Tips and Essential Products for a Clean Home - Bradipocondriaca's Blog

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Why has keeping a clean home become the mission of a sloth like me? Those who follow me on Instagram already know the answer, but to keep it short… I moved! Finally, I have a larger home, and I am waiting for the office to be ready (which, however, won’t be mine, but on loan for three years). Sure, I will miss some things about the apartment, especially my landlord's family and the convenience of any Vinted pickup point, but being able to ride my bike instead of taking the tram is priceless! Now that the house is mine, my mission is to keep it tidy (which I did before) and clean. Or at least try, because, let’s face it, my relationship with cleaning is a bit… complicated.

They call me Sloth, and there must be a reason, right? I mean, I’m not exactly the type to wake up early in the morning and start the day with a nice round of vacuuming. My idea of cleaning is more like a marathon of TV series on Prime with a quick wipe here and there during the commercial breaks, which are pretty short. But barring unforeseen events, this will be my home for life, so I have to roll up my sleeves.

My Secret Weapon: The Right Products (for the Lazy!)

To begin with, I realized one fundamental thing: the key to keeping the house clean without going crazy is having the right products. Yes, because if I can simplify my life, maybe I can also make it seem like I know what I’m doing. I can’t list everything I use in one article, but I’ll start with the essentials and then go deeper. This is not meant to be a post from a cleaning expert, I laugh at the thought, but from someone trying to find a way to have an acceptable home without losing my mind, considering I work 10 hours a day! So here’s my beloved list, my winning team to make everything look clean with minimal effort (or almost).

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1. Microfiber Cloths: For Quick Cleaning

Discovering microfiber cloths was a real revelation. If you don’t know them, they are those magical cloths that do everything on their own: dusting, polishing, absorbing… and all this without requiring much effort. Just wipe them over surfaces, and you’re done. They are ideal for those, like me, who prefer to do things quickly (better if while watching the latest episode of my favorite series).

But the best part? Often, you don’t even need to use too many chemicals. A bit of water and off you go, the microfiber cloth does its job perfectly. And they are washable and reusable, so I feel eco-friendly too. I’ve scattered these cloths all over the house: one in the kitchen, one in the bathroom, one in the living room, so they are always within reach, and I have no excuses not to use them. In short, the microfiber cloth is my new best friend. I’m doing great with these, especially since they are colorful, so I match them with the decor of the rest of the room. Color power!

However, they don’t work well with screens; some fluff remains, so if you want to clean monitors, TVs, and tablets well, I recommend these.

Robot Vacuum: My Daily Hero

One thing I had already understood in my old home is that the floor always gets dirty, especially if you have a cat roaming around. However, I vacuumed once a week because if you have a few centimeters of walkable space per room, it doesn’t change much. Now that the situation is different, I’ve realized that until I get the Dyson 2-in-1, I don’t want to vacuum every day anyway. And here comes my personal hero: the robot vacuum. This little technological genius has become part of my daily routine. I program it in the morning while I’m still in bed deciding whether to get up or not, and it gets to work. It zigzags around the house, picking up dust, crumbs, hair (especially mine, which seems to multiply and turn whiter), and leaves everything nice and clean.

The funny thing is that sometimes I find myself watching it while it works, as if it were a little pet, and I wonder: “Why didn’t I adopt it sooner?”. It’s the perfect solution for those, like me, who prefer not to exert too much effort but love having a clean floor underfoot. This specific model isn’t mine; it works at my place in the morning and at my mom’s in the afternoon (she also has a feline), but I’ll link it anyway because I’m finding it very useful. If she reports me for slavery, I’ll let you know!

3. Multi-Purpose Cleaners: Because Simplicity is Key

I’ve also limited myself with knick-knacks, which I’ve always hated because they are one more thing to clean. However, I received them as gifts, so I had them in my old home. Now, though, I’ve only kept a few vases, LED balloons, and the little pond with the Thun fish. I know, it’s awful, but it has sentimental value! Another thing I’ve realized is that the fewer products you have, the better. I don’t want to fill my home with bottles of different cleaners for every surface. My philosophy is “one cleaner for all” (except for the kitchen, which is snobby and wants its own, the one I only use with it). I’ve found a couple of multi-purpose cleaners that work well for everything: bathroom, windows, wooden surfaces… They are this one (for quick cleanings) and this one (for deeper cleanings). These products are ideal for me, who sometimes forgets even to do the grocery shopping, let alone remember which cleaner to use for which surface.

4. No Shoes, Please (If I Trigger You, Move On)

Here we enter a delicate issue. When it comes to guests, I am in conflict with myself: on one hand, I love having friends and family around the house, on the other hand, the thought of them bringing in dust and dirt sends shivers down my spine. In my old home, we had two or three pairs of shoes at the entrance, so it was natural for people to ask if they should take them off. In this new house, however, we got a shoe rack (this one, long debated against a pouf where we would have put some risers, but there’s also a smaller one), and while it contributes to making everything more aesthetically pleasing, on the other hand, no one was asking me if they should take off their shoes anymore. It was a problem, but luckily I found a brilliant (and a bit obsessive, I admit) solution: shoe covers.

Yes, you read that right. When someone enters my home, the first step is to put on the shoe covers (or take off their shoes, but not everyone likes that). I keep them near the front door, in a nice box (so it doesn’t look like I’m completely obsessed), and I offer them to guests with a smile. And, I must say, it’s working great. No more shoe marks on the clean floor, no more mysterious dust appearing out of nowhere. And my anxiety about germs and bacteria thanks me.

Bonus Track

Ah, and I can’t forget about vacuum storage bags in the closet! They have become my salvation for keeping that chaos under control that seems to grow spontaneously every time I open the ski gear cabinet. You know when it feels like the closet is about to explode, and you don’t know where to stuff that giant duvet or, indeed, the ski suits? Well, with vacuum storage bags, I solve everything in a snap. Just stuff everything inside, suck out the air with the pump, and voilà, the volume reduces like magic. And then, there’s an indescribable satisfaction in seeing everything so compact and tidy… at least until the next seasonal change!

The Challenges of Cleaning (or rather, the Challenges Against My Laziness)

Of course, even with all these tricks, cleaning remains a challenge. There are days when the desire to do anything is zero, and the only movement I make is flipping through the pages of a book. But I’m learning to live with it and find small strategies to tackle my natural laziness.

Since I’m going on quite a bit, I’ll tell you about them in the next post. In the meantime, if you’d like, you can subscribe to the newsletter or follow me on Instagram and tell me if cleaning is a hassle for you too!

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