Ask The Audience: Your Favorite And Least Favorite Cleaning Product
August 27, 2008 by Badbadivy
Ivy says:
It’s a foggy Wednesday morning and my brain’s about as foggy as it is outside. That means it’s time for Ask The Audience!
So, Home Eccers, here’s what is on my mind this morning: What are your favorite and least favorite cleaning products?
Me, I love Bar Keeper’s Friend, baking soda, vinegar and the yummy, yummy smell of laundry detergent!
And I don’t like ammonia. Oh, and bleach. Both have their purposes (although NEVER use ammonia and bleach together, unless you want to die), but both smell so strong, they gag me. There’s also something sinister about furniture polish, although I haven’t determined what it is I don’t like about it.
Now it’s your turn!
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Love: Clorox Clean Up - I use it all over the house, and everything smells bleachy clean!
Hate: Palmolive Eco-Smart Dishwasher Detergent (or some Ecofriendly something or another) which actually left my dishes LESS clean when they came out of the dishwasher than they were when they went in.
Amy @ http://prettybabies.blogspot.com
I love Bon Ami cleanser and even blogged about it. I do not like Kaboom spray cleaner because it smells awful and doesn’t clean worth a hoot.
I LOVE Method OMop Wood floor cleaner. It smells all vanilla-almond-y and does not build up on my wood floors. My all time fav.
I do NOT like bleach. I spill it on everything, I always ruin something, and it makes my hands feel rough and smell bad.
I’m also a big fan of just plain old baking soda and of course vinegar, and have always loved the clean smell of Murphy’s Oil Soap.
I have found a new product recently that I really do like though. It’s a clorox product but it contains no bleach or phosphorus. It’s called Green Works. The Natural Dilutable cleaner. They have several products, but this one kinda looks like a pine sol bottle. A little more pricey, but a little goes a long way. And I gotta tell ya, the smell is yummy. It smells like Sprite. Don’t be tempted though. Even though it’s safer for the environment, I’m pretty sure it’s not safe to drink. ;o)
I love Ace Laundry Detergent. It smells like laundry soap did when I was a kid and everything just smells lovely and clean.
I hate bleach and Cillet Bang. They both smell revolting and give me a headache.
I love my Watkins all-purpose cleaner. Not just because I sell them, but because the are non-toxic and biodegradable, and I can use them on just about anything in my home. And the scents are so great that I can’t decide on just one: Lavender, Aloe and Green Tea, and Lemon. I’ve been using them for a year or so now and have never gone back to the store-bought chemicals.
Love Love Love: Sparkle window cleaner. It’s purple and doesn’t contain ammonia. I’ve used it for 35+ years now.
Dislike: Nearly all cleaning products that have a smell. I like unscented products - although I do use vinegar a lot. It’s a smell I can handle.
I never use ammonia. There are always alternative recipes and if not, my house doesn’t need to be that clean. And bleach is on it’s way out too. I hate strong smells and fragrances. I never go down the cleansers aisle at the grocery store.
Barkeeper’s Friend got off all that soap scum gunk in the tub. I love that. And I like Method’s products.
I am also a full believer in vinegar. Leaves everything clean, shiny, and will take the smell out of anything! Another item I really like is Cascade 2-in-1 actionpacs for the dishwasher. They leave all my dishes clean.
I don’t like Mr. Clean multi-purpose clean (Febreeze scent). It smells too flowery and leaves my laminate floors dull.
I love my microfiber clothes. I know they’re not really a cleaning solution but with them I can eliminate the use of swiffer clothes and costly window cleaner.
I HATE (yes, all caps) Fantastik. I can’t use it without sneezing and it makes my skin nasty. Needless to say, I think I’m allergic.
I love vinegar, and baking soda.
Bleach has ruined more clothing items than I care to remember.
I also don’t like Comet.
Love: 409 and WD-40 (yes, it’s a cleaning product, too).
Hate: Comet. It makes your teeth turn green.
Love - Windex. When life sucks and people are coming, I stow everything out of sight. Lysol anything possibly germy and then Windex every possibly shiny surface. All faucets, glass, stove top, fridge, did I say faucets? Total fake out! Shiny surfaces must mean clean, right? Impresses the hell out of people.
Hate - Tilex, Scrubbing Bubbles and anything else that promises to get rid of water and lime marks but doesn’t deliver.
Love: Fantastik. I find it’s gentle on my hands (compared to Clorox Clean-Up). I also love my Murphy’s Wood Oil Soap - it gets my floors AND my tables super clean.
Hate: The spray bottles that Clorox Clean-Up comes in. The sprayer is terrible - I now by Lysol with bleach for that reason only.
I would be lost without three products: white “eraser” sponges (like Mr. Clean Magic Eraser), Bissell Disinfectant Bathroom cleaner, and Goo-Gone.
I cut each “eraser” in half before use (a sharp kitchen knife does this almost effortlessly), so I get two uses out of each. These can be used with almost any cleaner or none at all, and it’s easy to control the amount of moisture in them. Other than unfinished or oiled wood, I haven’t found a surface they don’t clean marvelously.
I use the disinfectant cleaner on almost everything (not wood); it has enough detergent to clean but not too much to be a pain to wash off, and it doesn’t stink or make me sneeze. A good wipe with a clean, dry terry cloth rag after rinsing leaves no streaks. (Nods to Katie - I’m allergic to Fantastic, 409, and WD-40, but Simple Green is a guaranteed migraine!).
Goo-Gone is the first solvent I try when faced with any sticky mess or stain. (But only Lime Away will remove purple or red dye-transfers and rust stains from my white kitchen countertop.)
A new favorite is baby washcloths from Ikea: simple white cotton terry squares with a loop on one corner. Ten for about $3, they are a great bargain for sturdy, indefinitely reusable, all purpose cleaning rags.
My surprise cleaner that nobody else (before now) knows about: buy ultra-soft microfiber fleece remnants and cut them into squares for dusting. You don’t even have to pink them, they don’t ravel or shed after the first cut. No sprays needed, they trap dust like mad, and wash out to like-new.
Lastly, wood. I have a LOT of Scandinavian oiled teak. Once a month I oil everything with Howard Feed-n-Wax, let it sit for an hour, then wipe dry. Over time, it will restore even badly dried woods.
Do Mr. Clean magic erasers count as a cleaning product? I love them. The first time I purchased them I spent two hours gleefully scrubbing scuff marks off my floors and walls. They also are the only thing that work on the plastic countertops in my apartment.
I hate oven cleaner. I’m sure I’m not the only one…possibly it’s just that I hate cleaning my oven.
Love: I guess I’m wierd but I love bleach and comet! It just smells clean to me and I love it! I also love vinegar and baking soda and I’m always impressed at how much you can do with them. I also couldn’t live without Clorox wipes, so easy to use (especially when company is coming over).
Hate: Oven cleaner, windex (the smell), and anything else that has a very strong scent (aside from the smell of chlorine or vinegar). I especially can’t handle really fragrant, flowery, fakey smells…the worst migraines ever from that stuff.
I love Oxy laundry powder. I use it on any stains my 3 boys get in their clothes, and it always delivers. I just dilute it in water and soak the clothing for a few hours or even a few days. Right now I’ve got two slipcovers for lounge chairs soaking!
Love- Clorox or Lysol disinfecting wipes, Windex, Febreeze, and Tide (any of the above in lavender vanilla scent is a plus, I LOVE lavender and vanilla) The wipes and windex are a lifesaver for emergency clean up (You’re parents are gonna be here when..!?!?!) in the kitchen, bathroom, and dining room. And Tide lavender vanilla makes me WANT to spend hours folding my laundry
Oh, and I like pine sol. Nothing makes a house smell fresh cleaned like pine sol.
Hate- anything harsh and chemical-y like bleach, oven cleaner, ammonia, etc…
I love bleach! My dad was pretty hardcore about food sanitation stuff and bleach is magical for plastic cutting boards.
I also love the smell of the cleaning product aisle at the grocery store. Every time I walk by, I take a huge whiff and I know it’s fragrance overload for some, but it makes me happy.
Also I think vinegar is a great all-purpose cleaner.
LOVE Vinegar and method products.
HATE - bleach, ammonia, anything with nasty smells that linger. I would clean every day to avoid using cleansers that smell…
I have recently discovered “Wyp-alls” they come in a plastic bucket dispenser . They are only available to industrial customers in my area but they are FANTASTIC!! My grandson, bless his heart……got BBQ sauce on the back seat of my car several months ago…..I did an initial clean up and then forgot about it for months. These wipes completely removed the stain….you can’t even see where it was……I also had a few spots of grease on my livingroom carpet…..I had tried lots of other things and had given up……Wyp-alls cleaned those up too.
I don’t sell it….have trouble buying it…..but it does works…..Pam, South Bend
Huge fan of Method wood floor cleaner- Good for Wood. It smells of almond in such a pretty way, I’m tempted to lick the now clean floors.
I love the smell of my homemade laundry soap. I use the lavendar ivory soap for it and all my clothes smell so nice. I also put essentual oils in all my homemade cleaners so they are fresh but not over whelming.
I hate the smell of bleach, oddly enough it leaves a bad taste in my mouth just from smelling it. I also hate oven cleaner. It just makes me sick with a headache.
I love Simple Green. I buy it in the gallon size and dilute it according to my needs. I’ve been using it long before going green was all the rage. It cleans everything beautifully. Try it!
I make most of my cleaning products, but I recently got Pledge multi-purpose at a bargain price, and I’ve really enjoyed using it! It is so convenient to wipe down the dining room table and the hall mirror with the same product.
I also bought scrubbing bubbles for a bargain price but I haven’t been impressed with it at all.
I prefer to use Vinegar, Hydrogen Peroxide, Baking soda, Borax, Super Washing Soda, Citric Acid, Salt, etc..
I add Bar Keeper’s Friend of Bon Ami and Murphy’s Oil Soap, too.
I really hate Scrubbing Bubbles. I don’t find it works. My mother swears by it. My mother also swears by having someone else do the cleaning. So maybe she doesn’t swear by it, at all? *giggle*
My family prefers faster, less elbow grease options like Chlorine Bleach and Comet Bathroom Spray. Someday I hope to convert them, too.
I love Original Scent Pine Sol, Lemon Scented Pine Sol, Bleach, Ammonia, The Works, Comet w/ Bleach Scouring Powder, and Lysol. All of these are good for anything in your house.
I hate products with no scent. Makes me feel as if I cleaned my house with just water.
I’m addicted to Pine Sol. I love scrubbing with it, wiping things down with it. I LOVE the smell and the way it washes things. There’s nothing like filling a bucket up with hot water, and adding a good amount of Original Scent Pine Sol to a fresh soaked sponge wiping down walls, fixtures etc. all around. I sometimes add extra Pine Sol to the sponge just to give it an extra kick.
I love pine-sol,bleach, ammonia, mr.clean,ajax,comet, any cleaning wipes,clorox all purpose cleaner,any all purpose cleaner with bleach,lemon cleaners,fabolous,all-some,anything thing that smells clean,I love cleaning its my favorite thing to do.