I wish I'd bought one years ago...

[Florianna]

What products/habits have revolutionised your housekeeping?

I've just bought an E-cloth mop system, and I love it: quick, easy and no clatting about with a mop bucket!

So, do you have any other products/routines that you wish to share?

My cordless vacuum cleaner. I agree the light weight of it is the key advantage.

Decent tumble dryer. I love mine. Had a washer dryer for years, which didn’t dry anything. I’ve had my Bosch dryer for 8 years now and am still incredibly grateful for it.

Bloody love my dyson absolute v8 cordless too. Picks up so well, light and saves so much time not plugging it in every room.

Oh its brilliant for pet hair @ApplestheHare.

I have two very furry black cats that shed hair a lot and a furry dog. I have cream carpets throughout (already here when I moved in - not my choice) and it gets all the hair up with just a couple of passes.

I have never heard of a silicon scraper but have a packet on the way - woohoo!

My current faves are oven liners (I do lots of slow roasting which are a bastard for the oven) and silicon baking sheets.

Those of you that use colour catchers - what about the whites? Do you find they go a manky off white/grey colour? If not, I'm definitely going to invest in some!

@Aaarrrggghh I was worried about that too but nope, the whites are still white. It's been a life changing discovery for me, which is pretty sad!

A cleaner.

@DearTeddyRobinson
This is good to know. I need to get on top of the laundry. The basket is never empty!

Magic sponges! They get anything off any surface - including toy scratches off the sides of the bath (looking at YOU, DC..) and baked on grease from casserole pans! A micro fibre duster, too.

So many things I've discovered recently that have completely revolutionised my cleaning!

E-cloth mop.
E-cloths in general. I have really shitty worktops in my kitchen and I used to have to go over them after cleaning them with a dry cloth or they'd be left full of streaks. Streak free with the e-cloths.
Karcher window vac.
Pledge disposable fluffy dusters and disposable dusting cloths. Dusting used to be such a massive faff but I literally whizz around with one of these every day; the whole downstairs takes 10 minutes as it never builds up. Not very eco friendly but I get a few days out of each one.

Ooh, no clattering around with buckets? How does that work op?

My shopping list:
Magic sponge
Micro fibre cloths
Silicon pan scrapers

What else?

A Bissell vac and steam. Vacs and steam cleans the floor in one. No more lugging buckets of water and a smelly mop. Saved my sanity with a new born.

Blueisthenewgrey YES! I love my vac and steam. Absolute gem of a gadget. Sucks up the bits and mops the floor. Couldn't be without it.

My shark hoover and steam mop

Robot vacuum/mop! Was great when I was on maternity & had no time to do either.

My husband buys microfibre cloths and I hate them. They feel slimy when wet. Anyone else share that or is it just me?

Ubercorns: Have you tried bamboo cloths? I've switched for eco reasons, but prefer the bamboo cloths now because they wash so well.

I LOVE ecloths and their mop. I think I know what you mean about the slime UbercornsGoggle,the thinner microfibre clothes that are like that. The branded ecloths have a thicker feel almost like towelling. Immortal too, have had mine for 10 years or so. Haven't tried bamboo ones though Cynderella . I do love bamboo fibre.
Karcher window vac is brilliant, definitely makes light work of the job with an old spray bottle filled with water.
Splosh cleaning products are excellent too -their aim is to reduce plastic waste so you buy (online) concentrated refills and dilute at home. They all work at least as well as mainstream products - I use their hand gel, washing up liquid, bio and non-bio laundry liquid and fabric conditioner.

@DearTeddyRobinson wait these exist? Do they work? I’d be nervous to try them...

@Ohyesiam The E-cloth mop has a flat head that attaches with Velcro. You simply wet it in the sink ( I also use a drop of Zoflora) and then wring it out, before sticking it on the handle. Once I've finished mopping I stick it in the washing machine, ready for next time.

Oh they do,@PirateMermaid !
https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/dylon-colour-catcher-x24?dclid=CLig8vdtN0CFc3R3godpJUK6g&langId=44&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz93cBRCrARIsAEFbWshpsTLiHKV1F86WORfwSJy4tIXZE0SSCVfNN8Iskj5dSytlpl0WutgaAnpvEALwwcB&storeId=10151&krypto=CPDDEfNnimqWqksE5b9SAtCG%2Fxv2lEv7Gf%2BnWBAJmYri%2FAJe5cQGkIdVo18az577QPxvFteEFH7%2BAkGtf4voKq%2BSKPg0Z3JjNORBi63QwBmEtFjMJ%2FTKagGJZFb%2FzSVzM5h6OfYPK%2F9b%2BkbHUGAnWwEm14Vo3lNP%2F8PuEWCd2XPVEqs%2FpxlllrDZ7RbjpyOrnBc9p5CXje8YNguEsQ1IrOJ%2BSbz4gDWuiM0cTj0NRE4VIUujHqIKqPRniB%2FA8GXZeXRoTezKql1pLGh5izXMKg%3D%3D&ddkey=https%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fdylon-colour-catcher-x24

Argh sorry rubbish link but Dylon do them, and I'm pretty sure Tesco do their own version.

Re colour catcher sheets, I've never used them. Recently there was a fascinating AMA thread on MN about laundry (by someone who used to develop detergents for P&G or Unilever) - so interesting, I learned loads from that thread - and I think she said that colour catcher sheets were a load of rubbish:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/AMA/3308661-I-developed-laundry-detergents-AMA

I love my cordless hand-held grass cutter and hedge trimmer. Is so much easier and quicker than shears, plus can now do the hedge myself with the hedge attachment. Never knew they existed till I came across them on Amazon.

Another vote for colour catchers. How can it be rubbish, if they trap ‘leaking’ colour that would otherwise spread to the clothes? There’s no comparison to doing a mixed wash without them. I’ve halved my wash loads with these for the last 10 years. I’d be lost without them.

My other newer fave is a window washer tool (sponge with squeegee) that is EXACTLY the width of my plentiful little square windows. 2 swipes and I’m done.

On topic- does anyone have a recommendation for a thin (not furry) kitchen cloth/sponge that can be microwaved to kill off germs? Most seem to be made from synthetic substances that cant, but cotton rags are a bit too old-school for me. I want to be able to wipe, rinse with soap, squeeze then pop into microwave as insurance. Not have the faff of putting it through a machine wash every couple of days. Anyone?