All the Cleaning Products the Strategist Staff Swears By

The first time I told a friend about Zout, the stain-remover spray, they thought it was some knockoff of Shout. Nuh-uh. This is my laundry holy grail. Spray it on a stain and soak it in a little water and it’ll get rid of almost anything. Cherries! Mustard! My 3-year-old gets regular overnight nosebleeds, and I promise you would literally think hissheetsare brand new.

I must admit I am also obsessed with this broom. A broom! Really. I’ve bought it multiple times and I really don’t know if I’ll ever buy a different broom again. Do you know how life-changing it is to have a dustpan that you don’t have to bend down to use? You only need to try it once to know you’ll never go back.

I am God’s most allergic son, so everything in the house is fragrance-free: dish soap, hand soap, cleaning products. We’ve stopped buyinghand soap by the bottleand got these XL refills, which are packaged exactly like boxed wine, with a plastic bladder inside a cardboard box and a little plastic spigot for outflow. The standard size comes in a thick glass pump bottle, which I’ve been reusing with the label removed. (Side note: To remove that sticky label glue from glass, mix a little bit of oil and dish soap together — any nonprecious oil works, I use the less-fancy olive oil that lives on the counter — massage it into the glue with your fingers then scrub with a coconut fiber brush. I don’t know why this works, but it does. Oil is great at lifting sticky shit.)

I’ve had a bottle of these since 2022 and haven’t run out yet. So much easier to store than a big jug of bleach. I usually use one tab per gallon of water and also dilute it into a spray bottle, which I keep in the bathroom.

Folex isn’t anything new, but it’s a real miracle-worker, and this story would not be complete without a recommendation for it. Spray just a bit on any upholstery stain, blot it with a microfiber cloth, and watch said stain disappear. It works on mycouch,throw pillows,floor pillows,rug— you name it. And it tackles just about everything: food, wine, blood, grime, and even old mystery marks.

My apartment bathroom does not have especially good ventilation and as such, mildew develops pretty easily inside of the shower. I find it easy enough to keep the tiled wall clean, but where said wall meets the grout lining at the top of the tub is another story. As soon as that area started getting discolored and gross, there seemed to be nothing I could do to get it out — until finally one day I went to my local hardware store and the guy pointed me toward X-14. He told me he was amazed by it the first time he used it, as I have now been, too.

I first learned about these sponges at my old job atBon Appétit. They were the preferred sponge of the test kitchen and I’ve been dedicated ever since. They lastwaylonger than any others I’ve tried — like more than a month. To be clear: The brand still says you should replace your sponge every one to two weeks, but they feel in good shape for at least twice that amount of time in my experience. Apparently, that’s because they’re made from a patented polyurethane foam that includes an antimicrobial agent to prevent the growth of odor-causing bacteria, mildew, and mold. The dry quickly and never get stinky. They’re substantial to hold, and the two sides — one soft, the other abrasive but not overly so — can tackle just about any surface.

I love Seventh Generation’s all-purpose cleaner. It works well on sealed wood, countertops in the kitchen and bathroom, tile, and stainless steel. It doesn’t upset my skin (I noticed a few years ago that my hands would get irritated after I cleaned with more intense all-purpose sprays), and it doesn’t leave any smell.

This is newer to me than the Seventh Generation, but I’m loving it as an alternative to Windex. It works just as well but is less harsh.

I use this extendable duster to reach the corners of my ceilings, and the tops of the fan in my bedroom and my husband’s office. The microfiber piece is excellent at collecting dust and cobwebs, and it slides right off when done. I just throw it in the wash with other rags and it comes out good as new.

I can’t find the exact rubber brush I own. I’ve had mine for years and years. But this is similar. It kind of grabs pet hair and balls it up — especially if it’s a fabric where the hair is annoyingly working its way into the weave, this is my best strategy. You can also splash it with a bit of water, which helps, too, if the brush itself isn’t enough. Or else adish glovewith some water also has a similar effect.

My apartment is old and doesn’t have a fan, so it can be tough to get good ventilation. Mold pops up quickly in my shower, which is easy enough to clean. But I was plagued for a few months by mold underneath the sealant along the edge where the tub meets the wall. No amount of scrubbing could get to it. I bought this mold and mildew remover, and it works like a dream. I just spray it onto the affected areas of sealant, let it sit for a bit, and when I come back, the mold is gone. Then, all I have to do is rinse it off. It has bleach in it, so I make sure to keep people and pets out of the bathroom while I’m letting the solution soak. But other than that, it couldn’t be easier to use.

Because my cats were so young and were coming from a shelter and foster care when I adopted them, they were sick for a few weeks. After one of them threw up onto my (brand new) rug, I ran out to buy this pet-stain remover. You can use it for pretty much any kind of bodily fluid your pets leave behind. I like it because it’s pet-safe, easy to use, and smells nice. All you have to do is spray the affected area, let it sit for a few minutes, and then dab with a cloth. The enzymes in the cleaner break down the stains and odors, so you don’t have to rinse it out. I’ve used this on myrugs,throw blankets, a carpetedcat tower, and myduvet, to great success each time.

When my landlord was renovating my bathroom this past winter, the contractors working on it unfortunately tracked stains all over my hallway runner rug. I tried using the Bio-Kleen, but wasn’t able to get the stains out (as I wasn’t sure exactlywhatthey were). I bought this carpet-and-upholstery stain remover, which worked very effectively. The built-in scrubber makes it really easy to get into the rug fibers and ensure the stain remover is worked in.

For clothing stains, I love this OxiClean stain-remover spray. I’ve had very good success with it getting all kinds of stains out of my clothes (I’m a very messy person). I spray it onto the stain, let it sit, and then wash the clothing item. Sometimes it needs a second treatment, so I always make sure to check if the stain is out before throwing the stained item in the dryer. But very rarely have I had stains not come out after the second wash with this stain remover.

I bought this when I made the classic mistake of washing something red with white clothes. A few of my white turned pink items weren’t bleach safe, so I ran them through the washer several times with this, and they are about good as new. Now I use it periodically to whiten mywhite teesandsockswhen they’re starting to look a little grungy.

I switched to these after learning the Seventh Generation dishwasher tablets have a PVA casing. I like that there’s none on these. I don’t put dishes in with caked-on food, but they do a great job at cleaning.

Most stainless-steel cleaners are foam-based in aerosol cans and smell super fume-y. I found this after searching for something less toxic. We use it on the dishwasher, fridge, stove, and hood. The formula works great. I love that you don’t have to wipe it a million times to get the streaks to blend.

This stuff is great. It’s just sodium carbonate. I soaked some very dirty whiteTeva flatforms(I probably shouldn’t have purchased white Teva flatforms), and they look like new — both the straps and the foam sole. I soak my whites. I soak anything with a stain and it’s like the whole incident never happened. You can also add some to the wash cycle. For a big bucket of water, I use about a quarter of the scoop that comes with OxiClean.

My husband, who is the main dishwasher in the house, switched to these a couple of years ago and swears by them, especially for getting gunk off ofcarbon steelandcast iron.

Forextra-crusted-on food on carbon steel and cast iron, we use this chainmail scrubber. The silicone grip makes it easier to get purchase on it.

For cleaning a stainedLe Creuset, soaking up grease stains from fabric, and general household cleaning, I have a big sack of baking soda: Make a paste with water, and apply elbow grease.

Perhaps one of the most important — if notthemost important — cleaners/deodorizers if you own rugs and pets.

We use this with our laundry for colors, or anything that needs a little extra destinkifying.

And this for all our whites.

For killing microbes and really getting a bathroom spotless, this is the stuff.

A brand called Briotech reached out to me about its hypochlorous acid spray for your skin, but I noticed it also carried a hypochlorous acid product that’s billed as an everyday household cleaner and was curious to give a try. After all, the ingredient is very effective at fighting bacteria on your face — why not on your countertops as well? I’ve been spritzing iteverywhere: on myyoga matafter a workout session, on my woodencutting board, on my bathroom counter and shower tiles, on doorknobs around the house — there’s basically nothing that it can’t disinfect.

Blueland recently sent me a variety of their different household essentials to try out, from dishwasher tablets torefillable hand soap. It was the toilet-bowl cleaner, though, that ended up being my favorite of the bunch. I’d always just picked up the standard Clorox cleaners, but never liked how it left the bathroom smelling so strongly of bleach. These tablets smell lovely — they come in lavender, lemon cedar, and peppermint and eucalyptus scents — and are made from plant and mineral-based cleaning agents that are both effective and ecofriendly. It’s a bonus that they’re zero-waste and plastic-free, too, so I don’t have to contend with a bulky bottle taking up storage space in my bathroom.

We got a pack of these microfiber cloths, and I can’t use anything else when I’m wiping down surfaces. They’re absorbent, pick up lint and dust easily, and leave no streaks behind on mirrors and glass surfaces. I’ve run them through an extra-hot wash multiple times and they came out just fine as well.