Call me crazy but I love cleaning. I have this need (my husband would say obsession) with creating a dust-free, pristine environment that smells really good. I like to consider myself a cleaning diva. I can honestly tell you that my need to have my surroundings clean goes back to my toddler years. My parents captured me in all my house-cleaning glory for posterity. They snapped dozens and dozens of photos of me running around the house broom in hand tidying up. Fast forward way too many years into the future and now my husband has to deal with my house cleaning "obsession". The first few years of marriage he would get upset with my "tidying up" which meant moving all his perceived clutter in order for me to creating a Zen like mood in the house. He has since come to accept that I need order and cleanliness or my Feng Shui (CHI) energy will be off-kilter. And that is just not a good thing.

I realize that I am not alone. There are thousands of women and some men out there that strive to keep their surroundings clean and organized. In the spirit of helping them achieve that goal I have compiled a list of my must have cleaning products and tools.

FLOORS

Bissell HEPA and Bagless Vacuum - Reasonably priced. Works great.

Swiffer Dry - A must have tool in every Cleaning Diva's cleaning kit. DUAL USE PRODUCT:The Swiffer sheets are very versatile. Aside from using them with your swiffer stick you can use them for dusting.

Swiffer Wet - Again an awesome tool. No nasty mops or dirty sloshing water.

KITCHEN

Over the years my love of Pine Sol type cleaning products and their rich chemically smell have been replaced by more eco-friendly, human-friendly, animal-friendly nature based products. Today you will find mostly natural based products in my cleaning kit. They are a bit pricier but I believe my home and I are worth it.

Dish Soap: The Good Home Company in Paris Rain fragrance.

Surface Cleaners: The Good Home Company in Paris Rain fragrance and Caldrea in Green Tea Patchouli fragrance.

Hand Soap : Pre de Provence in Verbenia fragrance. I am addicted to this fresh clean smelling liquid soap. I use it frequently and it NEVER dries my skin out.

Garbage Disposer: No matter how well you clean the garbage disposer it somehow acquires a nasty funky stench. I have two solutions that I alternate. Once a week I chop up a lemon and toss it into the disposer. It helps degrease and neutralizes any stinkiness that may be emanating from the garbage disposer. Once a month I use Disposer Care. It takes all of two minutes and deep cleans all the grungy built up debris and grease that finds it way into the garbage disposer.

LAUNDRY

LINEN, BEDDING & DELICATES

Laundry Detergent: The Good Home Company Lavender. This is a slightly pricey product about $23.00 for 64 FL OZ but it delivers big time.

Laundry Softener: The Good Home Company Lavender Laundry Fragrance. As mentioned about the Lavender laundry detergent above it is expensive at $23.00 for 64 FL OZ but worth every last penny. Just try it once on your linens and you will find a way to afford this product.

CLOTHES

Laundry Detergent: ALL Free. I recently switched from being an extremely loyal (8 years) Tide user to ALL Free last year. I really love this product. It is reasonably priced and doesn't irritate my very sensitive skin.

Laundry Softener : ALL Free dryer sheets. I never just use one. I add two or th

ree sheets to each dryer load. I like my clothes soft and with minimal wrinkles. In case you're wondering, I like clean, I never said that I like ironing. I outsource ironing as much as I can. DUAL USE PRODUCT: The dryer sheets can also be used to pick up animal hair. I have two cats that leave fur all over the house. I have tried other products specifically for animal hair but to date the best is just a plain old dryer sheet.

Bleach/ Whitener/ Brightener: I use OXY Clean. I ignored this product for a long time. I was turned off by the stupid hard sell commercials (note to advertisers screaming does not make me believe you more so please tone it down). Regardless, one day I was out of Clorox Bleach and I asked my mom if I could borrow some bleach until I could get to the grocery store. She shows up with the OXY Clean and I just flipped. I asked for bleach and she brought me this thing. I had visions of the last "As seen on TV” product my gullible family bought…the twisty turban. Pressed for time I took the OXY Clean, read the directions and started the laundry. I then prayed that my clothes wouldn't disintegrate. In the end I was pleasantly surprised. I actually like the product. It didn't smell bad and it did brighten my whites quite nicely. So there you have it the story of how OXY Clean became part of my coveted cleaning kit.

BATHROOM

I break from my natural-based cleaning products here. The bathroom can be a dirty germ and mildew infested mess and that means calling in some strong cleaning products. X-14 : Nothing cleans mildew, soap scum and whatever other nastiness lies in your shower and tub area like X-14. When using this product keep the room ventilated and the bathroom fan running. Wear gloves. Always follow the manufacturer's directions.

Windex No-Streak: As far as I am concerned the best product on the market for windows, glass and mirrors.

Toilet Cleaner: Throw the brush away. That's all I have to say. I prefer the Scrubbing Bubbles disposable toilet cleaning kit.

Air Freshener: Air Wick Automatic Room Spray. LOVE IT. LOVE IT. LOVE IT. Citrus and the new Mango fragrances are my favorite. You can set this little modern marvel of house cleaning science to dispense bursts of freshly scented fragrance at intervals of 30 minutes, 18 minutes and 9 minutes.

Now you are ready to go make the world a better place one clean home at a time. For those of you who have a spouse and/or child who isn't quite ready to accept your Cleaning Divaness than I suggest the always effective shut the door on their dirty and cluttered domain. If you give them a room that isn't spic and span, sparkly clean and fresh, a place where they don't feel burdened and suffocated by your need for clean and order they will be happier for it and so will you. Just fight the temptation to go in and tidy up a bit.

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