The Specialty Spring Cleaning Tools That Are Actually Useful

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Credit: Ian Moore / Lifehacker; Rienar / Sharper Image / Lazynice

Lifehacker’s Ultimate Guide to Spring Cleaning is here to help you whip your home into shape, clean more efficiently, and make organizing less of a chore.

As you embark on this year's spring cleaning, take it seriously. Upgrade your supplies and tools so you can do the best possible job. Some of the tools I've featured here 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. When it's time for spring cleaning, these are a good jumping-off point to get your home in order and keep it in order.

Around your kitchen, it might be time to replace the tools that will help you clean everything from the floor to the countertops. In this room, 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 as you're following my room-by-room cleaning checklist.

It’s time to invest in a mop bucket with a wringing attachment, but as it turns out, it’s not a huge investment at all: The O-Cedar set is reasonably priced (and 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. 

Or check out this mop option that combines old-school techniques with a modern, eco-friendly approach: The Joymoop mop and bucket set features a flat head similar to the 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. 

While you're at it, upgrade your Swiffer, too. I recommend the WetJet over the PowerMop, but take your time considering the two options, both of which include built-in bottles of spray solution that make mopping absurdly easy.

If you're using a Swiffer, this is the perfect time to invest in some reusable Swiffer pads so you have something dependable for spring cleaning and are set up all year. There are a few third-party options on the market, but your best bet is this set of four microfiber mop heads with an elastic band that helps them stay snug around the head of the device.

Another superior broom swap is the silicone sweeper set from Helio Air. You get a long-handled and handheld broom, but instead of bristles, these have silicone wipers similar to squeegees, making it easy to sweep up everything from debris to liquid.

If you really want to upgrade your cleaning—not only in the kitchen, but everywhere in your home—I can't say enough good things about the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce, a multi-surface wet/dry vacuum that has revolutionized how I clean my floors. You can use it just as a powerful vacuum or with the mop function, which also still features suction, and with its decently long-lasting charge of half an hour or so, it speeds up the process of managing carpets, rugs, and hardwood tremendously. I always get all my surfaces done in well under the 30 minutes.

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. Your spring cleaning here is going to involve a lot of vacuuming, dusting, and refreshing of upholstery, which is all pretty basic, but to kick it up a notch, try these:

Pick up a blinds cleaner to easily clean between individual blinds on your window. You can also use tongs with microfiber cloths rubberbanded around the sides, but isn’t having a specific device a little more elegant? 

Upgrade your lint roller to the Chom Chom roller, 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.

This is also where I'm going to make yet another vacuum suggestion: If you don't have a robot vacuum, get one now in honor of spring cleaning. You have a lot of options here that run across a spectrum of prices well into $1,000+ territory, but I've had an OKP robot vacuum for two years and love it. The brand usually charges between $125 and $150 for its devices, they connect to your phone with an app, and they work just right. I let mine roam around while I clean other things and it makes life a lot simpler by capturing dirt and dust and minimizing the effort I need to use when I pull out my Bissell.

Bathrooms are the dirtiest rooms in the home, 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. 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 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. You fill it with water, spray that water onto your glass, then suck it into a separate reservoir for dirty water. It comes with a removable, washable filter and an extension handle for larger surfaces. 

Since upgrading my regular old melamine sponge to the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Ultra Foamy, I've been consistently impressed with how much faster and more efficiently I can scrub. I use it to remove sticky adhesive, tub rings, and basically any mess I come across. Obviously, it's ideal for the bathroom, but works well in kitchen situations, too, so it's a lucky thing you get five in a pack.

Finally, consider some double-concentrated cleaner. I love my 2x-concentrated Pine Sol and Fabuloso because they reduce the effort I need to use when I'm scrubbing. I've tested them out on all kinds of grime, comparing them to the standard versions (which don't actually cost significantly less!) and can say with confidence they really do bust through messes quicker.