What Cleaning Products do you Use?

​The follow-up to this question is this. "Do you bring your own supplies?" I'll answer both in this article.

Work Shoes, Gloves & Mask

My Covid-19 protocol states. "DISINFECT our cleaning tote, spray bottles, vacuum parts, wand, mop handle & mop, and the bottom of our indoor cleaning shoes prior to entry into any home & office." My work shoes are similar to Crocs. I clean & disinfect the bottoms of my shoes before every home and office that I clean. I provide my own viral-resistant latex gloves and mask.

​Cleaning Tote & Duffle

My duffle bag contains my vacuum attachments, paper towels, and other related tools. The parts that have been used at a previous home or office are disinfected before going back into my duffle. Likewise, my cleaning tote includes all of the cleaning supplies needed to complete the cleaning of your home or office. 

I have a time-tested 4-step cleaning system, starting with a deep cleaning step. Then, I do a maintenance cleaning step, followed by disinfection (of high touch areas) and a final polishing step. My process and disinfectant follow my "9 Mistakes in Disinfecting" for proper disinfecting.

My cleaning chemicals are eco-friendly. My main cleaner is derived from coconut oil and is used to clean bathrooms, all floors, and dusting furniture. The coconut oil properties make this product useful in cleaning & polishing furniture, moisturizing as it cleans. It has a nice smell as well. I use a kitchen degreaser product that is the same brand as my bathroom & floor cleaner. It is slightly alkaline to cut through grease. It works effectively on kitchen surfaces and is safe to granite. Most people enjoy its citrus scent. I use my glass cleaner throughout the house. It is water-based and also the same brand as the bathroom & kitchen cleaners. The scent is melon and also well-received. I use this product as a final polishing step in bathrooms, kitchen & breakrooms, furniture glass & mirrors, and window cleaning. This product is pH neutral, unlike the harsh ammonia in Windex. My disinfectant is pH neutral and is perfectly prescribed to kill a wide range of pathogens including coronavirus. I also carry three chemicals with high chemistry. I use X14 bleach (high alkaline) for white sinks and mold & mildew in showers, oven cleaner for deep grease (high alkaline), and Barkeeper's Friend (high acid) for removing stainless steel tarnish and soap scum. I have a few other tools in my cleaning tote that are used only as needed for deep cleaning tasks.
 
Microfiber Cloths, Scouring Pad, Sponges, Toilet Brushes

I made this a separate item because it differs between the office and house cleaning. The main objective is to minimize cross-contamination between my houses and offices. This procedure is also spelled out in my Covid-19 protocol. For house cleaning, I leave a brand new set of sponges, scouring pads, and microfibers (dusting, glass cleaning & floor mopping) at each home. I expect the homeowner to keep these cleaning tools and launder the cloths between visits. I use the toilet brushes already in the bathrooms. For office cleaning, I still leave a set of scouring pads and sponges at the office. I prefer to use the office toilet brush but will provide one if the facility does not have one. I launder microfibers at home every week and keep a fresh & clean bag in my car for office cleaning. I bring a set of clean cloths into each office versus leaving them at the office. 
Paper Towels & Trash Bags

I expect offices to provide the necessary trash bags and paper towels for cleaning and bring my own for house cleaning.Vacuum & Gear

I have one of the highest-powered backpack vacuums on the market (see the above picture). It's the Mosquito Carbon Lite with 160 cfm of "sucking" power. The average household vacuum has 80-100 cfm and the average backpack has 120 cfm. The Mosquito has 4 levels of HEPA filtration, which filters down to 0.3 microns. As a reference, dust particles are 5 microns and the common cold (Rhinovirus) is 0.3 microns. This vacuum is uniquely designed to filter out dust and many pathogens found on floors. For further explanation, the vacuum intakes the air & dirt at the floor and pulls it into the filters. The vacuum bag captures the dust, dirt, and pathogens (over 0.3 microns) and traps them there. The exhaust air is filtered and comes out of the bottom of the canister. That was for the science geeks out there! For everyone else... this vacuum really sucks and filters! Lastly, I have various attachments, allowing me to clean carpet, upholstery, hard surface floors, clean under furniture & crevices, and reach high into corners to remove cobwebs (up to 25 feet).Mop

The final part of my cleaning system is my flat mop. I have different sizes for offices and houses, but they all use microfiber pads to scrub and clean. I do not clean with dirty water from a bucket but use fresh soapy water (with my floor cleaner) to apply in one step to all hard surface floors.
There you have it! That's my cleaning system, what I bring, and what I use to clean your home or office.