1. Scrubbing Bubbles Gel. Every time you flush a toilet with Scrubbing Bubbles, the gel disc that is cleverly disguised under the toilet seat cleans the bowl. It also deodorizes continuously so your bathroom smells fresh, even if it really isn’t. If only it could flush the toilet for your kids when they don’t bother to! One gel disc lasts about a week and each dispenser has six gel discs. I just plop a new one into the toilet every week. www.scrubbingbubbles.com
2. Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. I know these aren’t new at all, but I live with a 3-year-old, so they’re mandatory for cleaning up. I believe they save me from repainting my house every year. It’s pretty disgusting how gross my walls, doors, and stair rails get from sticky dirty hands. This is one of my weekly rituals I perform while I catch up with my girlfriends on the phone. www.mrclean.com
3. Bar Keepers Friend Powdered Cleanser. This product has been around since 1882, but it’s new to me. I found it on the bottom rack of the cleaning products in my grocery store and love it! It’s less abrasive than other powdered cleansers and eats up grease and grime better than anything else I’ve tried. I use it to clean everything from my kitchen sink and the yucky, gunky stuff from my stove top to the bottom of my pots and the spaghetti stains in my Tupperware. www.barkeepersfriend.com
4. Chef’s Planet Non-Stick Oven Liner. Normally, I wouldn’t spend $20 on something to prevent a mess, but this is one product I can’t live without. This liner collects all of the spills and drips at the bottom of the oven and then you literally run soapy water over it and it falls off. No more cleaning the bottom of the oven. No more buying those toxic faux lemon scented sprays. In college I almost burnt the house down because I forgot to wipe out the oven and then I pre-heated the oven later that day. I figure the $20 I spent is like fire insurance for an absent-minded and overcommitted mom. www.chefsplanet.com
5. A Clear Choice Carpet Cleaner. This cleaner can be used on carpets, inside the car, on laundry stains, and even on furniture. You spray it on, let it soak, and then wipe it off. The night before my friend was going to put her house on the market, her son vomited a combination of Hawaiian Punch and Pop Rocks all over the center of her white living room carpet. I rushed over, applied the magic spray, and the 20-inch diameter vomit spot faded away in 30 minutes. (Warning: If you eat Pop Rocks and Hawaiian Punch it may cause vomiting! Only a teenage boy would think that’s a delicacy.) www.aclearchoice.com
This is a great list. I have only used magic erasers, and not any of the other stuff. most of them I have never heard of. I will check them out and let you know how I like them.
I too use 90% of these things!!! But the oven liner i have not even heard of I think I am gonna have to check it out!!!
I personally love baby wipes to get all of the finger prints off of the doors and walls. And I also clean that part while on the phone…great minds think alike!
I’ve only heard of the magic erasers. I could have used the carpet remedy last night though.
My kids spilled black cherry koolaid on my off-white carpets. I used dish soap, water, dipped a white dish cloth in it, and then applied a hot iron. Then once it seems to not be working anymore, get a dry paper towel and place it on top of the spill, add hot iron and keep switching out the (now pink) paper towels. It went from bring BRIGHT pink, to a very pale pink that isn’t as noticable. Still there, but not bad.
A little patience, and some dawn, go a long way for a clean carpet. I was shocked.
I was even tempted to do another spill (in an inconspicuous place) just so I could get some “before and after” shots as proof.
What is with kids and bright red stains on white carpet? It’s like peas and carrots, I guess. They just go together.
I saw a professional carpet cleaner do the iron trick and it worked. I’ve never tried it personally. Glad it helped. The Clear Choice carpet cleaner works on old stains too.
Any one else have any horror stories about stains on carpet? Or solutions to cleaning stains?
I am sure I have experiences with big spills, but they are usually on my tile, not carpet, and the carpet ones I can’t remember right now, but I do have a question. I am wondering what great oven cleaner you use to get your oven clean before you put the liner in?! my oven isn’t too bad right now, but it would need to be cleaned before I use the new thing.
Here’s a story for ya…Tiffers and I were living together and I can’t remember if we were getting ready to move out or not. But, a friend of ours knocked over a burning candle and the red wax went EVERYWHERE! We tried everything to get it off the carpet quickly. But our saving grace was Tiff’s sister telling us to use an iron and paper. We put the paper over the wax and ironed away. The wax soaked right into the paper!
I LOVE Magic Erasers-last weekend I had 10 familiy members over who love to cook with grease. By the end my stove was filthy but my magic eraser got it all nice and shiny. I alo really like that toilet gel, it smells so good.