The Specialty Cleaning Tools That Are Actually Worth It

This shopping season, you should invest in your home by upgrading your standard cleaning tools to something a little snazzier—and something with more features that make sense. Some of these save you time, some of these get your stuff even cleaner, and some of them will save you money by reducing the single-use products you rely on. No matter whether you want to make the place cozy for the holidays or get a head start on New Year’s resolutions, these are a good jumping-off point to get your home in order.

Upgraded cleaning tools for the kitchen

Around your kitchen, it might be time to replace the tools that will help you clean everything from the floor to the countertops. In the kitchen, everything gets dirty way faster than you expect it, so it’s important to have the tools to help you keep the mess at bay. Regular old brooms and mops are fine, but a little upgrade can make a big difference.

• It’s finally time to invest in a mop bucket with a wringing attachment, but it turns out it’s not a huge investment at all: These things have become so popular that the O-Cedar set is just US$24.99 (and that includes a cloth mop and refill head, too). You can also use the wringer on washcloths before you clean with them so you’re not getting your granite or hardwood too wet. 
• Upgrade your Swiffer to a mop option that combines old-school techniques with a modern, eco-friendly approach: The Joymoop mop and bucket set (US$37.90) features a flat head similar to a Swiffer, but you put reusable fabric pads on it and wring them out in the accompanying bucket. The bucket has a wet and dry chamber so you can squeeze dirty water out away from the clean stuff. 
• Another superior broom swap is the silicone sweeper from Burferly (US$32.99). One head has traditional bristles while the other is solid silicone, so you can round up floor debris super easily. Use this in your kitchen for broken glass, crumbs, and whatever else, but drag it along carpets all over your house to dislodge pet hair, too.

Upgraded cleaning tools for the living room

The living room presents its own set of cleaning challenges, ones that require all kinds of cleaning tools and techniques to keep it looking presentable. Here are some tools that might make things easier.

• Pick up a blinds cleaner (US$12.60) to easily clean between individual blinds on your window. You can use a tongs with microfiber cloths rubberbanded around the sides, but isn’t having a specific device just a little more elegant? 
• Upgrade your lint roller to the Chom Chom roller (US$22.46), which captures hair and lint in an internal chamber, making it easy to clean out like a vacuum. It never needs refills and can be used over and over again.

Upgraded cleaning tools for the bathroom

Bathrooms are the dirtiest and the grossest room in the house, so they require the most work to clean. You have plenty of tools for the task, but some could probably use a little update. 

• Stop using an old toothbrush to scrub nooks and crannies when you could be using a special gap-cleaning brush, like this one from Rienar (US$5.97). Unlike the poor old toothbrush that’s become your go-to scrubber, the handle on this is actually designed for you to scrub things, plus the bristles are really long, so you can get into cracks more easily. 
• Upgrade how you clean the shower altogether with a cordless spin scrubber (US$39.99) that revolves 500 times per minute and features a long pole that will stop you from ever needing to crouch down and try to scrub the inside of your shower again. It has brush heads to clean everything from tile to windows. 
• Leave streaky glass cleaner behind with the cordless window vacuum from Sharper Image (US$80). You fill it with water, kind of like what you do with a mini steamer, and it sprays the water onto your glass, then sucks it off and puts it in a separate reservoir for dirty water. It comes with a removable, washable filter and an extension handle for larger surfaces.