Help me clean my new home

[mom31257]

We just bought a new home this summer, and it has several things I've never cleaned before. I would love advice and product recommendations. I'm sensitive to strong smells and buy most of my regular cleaning products from Melaleuca because the scents are mild. Thank you!! 

Here are the new surfaces:

• Hardwood floors (we had LVP before)
• Stainless steel appliances
• Tile floors
• Tiled shower
• Clear glass shower doors 
• Granite counters

Edited August 10, 2021 by mom31257

[Spryte]

Hardwood - Bona 

Tile floors - Bona (the kind for tile)

I’m all ears for the others, never really found a beloved product for those.  

Edited August 10, 2021 by Spryte

[Ausmumof3]

You can get stainless steel cleaning sprays.  I’m not that fussed about it but DH used to work with it an occasionally would bring some home and it was pretty good.

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, mom31257 said:

We just bought a new home this summer, and it has several things I've never cleaned before. I would love advice and product recommendations. I'm sensitive to strong smells and buy most of my regular cleaning products from Melaleuca because the scents are mild. Thank you!! 

Here are the new surfaces:

• Hardwood floors (we had LVP before)
• Stainless steel appliances
• Tile floors
• Tiled shower
• Clear glass shower doors 
• Granite counters

I will second the Bona products for both kinds of floors. It doesn't have a strong smell. 

Our stainless steel appliance doesn't require anything special. Sometimes I use glass cleaner if I have streaks from grease on our stove, but mostly just hot water and elbow grease work just fine. It has stainless accents with a black surface, so YMMV if your stove is stainless. If I need to really scrub, I use Soft Scrub--I avoid the kind with bleach. It's usually lemony but not a super strong lemon smell. Bon Ami is basically powdered, unscented soft scrub. Baking soda also works for a scrub. 

For my shower walls and doors, I use dish soap to clean. I put RainX on the inside of the doors when cleaned (a trick I learned here). The outside of the doors can be wiped with a Norwex window cloth. I use those for mirrors and for finishing off relatively clean windows (really grungy ones get pre-washed so my cloths don't get stained).

I have nothing for you on the granite. Never had it.

[kbutton]

These are amazing, by the way: https://shopus.norwex.biz/en_US/customer/shop/product-detail/354106?categoryName=catalog&gclid=CjwKCAjwx8iIBhBwEiwA2quaq8Ari78_zpwaYMAWTmCyTSRH9_OGYPAYJDuLiZS03BT4u53Ny87FNBoCVSYQAvD_BwE

This is the window cloth for the outside of the shower door: https://shopus.norwex.biz/en_US/customer/shop/product-detail/705024 

I suspect the window cloth would be fantastic for stainless steel except in greasy spots (and might work for those too).

I don't have a lot of Norwex, but those two products are very much worth it. 

[Spryte]

Oh, granite!  I use the Method spray for granite.  Sometimes the bar keeper’s friend or the one that starts with a W … Weiman?  Something like that!

The previous owners of our house used Pledge on the granite counters.  

Stainless sprays that I have tried smell terrible.  I just use whatever is on hand now. It looks fine.  Our house cleaning helpers may be using something else, though, and tricking me into thinking whatever I’m doing is fine. 🤣

[regentrude]

You don't need a special cleaner for granite countertops. I wipe mine after doing the dishes, with hot water that has some dish soap in it. Once a year, we seal the surface with a special spray. 

Edited August 10, 2021 by regentrude

[fraidycat]

Floors, showers - 1 gallon of hot water with a tsp. of Tide. 

Shower doors - Dawn dish soap and white vinegar in a spray bottle.

stainless steel - Weiman's stainless cleaner/conditioner.

Counter tops - hot soapy water.

[bibiche]

Oh, @Spy Car, should I do it for you? 😂 
Get yourself a NEAT steam cleaner. It’ll take care of everything but the wood floors.

eta no chemicals necessary- the steam cleans and disinfects.

For a quick polish on stainless steel when you don’t want to drag out the steam cleaner, Twinkle is good.

And congratulations on your new home!

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by bibiche

[Spy Car]

9 minutes ago, bibiche said:

Oh, @Spy Car, should I do it for you? 😂 
Get yourself a NEAT steam cleaner. It’ll take care of everything but the wood floors.

eta no chemicals necessary- the steam cleans and disinfects.

For a quick polish on stainless steel when you don’t want to drag out the steam cleaner, Twinkle is good.

And congratulations on your new home!

 

What do you mean "everything but the wood floors?" 

Great on wood floors.

Bill

[bibiche]

1 minute ago, Spy Car said:

What do you mean "everything but the wood floors?" 

Great on wood floors.

Bill

I had no idea. See, I should’ve just let you sell it yourself. 😉 

[Spy Car]

Just now, bibiche said:

I had no idea. See, I should’ve just let you sell it yourself. 😉 

How do I get an affiliate link? LOL.

Bill

 

[mom31257]

Thanks for all the recommendations!

I used this mop on our LVP, so I am glad the Bona is a spray. That seemed to work well with the cloth on it. 

 

[Frances]

13 hours ago, regentrude said:

You don't need a special cleaner for granite countertops. I wipe mine after doing the dishes, with hot water that has some dish soap in it. Once a year, we seal the surface with a special spray. 

I agree. We’re finishing up a whole home remodel and have all of the things the OP mentioned, except glass shower doors. The directions from the company that installed our granite countertops do not recommend any special cleaners, just water and dish soap. I was actually quite surprised to see someone mentioned Pledge, but maybe that explains why our last house cleaner was using it on a piece of marble topped furniture. I had to ask her to please stop.

For all of our tile, our tile guy recommended hot water and Dawn dish soap for regular cleaning and then if deep cleans are needed (no more than four times per year), Clorox Bleach Foamer, following the directions carefully.

Our stainless steel appliances haven’t been installed yet nor have our wood floors been refinished, so I don’t have recommendations for those.

Enjoy your new home!

Edited August 11, 2021 by Frances

[gardenmom5]

tile and grout - I purchased a steam cleaner for the grout in my showers. It has a floor attachment for tile floors.  I also purchased just a "steam mop", with variable levels.  (get extra microfiber "mop heads". - washable)  the floor is cleaner than any other mop system.

what kind of finish do you have one your hardwoods?   swedish isn't used as much anymore, but it is more durable than any of the water based finishes.  vinegar and water.

eta:

for tubs and solid shower surrounds (do NOT use this on grout) - dawn and vinegar.  spray it on, let it soak for ten minutes, rinse and wipe.  It cuts through the stuff that just doesn't want to come off.

I also usually just use some dawn on a damp rag to wipe off my granite counters.  bar keepers friend on my stainless sink if I need something more.  

a custard cup of water microwaved for a minute softens any dirt to just wipe off.

Edited August 11, 2021 by gardenmom5

[Alicia64]

19 hours ago, Spryte said:

Oh, granite!  I use the Method spray for granite.  Sometimes the bar keeper’s friend or the one that starts with a W … Weiman?  Something like that!

 

I love the Weiman products for the shine they leave on the counters. I clean them of crumbs first before I use the spray.

[mom31257]

3 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

 

what kind of finish do you have one your hardwoods?   swedish isn't used as much anymore, but it is more durable than any of the water based finishes.  vinegar and water.

 

I don't know anything about finishes on hardwoods. How could I determine what we have? 

[gardenmom5]

2 hours ago, mom31257 said:

I don't know anything about finishes on hardwoods. How could I determine what we have? 

was it a finish on site, or prefinish? (if it's prefinished, you can skip this and move on to cleaners.)  how old is the floor? how long since it was finished/refinished?

finish on site floors   - the edges of the planks of wood are flat to their neighbors. 

Prefinished floors - always have microbevels between each piece of wood - you can feel them if you run your hand over them.    are more common in  homes after the 80s/90s (or remodels) as they're more convenient for a builder.  newer ones tend to have a more durable finish.    you  can use any hardwood floor cleaner (or just vinegar and water) with a prefinished floor.  (My prefinished kitchen floor - I had to rip it out - wasn't as durable as they claimed - dropping things would chip the finish (and gouge the wood), but I've never had that issue with my swedish finish floors.)

pre 1950  homes (finish on site floors) tended to have more wax based finishes, as that was what was available. you should only use a cleaner made for a wax floor.  

swedish finish were popular in the mid 50s/60s/70s. they are still used as an option for finish on site floors - they are *always* finish on site. extremely durable. yellows with age.  you can use a hardwood floor cleaner - or vinegar and water.  my swedish finish will turn white if a damp rag has been left laying on it too long.  when dry, it is its normal color of the surrounding floor and you can't tell there had been anything there.  I can use a steam cleaner on low as long as I keep it moving.   

water based for finish on site -  they have been working to make more durable ones. they can raise the grain of the wood (not the same as the prefinished floors where they try to make it seem aged by having the wood feel "worn/uneven". ) NEVER use a steam cleaner. hardwood floor cleaners should be fine.

describes each of the different types of finish 

-Different Types of Hardwood Floor Finishes | City Floor Supply

how to tell

How to Know the Finish of My Hardwood Floors | Hunker

 

cleaning

If the floors were finished or refinished on site, contact the installer.

For prefinished floors or water-based finishes, use a generic hardwood floor cleaner which can be purchased at a retail flooring store.

Never use wax-based or petroleum-based products on a surface finish floor, as they will damage the finish.

- I was always taught to use vinegar and water on a swedish finish.  (or hardwood cleaner.)

[Storygirl]

I've always been told to use nothing but water on hardwood floors. So that's what I do. I use a Shark steam mop for the deep cleaning. For daily cleaning, I use a Swiffer. Oh, occasionally, I will use a wet Swiffer cloth. You can also run a vacuum on a hardwood floor, though put the brush level on "high" to avoid the bristles from scrubbing hard on the wood (our vacuum has a setting for this).

One caution about granite -- when we had it, the counters would eventually become dull around the faucet area. I assume the water was removing the sealant over time. We never figured out how to fix that; when we added a sealant, it would not bring it back up to the shine of the rest of the counter. (We moved, and I don't have granite in this house).

[kbutton]

I had wood floors in my old house that had finish that was peeling off in the high traffic areas. I used water on those and made sure not to get them too wet. 

My parents use the Bona floor cleaner very sparingly on their wood floor, but it's an engineered hardwood. The installers approved the Bona. I think they sometimes use water too, particularly to wipe up a single spill. I use the Bona hardwood spray on my wood staircase. You don't need much.

I will not that some of the laminate floor that was here when we moved in had a dull haze on it, probably from another cleaner. We did have to use a lot of Bona laminate spray on it to cut through that, and we had to change mop heads frequently.

The mop you linked should be great with the Bona spray. I do find that microfiber mop heads are harder to get clean than regular rags, so sometimes we put them through a rinse cycle before washing or rinse them by hand after we use them. Microfiber just seems to hold onto stuff really well.

@gardenmom5, that is a really informative explanation about types of wood finishes!

 

[Pawz4me]

Years ago I got sick and tired of buying and storing various cleaners for different areas and surfaces. So I experimented with winnowing things down for awhile and finally settled on Mr. Clean multi-purpose cleaner for almost all cleaning. I keep a weak dilution in a spray bottle for cleaning the (granite) kitchen counters when I need something stronger than a soapy dishrag. I also use that for mirror/glass cleaning. I have a stronger dilution in another spray bottle that I use for bathtub/shower/sink/any other grungy area cleaning. I keep some in an old dish detergent bottle for easy squirting into toilets for scrubbing. I use a weak(ish) dilution for mopping my hardwood and LVT floors. The only other cleaners I buy are Dawn dish detergent and Barkeeper's Friend. And I do have some Weiman granite sealer/polisher that I use once a year or so (not as often as I probably should).

[gardenmom5]

1 hour ago, kbutton said:

  I do find that microfiber mop heads are harder to get clean than regular rags,  . Microfiber just seems to hold onto stuff really well.

 

 

I bought a bunch of microfiber cloths for car detailing.  In my reading, it was "only wash microfiber cloths with microfiber."  Never cotton.  (it pills?)

I soak my microfiber mop heads in oxyclean (in a bucket) before washing.  I bought a bunch, so I rinse out the used ones, and when I have enough for a load, I wash.

[kbutton]

7 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

I bought a bunch of microfiber cloths for car detailing.  In my reading, it was "only wash microfiber cloths with microfiber."  Never cotton.  (it pills?)

I soak my microfiber mop heads in oxyclean (in a bucket) before washing.  I bought a bunch, so I rinse out the used ones, and when I have enough for a load, I wash.

Yes, we segregate them. I just find that what makes them so good at picking up crud is what makes it so hard for them to release it later, lol! 

[heartlikealion]

I started using Bona. I just placed an order with Grove (they send you some freebies if you're a new subscriber but you must spend a bit to place the order). While browsing the website I noticed they sell a cleaner for granite but I didn't bother. I don't remember who actually makes it. The website sells a lot of products/brands and some are found at Target. I got Method for my shower, but not sure what to use since my walls look like stone or something without a seal.