminate floors don’t support anything with very sturdy bristles, and cotton simply doesn’t create the shine I want. So I’m using the Super Mocio Power Clean Mop which has fibres made of microfibre which perfectly cleans my floors and it gives them that shine I’m in love with. If you have marble floors for example, you could go with the cotton option, The Extra Long Cotton Mop; cotton cleans such cold, sturdy surfaces very effectively way. The good thing here is that these are durable mops, you can simply wash the fibres and you don’t need to think about replacing them for some time. As for brushes and brooms, I use the DuActiva Broom with two sides so I can clean with a foam and on a dry surface – 2 in 1!

Cloths

You need a lot of cloths for cleaning; in fact, they’re your main weapon! Therefore, they need to be of very high quality so that they can effectively clean surfaces; plus, they need to be machine-washable, so you don’t end up buying new ones every week. I buy Vileda’s All Purpose Cloth 30 pk, which has 30 pieces in one package; this way I’m covered with cloths for a month at least.

Sponges

The kitchen is my weak spot; if it’s not all sparkly and smelling fresh, I am going to spend another hour or two or more if I have to to make it like that! And as much as I love my dish-washer and think of it as a life-saver, there’s simply no way I’ll leave the dishes without inspecting them first. For that purpose, I have the Naturals All Purpose Scouring Sponge, which comes in a package of two: one for my dishes and one for the sink and the surrounding area. Pretty convenient.

Window cleaners

Since we’re talking about saving a few dollars here, I’m going to recommend you to try the Glass Cloth; it’s like a magical cloth designed for giving glass that invisible, see-through effect. And yes, it does make your doors and windows so clean that you can easily bump into them thinking they’re opened (poor Matthew, cried for half an hour after he run into my kitchen door trying to get out). This is a machine-washable cloth, so it will definitely serve you for a long time. You can also go with the Magical window cleaner by Vileda, but have in mind that this one bottle will quickly be over, especially if you’re cleaning the entire house.

Gloves

Finally, hand-protection. I’m really germophobic, so I never clean or handle food without gloves. I have the Ansell Handy Fresh Disposable Gloves package that contains 100 pieces in; I use them for cleaning the bathroom, balconies, the kitchen as well as for handling food when needed. Of course these will eventually be over since they’re disposable, but they’ll definitely serve you for some time.

Bottom line my dear housewives, even if you try to do the cleaning process entirely with some old pieces of cloth or similar stuff, you’ll eventually need to upgrade; and searching for products that will be both effective enough and with a reasonable price can be such a daunting thing to do. So, do a small research of the market and talk to your fellow housewives; you might get some really valuable information.