My Favorite Cleaning Products

     I was thinking this morning about how grateful I am to Robinson's Floor Covering in Terre Haute for getting me started using Host Carpet Cleaner.  They said I should never use Resolve or some of those other grocery store cleaners, because they leave a residue that actually attracts dirt.  (Our carpet which was flooded this week looks perfect, no stains, no odor, and no need to replace it!)  Since I had not heard of Host Cleaner until Robinson's told me about it, I thought that maybe you hadn't either.  My blog seems the perfect place to pass on this information.  Once I decided to do this I began to think of other cleaning products I have discovered, or tips others have given me, to make my life a little easier, so I'm including some of those, too.
     1. For the carpet cleaner to be really effective you need to have on hand, Host Pre-Clean for Carpets, Host Dry Carpet Cleaner (Shaker Pack) and Host Spot Remover, for really tough spots.  I have only used the spot remover once because I have found that spraying the carpet according to directions with the Pre-Clean and then packing the stain with the Dry Cleaner and letting it stand till dry, or even overnight works so well that I haven't needed the Spot Remover.   As I mentioned before, I order it on Amazon because that's convenient for me.
     2. Another wonderful cleaner I have used for years is Dirtex Window Cleaner.  This is the best product I have found to clean windows--so much better than Windex or any of the others!  I buy it by the case if I can, because I have so many windows.  It seems to mainly be sold in paint stores.  I recently found it at Lowe's, but it is not in the cleaning section.  Since I buy by the case, and therefore don't buy it often, I usually forget where I found it at Lowe's and have to ask.
    3. Another tip I am grateful for is to use liquid soap when taking showers.  The plumber said our hard water does not completely dissolve bar soap and therefore a residue is left on the tile.  Since switching to liquid soap, cleaning the shower has become so much easier!  Because I seemed to be getting a build up of deposits in my dishwasher, I recently decided to see if the same idea applied to liquid dishwasher soap.  So far it seems to be working much better.
     4. Guardsman Furniture Polish seems to be the best product I've found so far, that doesn't cause wax build up on the furniture.  If you have found something better, I would really like to hear about it.  
     5. Another product that is extremely useful is Oil-Flo Safety Solvent Cleaner.  I first bought this at a paint store in Nebraska, but since moving to Illinois I have not been able to find it.  I recently ordered it online.  It seems to remove most any really difficult stain, like oil and grease on clothing, without leaving a residue.   It removes sticky labels off jars, and has many other uses.  Here is a link, if you want to see what kinds of stains it will remove:  http://www.titanlabs.net/oilflo.htm#stains
     These are the products I can think of right now.  If you have some helpful tips to share, please let me know.  It's all about helping each other to do the best we can with what we have, don't you think?

   Country Guy reminded me of another one so I am adding it today (3-3-11)  It is Bar Keeper's Friend Liquid Cleanser.  I used to only be able to find this at Rural King, but I have since discovered it at Wal-Mart.  This is like Soft Scrub, only milder, but seems to me to do a better job than Soft Scrub. It will remove most anything off walls, floors, sinks, counter tops, etc.