If, like many people, one of your New Years resolutions is to get organised in the home – clear out any unwanted things, declutter and get on top of the housework then here are 3 top product recommendations from me to help you on your way.
Bissell Vac and Steam
I have been testing out the Bissell Vac and Steam and have been impressed with it. It’s a really convenient and effective way to clean. It steams and vacuums at the same time so it is a pretty quick way of getting the floor properly clean without having to vacuum first and then mop or use a separate steam cleaner.
To use, you add water to the chamber at the front of the vacuum cleaner. This is the red section you can see above where it has Bissell written on it. It’s recommended to use filtered water to help preserve the vac and steam working well for longer. Luckily we are getting water filter taps installed in our kitchen soon so that will compliment the Vac & Steam nicely! However you wouldn’t need filter taps you can just use any regular water filter.
Once you start vacuuming, it will take a moment before you see any steam, as the water needs to heat up but this does not take long at all and it show a light once it is steam ready. You can change the settings to low or hi, or leave it on a vacuum only setting.
When steaming, even on high setting it does not leave the floor too wet but it does get rid of any marks, and on a low setting is fine for just general cleaning if there are no marks or blemishes on the floor. We have a variety of hard floors in our house from real wood to laminate wood, kitchen lino and bathroom floor tiles and the vac and steam works well on all of these. I find my floors quickly get marks on them with young children so this type of product is ideal.
This is the first Bissell product I have used and my experience is very positive with it. The Vac & Steam is very well made and seems to be very reliable so far (I have had it a couple of months so far). It’s fairly light to carry and move around the house and also is not cumbersome to store at all, being no larger than any regular upright vacuum cleaner. It has a hook at the back to wrap the power cord so that also stores neatly.
It really is an ideal product if you would like something to do two jobs at the same time, and also save space by only having to keep one machine.
It can be bought here for an RRP of 199 and you can see a short video of it here:
Packmate
Another set of very handy products which is ideal for me sorting out the children’s outgrown and out of season clothes are the storage bags from Packmate.
I tested out their range of vacuum storage bags which includes
- Flat Vacuum Storage Bags
- High Volume Vacuum Storage Bags
- Travel Storage Bags
I was intrigued by the travel storage bags as you do not need to vacuum to use these you just roll all the air out of them. You can also use the vacuum method if you prefer and I do still find that easier to remove all the air and compact everything down more.
The bags are ideal as it seals everything in and is airtight so you won’t have to worry too much about the possibility of dust, or anything, getting into your storage. This does worry me when storing things like baby clothes, as I would rather they be sealed away tightly if they are going to be there a while.
I have used the smaller travel bags to store away some of the blankets for now and stop them taking up so much space, but still remain accessible when I want to take them out now and again. I still need to go through and sort out all of the children’s outgrown clothes, to see which we want to keep to pass down to the younger ones, which are for charity and which just to get rid of. I have a spare chest of drawers with a mixture of all their old things in it so this really needs doing to make a lot of space. If I only kept the ones we need and condensed everything down further in the Packmate bags we would gain so much extra storage space there! It’s definitely worth doing.
You can see another review from my friend Fiona who blogs at Mummys Little Stars and also tried out these Packmate vacuum storage bags a while back and shows how she used the large bags for her spare duvets
Packmate can be bought from Home Storage Direct and they also have a range of Storeasy soft storage solutions which you can see here.
E-Cloths
E-Cloths are a really versatile cleaning product which can be used for so many purposes. You can buy different ones depending on the use you need, including sets for cleaning your hob and oven, stainless steel or coffee machine. These cloths clean using just water thanks to the millions of tiny fibres which trap and break up dirt. This gives a quick and easy chemical free way to clean, and also saves money on extra cleaning products. My mum has always been telling me about these E-cloths as they are more eco friendly, being able to clean with just water. I was recently sent some of the bathroom cleaning sets to try them out for my self!
I have been trying out the bathroom pack:
This includes 1 Bathroom cleaning cloth (the thicker one) which is ideal for cleaning away marks or dirt on the bath tub and 1 glass and polishing cloth (the thinner one) which is ideal for mirrors or any shiny surfaces. They can be washed in the washing machine after use and are guaranteed for 300 washes which seems like great value, especially considering I normally use a lot of disposable cleaning products like bathroom or disinfectant wipes.
I will admit, I do have a cleaner who comes to my house every week (people sometimes ask me how come I have time to fit in writing so many blog posts along side looking after the kids, home and everything else – that’s how!) so as I only need to do light cleaning in between the e-cloths really are ideal for what I need. The children do tend to follow me around the house while I do housework so just cleaning with water and e-cloths at those times fits in well, rather than exposing the little ones to harsh cleaning products.
E-cloth also have a body range and I have been trying out their face cleansing mitt too, which is lovely and very soft. This is used with a little soap and water to clean the face or remove make up, and like the cleaning cloths it can be washed in the washing machine. Because of the e-cloth micro brush technology it exfoliates while it cleans and cleans deep into pores without any chemicals.
You can see the full range here and watch this video for a scientific explanation of how e-cloths work:
Food Storage and Kitchen Reorganisation
I find my kitchen is getting too cluttered at times with the cupboards too full of all the containers and tupperware I’ve bought but then lost the lids of various things, and the whole place gets disorganised! So sometimes its nice to go through and cull everything and then start again from a nice fresh minimalist reorganised kitchen. I’ve had a look at some of the food storage ideas from Kleeneze and they have some great products to help keep things freshers for longer, like cucumber bags. That definitely sounds handy for me, and I also really like this fridge storage – perfect for keeping small child sized portions!
Do you like the look of any of these? Or do you have your own recommendations to share? Let me know in the comments!
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
we have a steam mop, and they are so easy to use, hygenic and save on cleaning products.
I love having a good clean and tidy after the xmas decorations have gone away and these all sound like fab products to use!
Think I might gt the handheld steamer as I have a steam mop already.
The packmates sound great for going on holiday as you don’t need a vacuum cleaner. I’ll bear this in mind for the summer.
The Bissell Vac and Steam looks great, really useful and looks like you get a good clean. Oh and thanks for linking to me. 🙂
Love the look of that steam mop, it looks perfect for those muddy footprints!
My house is in desperate need of a good once over after all the fun of Christmas. I’ve been thinking about a steam cleaner but our kitchen floor is old quarry tiles and I think they might be too rough for it to work properly (that’s my excuse anyway!) Thanks for linking up to our parenting pin-it party.
I have been hankering after a steam mop since they hit the market but was unsure as to whether it was easy to use or not.
Sounds like it would be worth getting one, especially as it would eliminate the use of cleaning products.
Thanks .
Thanks Anna and Luciana.
Even in ‘almost’ 2022, these are awesome recommendations.
Keep sharing!