The 5 Cleaning Must-Haves That Professional House Cleaners Swear By

Have you ever wished you could give your home a professional-level clean all by yourself? With the right tools and the right cleaning products, you can get your home just as spotless — you just have to know what to use. And more specifically, you have to know what the pros use. So we reached out to them to get the scoop on the necessities. Here are 5 must-have cleaning solutions and tools that the people who make cleaning their business swear by, and why they love them so much.

Honestly, would this even be a list of go-to cleaning products without baking soda at the top? Bryn O’Connor at NYC and Chicago-based cleaning company MyClean swears by it, calling it the “utility player of the cleaning world, that strikes the perfect balance between gentle and effective.” O’Connor noted that baking soda is safe enough to cook with, but also strong enough to take on tough cleaning tasks like degreasing a messy kitchen, cleaning a grimy bathtub and even neutralizing pet odors.

Read more: The Top 10 Things to Clean in the Kitchen with a Box of Baking Soda

Disinfectant wipes are the key to keeping gadgets like your TV remote, phone, laptop and even kid’s toys clean, according to Olivia Joyce at Move Out Mates, a London-based end of tenancy cleaning service. “I wipe [gadgets like that] off at least once a week, twice if someone’s sick,” Joyce said. “I prefer using Clinell Clorox disinfectant wipes for the task. They smell a bit strong but work like a charm. A single wipe goes a long way — there are 70 in the tube — and I purchase them once every three months so it’s definitely a bargain, in my opinion.”

Another of Joyce’s must-have cleaning necessities? Sponge cloths, which she notes are highly under-appreciated. “I keep them around the sinks in the kitchen and bathroom and use them to quickly wipe off any liquids, be they spills or splashes,” Joyce said. “They save me a lot of cleaning, even scrubbing later on, as I manage to maintain the surfaces clean.” She also pointed out that sponge cloths are great for dusting. “To be honest, I really dislike dusters, especially synthetic or feather ones, because they fail at picking up the dust and only scatter it all over the room,” Joyce said. “And this problem is easily solved with the sponge cloths — you just wipe the surface, rinse the cloth and proceed with the next thing, easy as that!”

Read more: The $2 Cleaning Tool Paper Towel Addicts Need to Try at Apartment Therapy

For an effective all-purpose cleaner that’s tough on grease, Jonathan Browne, owner of Sparkle Cleans Maid Service, suggests a product called Krud Kutter. “Krud Kutter is highly underrated,” Browne said. “I like to dilute this 6 parts water to 1 part Krud Kutter for a super effective general purpose cleaner thats non toxic and eco-friendly. Full strength it’s one of the more effective grease cutters for cleaning stoves, pans, and other greasy messes.” Browne noted that it’s easy to find online or at stores like Lowe’s, not to mention inexpensive — it goes for around $15 a gallon. “It’s really the only eco friendly cleaner I would trust to actually dissolve dirt in a real way,” Browne said.

Browne is also a big fan of using probiotic cleaner around the home. “There’s a product called P2 Probiotic Cleaner that is absolutely amazing,” he said. “It’s definitely a general purpose cleaner — not a grease cutting powerhouse — but for general purpose cleaning it has a unique advantage nothing else has. It’s made from probiotics and enzymes. It actually keeps cleaning surfaces of germs for up to three days after being applied and wiped off with a paper towel.” So what is it good for? Browne noted that it’s perfect for pretty much any surfaces and is even great for cleaning wood floors. “Nothing else will help restore the luster of everything in a home over time like this product,” he said. “The bacteria gets into the pores of things eventually dissolving stubborn stains that even harsh industrial cleaners can’t get too without destroying surfaces.”

Read more: Probiotic Cleaners Are a Thing — Here’s What They Are and How They Work

This post originally ran on Apartment Therapy. See it there: The 5 Cleaning Must-Haves that Pro House Cleaners Swear By