The Daily Edit: My Go-To Cleaning List for an Elevated, Easy-to-Maintain Home
- Hala Gross
- Mar 9
- 6 min read
This post may contain affiliate links. I only share products I love and actually use.
Creating a home that feels peaceful and beautiful doesn’t mean you have to be cleaning all the time. One of the core ideas behind Functional Space Design is choosing tools and systems that work for you while quietly supporting your lifestyle, without adding more to your plate.
This topic has become a constant conversation among my friends casually and my clients as we wrap up projects and transformations. Probably due to the fact that I'm constantly talking about clean surfaces even as we are choosing furniture and finishes as well as organizing. How do I easily keep this? What works? What's clean? What do you use? I figured if two clients asked directly, more people were probably wondering the same thing.
And if you are the type who scrolls to the bottom first, I put the quick answers there for you. No judgment.
I always try very hard to use clean environmentally friendly products. It means a lot to me. So it's a real hallelujah moment when I find something that is genuinely effective and CLEAN, not subpar and without giving up any of the good qualities of the more toxic variety. Kind of like "Oprah's favorite things" but for cleaning. I really love these products and want to scream it from the rooftop, because they make things in my life easy while keeping them looking great and THAT is why. And some even save a lot of money along the way.
These dishcloths have replaced almost every paper towel in my home. Made from a cellulose-cotton blend, they handle more than you expect.
They absorb and pick up so much more than the best paper towels out there.
They're super soft but clean so incredibly well.
They're easily washable by either hand or machine. I just put a drop of dish soap, wash in 2 seconds, and it's ready for the next use.
This is one of my everyday go-to's. It's the quick way for me to do a quick dusting all over, including artwork, baseboards, and whatever other surfaces need a quick "dust me up." Five to 10 minutes and somehow things just look better.
Swap pads easily
Not going to lie, I like the disposable dusters and do use them for things I don't want to touch, so they go directly into the trash afterwards.
But for most other sweeps and dustings, I use these heavy duty microfiber reusable duster refills. They're so easy to clean and are very effective, environmentally friendly, and save money in the long run.
This one is a big investment, but it's made vacuuming and taking care of little in-betweens so much easier that I have come to refer to time as BD (Before Dyson) and AD (After Dyson). I've had other cordless vacuums and still needed a bigger vacuum to get things truly clean. With this one, I got rid of my bigger one. It actually picked up better. A friend called and said she was embarrassed, after her house had already been cleaned, by how much this vacuum still picked up from her carpets.
It doesn't get jammed with hair.
It's so easy to empty.
The pick-up power is genuinely impressive.
I've never run out of battery mid-clean, and it adjusts between carpet and flooring seamlessly.
I was always worried that some of the more toxic stuff would leave a residue on the dishes and glasses we use daily, so I tried a lot of clean brand dish soaps. I don't like to do any extra work. So when I found myself having to rewash things at least twice to get the same clean, everything in me screamed no way. But that wasn't the case with Seventh Generation Dish Soap. Score.
I won't go too much into it, but the same experience as with the regular dish soap, and yes, this stuff is awesome. No residue and incredibly clean without any smell. Yep.
I first heard about this from a client who swore by it after I told her she didn't need to have two refills and she held on to them for dear life. Then again by a cleaning pro who mentioned it to me as a solution for hard to get stains on bedsheets and outdoor furniture. I am generally pretty good at getting most stains out, and I don't like having a lot of cleaning products. I'm a fan of multitaskers and using what I already have. But this has made me a huge believer that some things are the exception, and this is definitely one. I know that they use a combination of enzymes, but in my very unscientific way, I just happen to think there is some kind of voodoo magic at work. I'm in awe at how well it works on stains old and new. They say it's a clean ingredient formula, but I guess magic can be, and I'm just not going to question it. I now use it on everything.
A couple of things that will take it to the next level:
For older stains: soak the stain and use a brush to rub it in, then let it sit.
For older furniture stains (and new ones): spray, rub in with a washcloth, and then, if you can, use the steam vac recommended below. It will be gone.
This is where a little goes a long way and it cleans so well along the way. I've also always liked using really pretty spray bottles that I purchase separately so I'm not looking at cleaning supplies. This bottle always stays out, so it might as well look good and blend into the background. Using this concentrate eliminates the waste of buying bottle after bottle. No streaks, no residue, and it cleans all my surfaces.
The second I see a stain on a piece of furniture, I feel like it changes the way the room feels. This steam vac comes to the rescue.
Unlike its little green counterparts, this specific model has its own heating element and doesn't just rely on filling it with hot tap water. So the steam clean is actual steam clean, and then it sucks up all the dirt needed. Combine it with the Puracy Stain Remover above on the harder-to-get stains and you've got a match made in cleaning heaven. One note: it does have a little learning curve to understand how to not have it spit water, but even when it does, it sucks it right back up. Once you get the hang of it, it is completely manageable, and the results are worth the learning curve.
A Quick Note
While I do like a clean and organized home, I don't actually like to clean, so finding the tools that work beautifully, save money, and make my life easier makes me happy, and I do want to share that with all of my friends and clients.
If you have found something along these lines that you love, especially anything environmentally friendly that actually works, I would love to know. And if there are product categories you are curious about or struggling with, let me know that too and drop it in the comments.
As promised, the short version.
What cleaning tools do I actually use at home?
The ones I keep coming back to are the Dyson V15 for vacuuming, a Swiffer Sweeper for daily maintenance, Swedish dishcloths instead of paper towels, and the Puracy Stain Remover for anything that lands on furniture or fabric. These cover most of what a home needs day to day without a lot of effort.
Is there one cleaner I can use on everything?
The Puracy All-Purpose Concentrate is mine. A little goes a very long way, no streaks, no residue, and it works on every surface. The concentrate also means you are not throwing away bottle after bottle, which saves money and waste at the same time.
What is the best eco-friendly dish soap that actually works?
Seventh Generation Dish Soap is my answer after testing a lot of them. It cuts grease, rinses clean without any residue, and does not make you rewash things. The dishwasher pods are just as good.
How do you get old stains out of furniture without harsh chemicals?
The Puracy Stain Remover and the Bissell HydroSteam together. Spray, work it into the fabric with a cloth, then go over it with the steam vac. I have gotten out stains I genuinely did not think were coming out.
What is the best reusable alternative to Swiffer disposable pads?
I like these Reusable Duster Refills. They fit the Swiffer 360 handle, rinse out easily, and over time save you a lot of money compared to buying disposables.
Is the Dyson V15 worth it for a small apartment?
For a small NYC apartment, absolutely yes. It's the only vacuum I use now. I got rid of my full-size vacuum entirely because this one outperformed it.
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