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Checklist A Dozen Must Have Cleaning Tools

You’re staged to sell. Are you cleaned to sell?

Clean houses sell faster than less-than-sparkling ones, because buyers love a property that looks like the professional cleaning crew just left.

I know that deep cleaning is hard work. Keeping the essential tools and equipment at hand makes the tasks easier, faster, and more thorough.

Here’s a run-down of cleaning tools that will help you sell your home. I compiled this list based on my own experience and the advice I’ve researched from professionals and other neat-freaks.

Caddy. An equipment caddy is like your purse. Get one you like to look at, and stock it with your favorite cleaning solutions. Keep it clean, organized, and handy.

Some people like to store a caddy on each floor of the home, or in each bathroom.

Microfiber cloths. Who isn’t a fan! These miracle cloths are so effective at capturing and holding dust and dirt that they make harsh cleaning products unnecessary for many of your ordinary cleaning jobs. For wiping down doors and trim, give me a bucket of plain water and a microfiber cloth, and let the games begin! Easy.

For big, reusable microfiber cloths at the best price, look in the automotive section of Wal-Mart.

Rags. I use rags for spot cleaning carpets, sopping up major spills, and tackling nasty jobs like wiping down porch railings or the undersides of a range hood. Disposable paper towels are temptingly easy but can get very expensive.

Did you know that paper towels can actually scratch some surfaces, like Plexiglas and other plastics? And paper towels are no friend of the environment.

Got orphan socks? Cut them in half lengthwise, and use them for cleaning. They’re soft, absorbent, and reusable. Old T-shirts, diapers, and towels make good cleaning rags, too. Recycling feels good!

Plastic Buckets. My preference is a roomy one for floor mopping jobs, plus a couple of smaller ones to soak items or dilute solutions. Spray cleaners can build up after time, so once in a while a cleaning with clear water, rinsing as you go, calls for a handled bucket.

I like equipment that I can wash and disinfect, like my little dustpan and broom.

Brooms. Many homeowners have tossed their brooms in favor of Swiffer-style sweepers, but nothing matches what a broom can do for floor corners, edges of carpeted rooms, exterior doors and steps, and other places where most vacuum cleaners won’t pick up.

Soft, synthetic bristle brooms are easier to use and grab dust better than stiff brooms. For garage floors, driveways and sidewalks, a stiff push broom is best.

A brooms kissing cousin is the dust broom, and a dust pan. Theyre a necessity unless youre sweeping debris under a rug, and I know you wouldnt! Well, maybe if your realtor is knocking at the door with clients in tow.

Mops. A mop’s essential for a thorough cleaning on washable flooring. A large-headed wet mop with a swivel base and removable microcloth takes care of maintenance cleaning. For deeper cleaning, use a traditional sponge mop, one with a sturdy replaceable head that will squeeze out excess water and lets you rinse floors as well as wash. The more money you spend, the better the mop. Read the reviews and pick your weapon.

Brushes. They’re indispensable for embedded dirt, textured surfaces, and hard to reach places. I prefer a brush or a cloth to a sponge, which starts out looking all perky and then gets stinky if you don’t disinfect it regularly and then dry it quickly.

I like Oxo brushes because they are designed well and last a long time. My dentist has forgotten that he recommended a Sonic toothbrush, so when I get free toothbrushes with each visit, they become part of my cleaning arsenal, perfect for getting into those tough spots.

This little, long handled, low-tech carpet sweeper could be your answer
to those short notice showings when your carpets need a quick once over.

Magic Erasers. Like any addict, I make sure I never run out of these. They are the only approach for some otherwise unsolvable cleaning problems. We’re talking glass shower doors, fiberglass shower stalls, stoves, porcelain and stainless sinks, and stains on vinyl and laminates. The post I wrote about how Magic Erasers work their magic is one of my most popular posts.

Vacuum Cleaner. Nothing sexy about it, but people have love/hate relationships with their vacuums. I love my Rainbow. I’ll never go back to using a vacuum that blows air over dirt and then out its exhaust. My Rainbow is a little heavy and a little awkward, but I don’t care. It makes the whole house smell great because I can scent the water that cleans the air. I don’t get paid to say these things.

A vac is your most important tool. If you’re in an unfulfilling relationship with yours, now’s a good time to invest in your future. Whether you prefer an upright or a canister type, I urge you to spend a little more money and get one that you can stay married to for a long time.

Or does your present vac just need a thorough overhaul and cleaning?

Its not a vacuum cleaner, but its the ancestor of vacs -- the humble carpet sweeper. It could be included on this dirty dozen tool list as #13. Compact, lightweight, inexpensive, quiet, it will perform your hurry-up-tidy-ups between regular vacuuming dates.

Long Handled Duster. A microfiber duster on an extendable handle is the way to handle ceilings and walls on a maintenance schedule. Swooshing over these surfaces regularly gets rid of dust and cobwebs before they become visible.

The telescoping handle is your friend if you have high ceilings. Use your handled duster for ceiling fans because they are a magnet for whatever is in the air. Knock the dirt down before you vacuum.

My favorite scents. If youve read my home staging eBook, you know that I like to avoid
strong chemical scents, and prefer essential oils for adding fragrance to a room.
You can download the book now and and learn all my tips to clean like a pro.

Plastic Watering Can. A real time-saver. If you have to use caustic solutions, like Lime-A-Way or CLR, to clean shower walls and doors, use a small plastic watering can with a spout to rinse them away. Tuck it away in the vanity.

Nitrile Gloves. Protect your hands and your health. Slip on some pretty gloves for all your wet cleaning tasks. Even pure water dries your skin, and cleaners in solution are absorbed by your skin. If you wont drink it, dont put it on your skin.

What? A girl cant have too many pairs of gloves. I have other glove collections
for painting and gardening. This is the watering can I use for rinsing shower walls.

Depending on your home, you’ll have favorites to add to this list -- a steamer, roller to remove pet hair, carpet shampooer, robot cleaner, hand-held rechargeable vac, pumice stone, special dry mop, a squeegee, your favorite dance music. What do you do to make the most of your housecleaning time?

Getting your home to shine is one of the most important ways you stage your home. When a person buys a home, she envisions herself starting fresh, and moving up in the world. Cleanliness is part of that picture, part of what sells homes. You cant clean your home on the market too much, but you deserve the tools that let you do a better job, faster and easier.

Checklist A Dozen Must Have Cleaning Tools

A Dozen Rules for Organizing Your Home Painlessly!

Get organized. Stay organized. Heres tips.

An organized home is one that calls out to buyers. In a good way.

Since Januarys buzz word is "organization," youll find plenty of products and tools in stores right now to help you get organized. And youll find plenty of advice in the media and online.

Here are my twelve best tips for tackling organizing projects when your home is for sale.

1. Location, Location. If you don’t have a place to put it, you can’t keep it.

2. Think! Get rid of junk before you organize. Don’t waste time organizing what you don’t want to keep. Declutter first.

3. Be Mean, and Mean It. Declutter when you are in a serious, even nasty, frame of mind, not a leisurely, happy-go-lucky one. Its easier to get rid of things when you are mad, as in, "Im sick and tired of this crap!" See my post on organizing a closet for my plan of attack.

4. Cluster by Function. Think in terms of systems. Categorize by how and where you will use particular items. Examples: a shoe care kit in the closet, your bill paying box on the desk, a cabinet just for setting the table, a shoe box in the vanity for all first aid supplies, a tote in the bathroom with all bathroom cleaning supplies.

5. Accessibility Counts. Don’t waste prime real estate. Is the handiest space on your kitchen counter taken up with cookbooks you hardly use? Is the fancy china you use only for company on the most reachable cabinet shelf? Are your summer sandals front and center on your closet floor all winter? Its time to rotate seldom used or out of season items to less accessible places, and bring most-used items into prime spots.

6. Choose One Place Only. Designate a central command spot in the house where one calendar is kept, and any notes to other family members, schedules, invitations, and important phone numbers, are posted. Remember to keep personal information invisible to people touring your home.

7. Break It Up. When tackling a task you don’t enjoy, set a timer, and stop when times up. Repeat the following day (or week) until the work is done.

8. Tidy As You Go. Make it easy to put things away when you are finished using them. Work to eliminate the habit of dropping clothes on the floor by keeping covered laundry baskets near dressing areas. And by having storage areas like closets, cabinets, dressers, and shelves uncrowded.

A pretty closet will encourage you to keep it organized and ready for a showing.

10. Give the Day Structure. Have routines. Take care of certain tasks in the morning. Run regular errands on the same day of the week. Have an end of day routine. A structured day frees your mind for important decisions, and empowers you.

11. Name One Spot. Establish a holding zone in the house, where items that need to go elsewhere are placed. Clear this spot on a daily basis. This habit makes those spontaneous calls from your realtor less reason for rushing around.

Make it easy for everyone to help
Photo: Better Homes and Gardens

12. Hide Stuff. This tip breaks the rule most organizing experts tell you, but when your home is for sale, the rules change. Instead of storing small items in see-through containers, store in opaque containers, preferably all one color. Youll minimize the look of clutter, and cultivate a clean, seamless appearance.

In the top photo, Ive lined clear plastic shoe boxes with scrapbook paper to hide the contents and create a more uniform look.

I wrote about thrifty fixes for closet organization, and Alexis, the expert organizer and blogger at Clean, Smart Simple, guest-posted here about how to make closets look larger.

Dont wait any longer to tackle the organizing projects your home needs to be the one buyers crave. With the right systems and the right attitude, you can have your entire home organized before February brings another buzz word.

For more tips on making your home more desirable, download my $4.99 eBook, DIY Home Staging Tips to Make Your Home Sell Fast and For Top Dollar.

A Dozen Rules for Organizing Your Home Painlessly!