I love my long-handled swiffer. I can reach base boards and light fixtures, including the back sides and chains, tops of pictures, etc. with just a reach of the wand.

DH loves his window washing formula as it does a great job cleaning, leaves no streaks and has no fumes. He uses a rag and a squeegee.

2c water, 1/4c alcohol, 1/4c vinegar, 1 Tbls corn starch, dash of Dawn dish washing liquid.

My favorite tip comes from Flylady: Routines. "Swish and swipe" in the bathroom every morning, the weekly "home blessing" where you clean "just the middles", and the weekly (or monthly, or daily, whatever works for you) focus on a room. Keeping the dirt at bay makes it easier when you get down and dirty. (Kind of like flossing nightly makes your hygienist visit better)

i also use a stiff whisk broom on the stairs carpet between vacuumings. It gets up a lot of dirt and raises the nap so the dirt doesn't embed.

Old toothbrushes for lots of little spaces.

A fat watercolor paintbrush for dusting, and nothing beats it for dusting Lego creations!

One of my favorite subjects! You don't need a whisk broom for all the things you mentioned. Microfiber products will do all that dusting and more, and no sweep-up necessary afterwards! QVC sells a set called the 8-Piece Safari Microfiber Dusting Kit and it has SOLVED my dusting problems. The long brush goes anywhere, under bureaus and furniture, easily to fans and chandies, between blinds, on basebaoards, and the shorter brushes are good for everything else. The microfibers seize the dust and hold it, so nothing to clean up. When it seems full take it outside and shake it (I also run my hand through it just to get any remaining cat hair). Clean it by occasionally running it under water, shake it out and hang it to dry. The kit also includes four very thick m-fiber cloths, but I have other m-fiber cloths as well. I keep one in every room, discretely folded where it's not obvious; if I see dust I grab it, swipe, and done. If it looks like something could use a bit more cleaning I wet the cloth a bit with plain water (it doesn't need any chemical cleaners).

Another item also sold on QVC is the funny-looking Scrub Daddy, which is supposedly a substitute for the Magic Eraser, but which is like a very hard sponge and does not dissolve or shed its ingredients. It also works with water only and rinses dry and clean. I use the S. Daddy as part of my easy ritual of removing cat throw-up from rugs.

I am not a QVC rep in any way - I simply like some of their products. I can't get the links to work now, but just go to the website and search the names. Also watch the video presentations for the products; they can be over-the-top but they'll clearly show how to use whatever they're selling.

Happy cleaning!

When I wrote that "you don't need a whisk broom" I was addressing Oakley, not Bpathome! I can see where whisking a carpet on stairs would be useful...

Wasn't Scrub Daddy on Shark Tank? and if it's on QVC, I'll bet Laurie Grenier was the investor. I may try it.

Oh, and I use Bar Keeper's Friend, Bon Ami, and Comet for hard surfaces like cookware, sinks, counters, bathroom.

Yes, it was on Shark Tank, but I don't think it was from Laurie Grenier. I think they'd mention that, but they don't.

And a big yes to Bar Keeper's Friend!

Add a squirt of Jet-Dry or Finish to window washing mix and all you have to do is hose it off, no squeegey-ing.

I use a broom a lot but rather than sweep my screens, I just vacuum them.

Thanks for the solution recipe Annie, I use water, alcohol and vinegar, but I bet adding corn starch and dawn adds some extra oomph to it.

I use microfiber cloths for dusting furniture, but the hand broom is for the wood surfaces I mentioned above. It's a lot faster. I have two wands that are microfiber that come in really handy for doing walls.

Do any of you get the dust I get? I mean it's awful!! I have to keep a large dust mop behind the front door so no one sees it, so I can go over the wood floors every day.

Bpat, it's been a while since I've been to the Flylady website. Swish and swipe, you mean the toilet? What do you mean by the "middle?" I need to go read her website again. I bought a rubber brush from her that is fantastic on cleaning lampshades. I was tired of how a vacuum would leave streaks on them and it seemed to take forever to clean one shade. With the rubber bristled brush, I take the shade outside and just brush off the dirt. It also works good on screens but the hand broom works the best.

Lukkirish, try a hand broom on your screens. Do it outside though. My front door screen (we have one of those hidden screens in our storm door) had brown dirt streaked on it yesterday. It took all of two minutes to get it off. I was impressed!

I love Shark Tank! I need to look into the Scrub Daddy because I use the Magic Eraser all the time in the kitchen. It's perfect for the back splash and a quick wash for the white cabinets. So far I haven't seen any dulling of the paint.

Off to visit Flylady!

I do need help with something. I bought these Oxo Good Grip tools for hard to clean cabinet corners in the kitchen.

Oxo Good Grips brush set

Well, no matter what I do I can't get the dirt off. I'm thinking a toothbrush might be too rough on the paint.

E-cloth

I learned about these on another forum. Now I wash windows and mirrors with just water. No streaks or spots. Really! If the window is really filthy, like a car windshield, I go over it with some cleaner to get the big pieces off but don't do the step where you wipe endlessly to get the streaks out. These cloths make it so easy to get the window sparkly.

Q-tip?

Oakley, I haven't really looked at the Flylady website in a long while, either, but having been "FlyWashed" I follow some of of the ideas, the ones that work for me. "Swish 'n' Swipe" is a daily swish of the toilet brush in the bowl (she calls for a dash of shampoo, I don't do that) and a swipe of the mirror, sink and surrounding counter, and faucets with a cloth or paper towel and a spritz of whatever you use, Windex or vinegar and water, and a swipe of the shower walls and door. It's not clearing off the counter to scour or getting into the corners of the shower door every day.

"Just the middles" is where you vacuum or Swiffer without getting under and behind the furniture or getting out the crevice tool, just the traffic areas to keep dust from being ground in by feet, or dust without moving all the "objets". It keeps things at bay until you detail clean, then it makes the detail clean much easier and faster.

Oakley, I bought those OXO brushes and use them periodically to clean the grout in the shower. I have also used the little rubber end tool to clean around the sink drain. Works great but the bristles are really stiff so use with care on something that can really take it. I use old toothbrushes for most work.

Can't say enough about various microfiber cloths. I use the fine ones, damp with just water, for cleaning stainless appliances. Works great.

I also keep one in the bathroom and a bottle of granite cleaner and squirt some on the countertops for a quick mid-week clean-up. Especially good since I use a bit of hairspray and worry about the build-up.

We have a Bissell electric broom and I use it quite frequently between housekeeper visits to sweep up the kitchen, hallway, bathroom, and wherever the dog has been. It's amazing how much I sweep up, especially dog hair in the summer.

The suggestion to step into the shower to spray your hair is a good one, and one that I'll try. I had been stepping out on the back patio to do that, but then started getting lazy and spritzing "just a little" in front of the mirror. Yeah - we know what years of "just a little" adds up to though.

Having a new home that actually LOOKS clean (as opposed to our older house, which, no matter how much cleaning we did, just never looked pristine) has really compelled us to stay on top of things. It seems like it doesn't need as much as the older house did, even though it's bigger. For instance, dust doesn't settle on every surface within a day or two, thanks to the house being very well insulated from the outside elements. We no longer have "eleventy-seven" cats, and although I do miss the ones who had to leave us, decreasing the number of pets has helped greatly. Having frieze carpet that we want to keep nice looking compels us to vacuum with regularity, and the dark wood floor in the kitchen and living space is a blessing and a curse. It shows every little speck, but that just forces us to stay on top of it and sweep with a broom or with the vacuum daily. I find it helps tremendously when I do these tasks with thankfulness in my heart too, as silly as that may sound. Are these chores? Or are they delightful things that I can do to make my surroundings even lovelier? I'm trying to consistently focus on the latter. ;-)

I went to the FL's website and that thing needs an overhaul! I wish she'd give out tips on various chores.

Have you seen her big feather duster? I bought it years ago and love it, but I forget to use the thing! It's great for a quick dusting if you know someone is coming over and you don't have time to clean.

I'm going to try her Windex tip on the kitchen sink. But I need to look it up first to make sure the chemicals don't harm the cast iron. Windex caused me to get bacterial pneumonia one time, so make sure you pull your shirt up over your mouth and nose so you don't inhale it. :)

Jen, have you tried using a dust mop on the floors? I use the Bona mop and fluffy pad. It's wide enough to get a large area and it takes just a minute to dust the floor. Plus, the mop gets under furniture where dust bunnies love to gather.

No energy this afternoon, but this morning I was able to mop the utility room floor, ONLY because of my dogs. Those two horses make such a mess, and their slobber turns into slime that has to be scrubbed off. I could kick myself for not replacing their old placemat. Thank goodness I chose porcelain flooring instead of wood in the kitchen and utility room.

Instead of using a soft broom on blinds and such, get a good feather duster. Makes dusting everything a breeze, followed by vacuuming.

I find I can whiz through my house in a fraction of the time.

I do like my FL feather duster. I have a big one and a small one, both handy!

Auntjen, you can't win. I have a Corian countertop in kind of a grey-black-white speckle. It looks really nice and doesn't show spills and crumbs. But, it doesn't show spills and crumbs! You set something down, and it gets sticky; you think you're sweeping a few crumbs into your hand, and it's a pile!

oakley, I've never liked her website, and she's on the third design now I think. But I like the control journal and routines.

I used to get the flylady emails, but she gets on my nerves. I swear by microfiber cloths and dusters. I don't use a broom much inside the house. I either vacuum or dustmop. I have a stick broom vacuum that I love and it has a microfiber "bonnet" you can use and some of the attachments have microfiber. I can reach most anything with it. I don't use my bigger vacuum near as often. I find a broom stirs up more dust. Love my dustmop with the large head. I love mr. clean erasers but never use them on anything painted. I will have to check out the others mentioned here.

funny, I also have the MS "Homekeeping" book and use it as a reference for various things. My fave tip in it is how to use baking soda, vinegar, and hot water for periodic drain flushing. I also have those OXO little brushes--very handy.

I hate microfiber cloths -- they never seem to get clean and give me the creeps.

I like my Swiffer duster a lot.

Sadly, no deep cleaning for me this month -- still too ill to do much.

Tina, I've learned in a lot of things to ignore the messenger, keep the message (carol dweck, flylady, etc)

darn it all, now I have to go order OXO brushes. They have my favorite dish brush that isn't in my stores any more!

I love OXO everything.

Xoxo for OXO!

And zyliss, too.

My favorite Oxo product are their tongs. Not only do I use them for cooking, I use them to get something off the shelf that I can't reach! When my DIL, who is on the short side saw me doing that one day, she does it all the time now. lol

I find sweeping the kitchen and utlity room floors to be easier at getting crumbs in corners, along baseboards in the kitchen, and dust between appliances/walls. I always use a broom when sweeping the hearth and the rock above the FP.

B, I just checked out the Oxo dish brush at Amazon and the reviews aren't that great. It seems like they redesigned the brush. Darn, because I was going to order it! I'll just keep buying the dish brush from Walmart, it works pretty good because of the scrubber pad.

One thing I always keep in the kitchen are Handiwipes. I use those when I clean all the sinks because they rinse great. They're also great when I wash appliances, counters, etc. I try to get one Handiwipe to last as long as possible.

Where do you all keep your sink brushes and sponges/dishcloths? I hate looking at them but it would be a hassle to keep them under the sink, so they just lay inside of it.

DH was set against it, but I bought it anyway and now he admits he likes it too...the O'cedar version of the spin mop. It's easy to operate, keeps the floors from getting too wet, and the head is triangular shaped so it's great for getting into corners. We use it on our vinyl and tile floors.

Brushes and sponges go in a glazed ceramic flower pot under the sink.

House cleaning is the worst chore in life for me..I hate doing it, it's not a delightful activity. I do it because I have to and purely from a sanitation and preserve real estate value standpoint.

I would rather rake the yard daily than clean the kitchen once.

Jmc, I feel the same way. My topic probably makes it seem like I'm a Martha Stewart wannabe. Uh..NO.

I've figured out our two dogs who we got last year are the main culprit for the dirt, dust, slobber spots all over the house. Plus the blowing dust. When the dogs come inside they have dirt in their fur that I can't see. Their paws are like super sponges. No matter how much I try to dry them off, IF I can catch them, they still leave paw prints all over the place.

I've lived in this house for 35 years and never had this problem before. I could hire someone to come in once a week and mop the floors and you couldn't tell it was done within two days. And there is no way I'm going to mop every two days.

Annie, I envy you for having a husband who mops! Can I borrow him? :)