Supplies & Equipment

Our Cleaning Supplies

We choose reusable supplies whenever possible, prioritizing cloth towels and reusable dusters over disposable. We do use paper towels on things like toilets, anything super gross, or chemicals we don't want in our laundry. We use brushes with various materials, pumice for hard water stains, and paint scrapers for a variety of tasks. We recommend using a paint scraper for cleaning if you've never tried it, as they are very useful for sticky stuff. If you have any detailed questions about specfiic supplies, preferences about what we use, or want recommendations, feel free to ask!

Our Solutions

The vast, vast majority of tasks are completed using only dish soap, vinegar, and isopropyl alcohol. Diluted dish soap is consistently found to be a reliable and safe all purpose cleaner by everyone who tests products/recipes, typically we use Seventh Generation clear unscented dish soap. We use vinegar for descaling; note that if you dislike the smell of vinegar or it affects respiratory conditions, let us know and we can use citric acid instead. A mix of vinegar with a small amount of dish soap is very effective for cleaning soap scum from baths/showers. Isopropyl alcohol is used for final polishing of glass/mirrors and metal finishes, and occasionally for removing odors (works like febreeze) or sticky residue.

In general, our products are unscented, but we can add essential oils to your cleaning if you like, to add a pleasant short-lasting fragarance. Let us know if you're interested!

We use a few commercially prepared cleaners: toilet bowl cleaner (typically Zep's acidic), oven cleaner only if deep cleaning, mild degreaser for stoves, and Woody is a fan of soft scrub. Bleach or thymol-based disinfectant can be used on request. The harshest chemical we use is oven cleaner, we do use the fume-free variety but it does smell somewhat. We never have to use any of these chemicals if you don't want us to, and deep cleaning an oven with the steamer is a milder option (though it may take longer and be imperfectly clean).

Our Equipment

We use a Miele vacuum cleaner with fully sealed filtration system and a HEPA filter, the best option available for allergies/asthma. We also have a Dupray commercial grade steam cleaner, which we don't use commonly, but is an option for completely chemical-free cleaning (uses only distilled water) and is an excellent way to thoroughly clean small/complex objects with lots of nooks and crannies. Please let us know in advance if you definitely want anything steam cleaned.

Finally, we have a full complement of mops, dusters, sweeping compound, safety gear, and more. We are happy to use your cleaning supplies if you prefer that, but you don't need to worry about supplies -- we have it covered!