Best Household Products for Apartment Living
Citra Solv Multi-Purpose Spray Cleaner
Citra Solv is my new favorite cleanser. This and vinegar are all I use around my home, and I love that it’s natural enough that you don’t have to worry about getting it on your skin or using it around pets. It cuts through anything, has a pleasant orange scent, and you can buy it concentrated and mix it yourself rather than going out and buying a new spray bottle each time you run out. Other than Citra, I love Mrs. Meyers All-Purpose Cleaner. Eco (and family) friendly cleansers are important in any home, but especially in small spaces where everyone is forced to inhale fumes.
Ninja Master Prep
We used to have the Magic Bullet, but the Ninja Master Prep Blender and Food Processor basically kicks the shit out of it. Perfect for apartments because it’s a multi-tasker, the Ninja will chop up salsa, blend wet and dry ingredients, or make the perfect smoothie with a few pulses. It whips frozen fruit into sorbet and cuts up ice with ease.
My favorite part of this processor is how easy it is to clean. It’s dishwasher safe, but just as easy to rinse under the faucet. There are no hard-to-reach crevices in any part of the product. The removable blades are sharp, so be extra careful cleaning them and keep away from children and clumsy friends or it will cut you like a ninja.
Swivel Sweeper
The Swivel Sweeper might be the most useful thing in my home. It is a cordless vacuum fueled by a rechargeable battery, ideal for picking up visible debris. I am a stickler for clean floors, and this allows me to pull out my standard plug-into-the-wall vacuum cleaner only ever week or two. It can move seamlessly from carpet to linoleum to hard wood, although I feel it does the best on carpeted floors. The newer model has a joint in the handle to allow you to clean under furniture without bending your knees, but I’ve never had a problem with my standard Swivel.
To empty the Swivel Sweeper, simply hold over your trash can and push a button to empty debris without touching anything dirty. Every once in awhile you may want to manually remove hair that gets wrapped around brushes. This is really easy, and there is an included seam ripper specifically for this task. (The seam ripper comes snapped onto the Swivel itself, but I suggest you remove it, as it has stabbed me a few times as I was vacuuming.)
This is perfect for apartments due to the ease of storage and minimal sound to piss off your neighbors, and may be able to take the place of a standard vac if you have a really small space.
Microfiber Dusters
I used to live in a studio apartment right on a busy street and the dust was brutal. Especially if you have hard floors, dust can accumulate quickly in small spaces. For whatever reason (I suspect toilet paper), my bathroom is the dustiest place in my home. Computer and TV screens are also dust collectors, and anywhere within a few feet of the laundry area.
When I received a set of microfiber dusters for Christmas last year, my family literally laughed at how excited I was, but I love them. They save on paper towel waste and dusters with handles can get into small spaces, even cleaning mini blinds. This may seem like a really obvious thing to have in your home, but it’s something I never bothered to buy for myself.
I’m not sure how useful these would really be, but these microfiber cleaning slippers would make cleaning your hardwoods more fun! I think it’d be so cute to be cleaning your floor in these with your manicured toes peeping out.
What are your must-have home products?
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I love Citra Solv! It’s just an incredible product: it cleans everything, it smells great and it’s natural! With it I know my house is clean, my family safe from toxic chemicals and I’m doing my share for the environment.
Love it!!!