The number one thing that I hear from people once they find out I’m a virgo is something related to perfectionism. It’s very much true in my case and it has always been. I kept my room pristine without being asked, never left the house without my bed made, my teddy bears and dolls were perfectly arranged and I always had a method to how my clothes were organized. That was me living with my parents when my room was my only responsibility. So just imagine how it went when my space was upgraded from just a room, to a 2-bedroom apartment, to a 3-bedroom house. Every speck of pet hair on the floor bothers me, particles on the counter drive me insane, and seeing how light colored walls get dirty just by existing in the confines of them was just an honest rude awakening. Not sure if becoming more anal about cleaning happens to everyone, but for anyone who it has happened to, I’m sure there came a point where you looked for household gadgets that would make your life easier. I’m pleased to say that I’ve discovered a handful that have really changed how efficiently I’m able to complete a task around the house. Not all of them were new to me, and I know they won’t all be new to you, but if either of these are on this list and you’ve been thinking about buying one, this is your sign that you absolutely should.

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

I’m aware, this isn’t the newest thing on the block. I’m actually certain that I started seeing commercials for it while I was in elementary school, giving it at least a couple of decades since coming out. I never really used one up until this point, and I feel like I’ve done myself a disservice because of that. THIS LITTLE SPONGE IS LITERALLY A GEM. Two of them came with the house when we bought it, and one day I just decided to see if it would work to get spots off of the wall. Not only did it work, it did so without messing up the paint! So versus feeling like I have to repaint my entire house every month, I can just use this to clean the areas that really bother me. They’re less than $10 … get one to keep in every room, y’all.

2. BISSELL Little Green ProHeat Portable Deep Cleaner

A necessity if you have one or both of these things - a light colored couch or pets. We have both, but the reason why we needed a portable deep cleaner isn’t because we let them on the furniture. We don’t play that in this household. The primary issue we’ve come across is keeping the corners and front of the couch clean which are areas that the dogs frequently rub against. It’s one of those things that I can’t prevent, but with having a good cleaner is something that I came to accept. Why the “Little Green ProHeat” is so good is because it acts as a vacuum as well. It sucks up the pet hair that has been clinging to the fabric that you couldn’t even tell that was there. It also comes with two different brush extensions that are soft, but still effective in scrubbing off stains. Besides cleaning furniture, it’s great to use to clean the inside of your vehicle and to obviously clean carpet. Just because we keep our pets off of the carpet for the most part, and don’t really eat or drink in carpeted areas, we haven’t really had too many issues with stains on the carpet. That’s why, for us, it’s a better options versus buying a big ass carpet cleaner. You can buy it from Target for $120.

On a side note, I have used it to clean a dookie stain off of our bedroom floor caused by our new kitten that didn’t know how to use a litter box, and it looks good as new :)

We also started to clean our couch cushions which is how we realized how dingy they truly were. We proceeded to take off every cover and ran them through the washing machine, with bleach, twice. Never get a fabric couch that doesn’t have removable covers, folks.

3. Air Purifier

The only reason why I decided to invest in an air purifier is because I felt like the first thing I smelled when I walked into the house were my dogs. Google suggested that I try an air purifier because its literal purpose is to filter out pollution in the air. I have the Kokofit branded air purifier for large rooms and it’s great because it has a digital screen that tells you how good or bad your air quality is. For the most part, our air quality is in the low teens which is good, but I’ve turned it on to filter out a foul smell before and the number was in the high 200’s. I’d say it took about 30-45 minutes for the number to return to normal which is when the smell was actually gone, so it’s definitely accurate. I’ve read reviews where it’s helped tremendously with people that struggle with allergies as well- can’t speak to much on that, but if you’re one of those people that die every allergy season, it may be a good investment. The price varies depending on the brand, size, how many square feet it covers, and the different features that it has. In addition to the digital screen, mine has four timer settings, three fan speeds, and a filter change reminder. At the time that my lovely friend Destiny bought it for me, I think it was less than $150, but on Amazon it’s currently $179. I’ve seen others range from $25 to well over $1000.

4. BISSELL Crosswave All-in-One Multi-Surface Wet Dry Vac

Out of all the things on this list, I’m the most grateful for this one. Shout out to my mama because I probably never would have bought it even though I knew it was going to live up to the hype. This majestic cleaning machine allows you to MOP AND VACCUUM AT THE SAME TIME. You can completely knock out that step of sweeping the floor before you mop which brings me to tears. You can also use it on area rugs which is just absolutely magnificent to me. I believe they all come with the cleaning solution as well. I know Bissell has a few different models of the Crosswaves, I just think mine is so cute - it’s white/silver with accents of black and light blue. An added bonus is that it’s very lightweight and easy to store, which I’m sure Bissell designed all of the Crosswaves to be. My only complaint is that it doesn’t have a suction hose. Well, I’d say it’s more so something that I wish it did have versus something that I’m complaining about it not having.

They’re currently on sale at Walmart for $199! Regular cost is $249.

5. Dust Mop

Can’t forget our roots and where we started before the Bissell. We loved being able to use a dust mop to sweep the majority of the floor and just use a broom to get the corners that the dust mop wouldn’t. It would take us less than five minutes to glide the dust mop over the entire floor which was the biggest perk, the second being that it picks up pet hair a lot better than a broom does. You can find them practically anywhere that has cleaning supplies for around $15. There are some that can get a little pricier, but there is literally nothing that a $40 one would do that a $15 one can’t, I promise you.

We do still use ours from time to time even though we have the Bissell. Some nights we just don’t want the noise from vacuuming and want the efficiency of the dust mop.

6. Magnetic Dry Erase Board and Calendar

I’m not going to say that this one is a necessity, but just something that I’ve personally enjoyed having to keep our lives a little more organized. Prior to buying this, we would keep our bill statements on the refrigerator to remind us of due dates, now we just put them on the calendar. We also didn’t really have an effective way of remembering what household items / groceries we needed to restock, but now we just put them on the blank dry erase board that came in the set. The last item that came in the set is a weekly planner. It has a box for every day of the week which forces us to plan when we’re going to do something versus just saying we need to do it. Writing it down in an area as highly visible as the refrigerator is how we hold ourselves and one another accountable for getting the task done. Not a bad idea, right? I found the set on Amazon for $20, but as of now it’s $25. They have a ton of different options on there, but I felt what I got was 100% worth the price, especially since it comes with 6 markers and an eraser.

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What are y’all’s home essentials? Have y’all tried anything on this list? If so, are we feeling the same about it or are you one of those people that gave the Bissell Crosswave a bad review? Also, if there is anything not on this list that you feel is revolutionary, I’m going to need you to drop the link in the comments. Especially if it’s on Amazon. All it takes is one click and it’s on the way!