My Favorite Things For Household Chores

I love being a stay at home mom. It's not an easy job but I can't imagine not doing it. And I've being doing this stay at home mom thing for almost 10 years now seeing that I stopped working when I was pregnant with Sister. The hours are long, it can be pretty stressful at times but the rewards are many. I am not so much a fan of the whole taking care of the house thing that goes along with it. Now, I know moms that work outside the home have to clean house as well. But when you're a stay at home mom it's a never ending cycle that you have to deal with all day long every day. You clean, a new mess gets made, you clean, a new mess gets made and on and on and on. And when you step away from the household chores to spend time with your children because you are a stay at home mom and not a stay at home maid, the mess is always there staring you in the face.

God knew what he was doing when he placed me in this time period with plenty of wonderful modern conveniences to make this whole cleaning thing easier. Because, seriously, if I had to scrub our clothes on a rock in a nearby creek we'd likely just go around in stinky clothes all the time. I love that there are really smart people out there who invent really awesome things that make it easier for me to keep my home reasonably clean and our clothes from being stinky. So aside from my washer, dryer and dishwasher which are just too obvious to be a part of this list, here are a few of my favorite things that make household chores easier.



Method Daily Shower Spray-I hate scrubbing tubs. This makes it so much easier. I spray down our showers each day and the dirt stays away. Now, I do give them a good scrub down on occasion but there's not a lot of grime to fight when I do. And I love how it smells.





Eureka Enviro Steamer-Okay, this is a new to me gadget and I am in love, love love! I've never been a fan of mops. All they seem to do is push dirt around the floor. I've tried every kind imaginable over the years, even the Swiffer but I never felt like I was really getting my floors clean. Then one day Kirsty at Momedy declared her love for her steam mop. I was intrigued. Cleaning floors with steam, ah yes, that might just be what I'm looking for. I filed that little want away for a future gift idea. So when my parents gave me money for my birthday this year I knew what I'd be spending it on. After a bit of research I settled on the Eureka Enviro Steamer. My floors have never been cleaner.




Dyson vacuum-When the vacuum we were given as a wedding gift bit the dust several years back I decided to purchase a Dyson after a ton of research. I was put off a bit by the price but found a good deal on a refurbished model that save me about $150. It is seriously on of the best purchases I've ever made. It still does a great job picking up the dirt. And I love that I don't have to deal with changing bags.




Vinegar and Baking Soda-These are my favorite household cleaners. There's just so much you can use them for. Whether it's cleaning glass, scrubbing down the tub, cleaning drains and toilets, deoderizing the fridge and trash can, removing stains on the counter or getting rid of hard water stains, one of these products can do it. And they are inexpensive and environmentally friendly.

OxiClean-I try to always have this in my laundry room. While I do use baking soda as a laundry booster from time to time, I prefer to add OxiClean to my wash. It does a great job brightening and whitening the laundry.It's also one of the best ways to get out stains. When all hope is gone, turn to the Oxi Clean. More often than not it will work.

Feather Duster- I grew up dusting everything with Pledge. That's just what my mom used. It was Flylady that introduced me to the feather duster. It really appeals to the side of me that just wants to get the job done as quickly as possible. A quick swish and swipe and the dust just vanishes. Poof! It's a beautiful thing.

Electrasol Powerball Tabs-When we first moved into this house we were concerned we were going to have to buy a new dishwasher. Our dishes never seemed to be clean even when we ran small loads through the dishwasher. At the time I was using a dishwashing gel. I read that powder detergent was better and swiched. Shortly after that I discovered the Electrasol tabs and tried them out. My dishes are always sparkly clean. And it doesn't hurt that you can get really awesome coupons on this product and get it super cheap. That makes it a winner in my book.

So there are some of my favorite things that make cleaning house a little more bearable. What are some of your favorite things?