Spring Cleaning, in September?

When at BlogHer in San Diego,  Proctor & Gamble set up their Future Friendly House. Yes a mock floorplan of a house complete with deck, laundry room, bathroom, patio and smelly teenage bedroom was constructed onsite in the expo hall so we could all learn about some of their great brands that include Downy, Puffs, Swiffer, Charmin, Febreze, Bounty, etc. So instead of providing samples on site, Proctor and Gamble mailed a box of samples directly to me, which arrived on my doorstep this week.

So I thought I would do my spring cleaning in April, but I totally procrastined. However, with some of the goodies housed inside this box, it was all the new product I needed to spring clean my bedroom in September. Next time, maybe all I need to motivate myself is to take a $10 dollar trip down the household cleaning aisle, because cleaning was definitely a lot more fun and enjoyable trying out some new products in the process.

I used the new Swiffer 360 Dusters on my miniblinds. We live on a busy street in the middle of a city and even though our windows are mainly closed, for some reason my miniblinds take the brunt of the dirt and dust. The old Swiffer dusters, once you attach the handle, only dusted on 1 side. These new dusters are designed to trap dirt from grooves and crevices in small spaces. Well Gavin, who will be two next month, got a hold of this duster, and the 360 degree design was great for my clean freak toddler to help me out along the way, as he attempted to dust the door and baseboards with a bit more success because of its design. Hooray for child labor being a success.

My sheets, towels and blankets all got changed and washed with the new Downy Unstopables (Fresh Scent).  These small beads are scent boosters that are added to the washer. I’ve gotten the lecture from the repair man never to use fabric softener dryer sheets because they could cause a fire. Somehow I got too busy, lazy or cheap to remember to buy or add liquid fabric softener.  Though these beads aren’t a fabric softener, they did leave my sheets and towels with a fresh and clean smelling scent. You also don’t need to use that many (1/4 capful), because a little goes a long way. The only thing is that they are small and a few did spill out on my bathroom floor, so those of you with toddler hoovers like mine, since my laundry room is my bathroom, just a little something to be mindful of.

What are some of your no-fail cleaning products that you can’t live without? What are some of your cleaning tips that help you save time?

Proctor & Gamble provided samples of the Downy  Unstopables and Swiffer Duster 360 to facilitate a review. The opinions are my own.