Have you ever wondered which cleaning tools a professional cleaner carries in their cleaning kit? Now is your chance to take a peek into the mysterious world of professional cleaners to see what they use to tackle the most challenging deep cleaning jobs! I’ve created an ultimate list of materials for housekeeping that you need in your cleaning arsenal to whizz through the tough cleaning jobs.

I prefer to keep things simple when it comes to house cleaning, I don’t want a massive armory of different types of products, and I don’t want to spend a fortune. I want to use the best housekeeping tools to tackle the most challenging jobs in the shortest time!
I have narrowed the choice of cleaning equipment down to twenty must-have products that I couldn’t work without.
I have over 20 years of cleaning experience, including 11 years cleaning a sterile aseptic lab in which we used to manufacture TPN feeds and Chemotherapy within a hospital pharmacy department. I have also worked within commercial units, end-of-tenancy properties, post-building work, and domestic cleaning. There is not much I haven’t come across in the way of dirt within those projects! And while cleaning those buildings, I’ve tried hundreds of different cleaning equipment and products. Some products are excellent, and some are pretty horrendous, so I’ve decided to share my favorite materials for housekeeping with you today!
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The top 22 materials for housekeeping
Degreaser
No cleaning supplies list would be complete without an All-Purpose degreaser like this one which I use for:
- Hobs
- Cooker hoods,
- Kitchen pans,
- Kitchen cabinets
- Cooking trays
- Oven
- Extractor fans
- Grease
- Baked on food
- Dried on food
- Pet food
If you’d like to learn how to use these tools to speed up your cleaning time, read this post
Multi-purpose spray
You can use multi-Purpose Spray on:
- Doorframes
- Tiles
- Dirt removal
- Kitchen
- Bathroom
- Floors (not wood)
Disinfectant Cleaner
One of my favorite products is a Disinfectant cleaner like this one. I use it everywhere.
- Doorframes
- Radiators
- Windowsills
- Floors
- Bannisters
- Outdoor furniture
- Kitchen
- Bathroom
- Kids rooms
- Kids toys
- Bedroom
- Cupboards
- Drawers
- Wardrobes
- Dining table and chairs
- Door handles
- Light switches
- Phones
- Remotes
I also use a detergent disinfectant that is excellent for bathrooms and toilets.
Dish soap
A good quality dish soap like this one is essential to any cleaning supplies list, and I never go to work without mine. I use it :
- As a soap scum remover for the bath and shower
- As a toilet bowl cleaner
- As a floor cleaner
- For woodwork
- As a glass cleaner
- Mix with baking soda for stubborn stains
Glass cleaner
I use it on glass, chrome, and high gloss surfaces such as kitchen cupboards and kitchen tiles. To learn how to achieve streak-free windows, read this post.
Cream cleaner
Use an All-Purpose Power Cream Cleaner like this one to clean sinks and inside toilet bowls.
Essential housekeeping tools
Other essential tools on my cleaning supplies list are:
- 1-inch scraper for scraping any dried on food from floors and work surfaces before cleaning. I use this one inch scraper to get burnt off food from the oven, hob, and baking dishes and trays. After spraying with the degreaser, this saves a whole load of scrubbing! For very stubborn areas, use the scraper wet to prevent scratches and finish with a non-scratch scrubby for the rest of the oven!
- Non-scratch scrubbers. I use these non scratch scrubbers for, showers, toilets, kitchen sinks and any other types of scratchable surfaces which need a good scrub.
- Stainless steel scrubbers. I use these scrubbers for pans, casserole dishes , glass dishes and other baked on dirt.
- Toothbrushes. I use colour coded toothbrushes like these ones for each area of the house to use on hard to reach areas like sink faucets or toilet seat hinges.
- Safety pins for cleaning screw heads and door hinges.
- Paintbrushes for dusting hard to reach areas
- Electrostatic dusting wand. I use an electrostatic dusting wand like this one for speed dusting round ornaments, baseboards, blinds, and door frames.
- Whisk brush or corn broom like this one is ideal for carpet edges and for cleaning the carpet inbetween small pieces of furniture.
- Green scrubbers for cleaning the toilet bowl.
- Glass Cloths. Always use special glass cloths like these ones for getting a streak free shine on chrome and glass
- Microfibre cleaning cloths .I color code all my cleaning cloths so I don’t cross contaminate areas of the house. these are also great for damp dusing using if you spritz them with a tiny amount of water.
- Pedal bin bags to gather rubbish as you clean
- Spin mop this microfiber spin mop is the best mop I’ve found to clean hardwood floors, high gloss floors , kitchen tiles and laminate flooring.
- Rubber broom this is the best broom for picking up pet hairs
- Cordless vacuum cleaner to reach under furniture and to enable you to easily clean stairs i use the Shark Duo Cordless Vacuum cleaner with anti wrap technology because I think it’s one of the best for removing pet hair.
- Dustpan and brush. I prefer to use a long handled one like this so I dont have to do as much bending down when I sweep.
I keep all of my materials for housekeeping stored away in a broom cupboard and secure them with these broom hooks. It is an excellent way to store brooms, brushes, mops, dusters, and all your other cleaning supplies for the house.
To find out what my granny used to keep in her cleaning kit, read this post packed full of old-fashioned housekeeping tips and equipment.
To read how to find housekeeping services you can trust, read this post.