Best Cleaning Products to Prepare Your Home For Sale

Not everyone loves cleaning.  The older I get the more it annoys me even thinking about it. Such a waste of time.

Writing this blog reminds me that cleaning is work I’m not going to lie.

The thing is cleaning is one of the most important things to do when preparing your home for sale. We have sold many homes over the past 25 years and have the cleaning routine down pat.  Many open houses and real estate inspections later have rendered us reluctant experts in the cleaning arena 😊

To prepare my husband and I get into our old clothes and get stuck into it. Sometimes it literally takes hours.   The thing is there are no short cuts to cleaning but there are brilliant products to help tackle the job as well as help with odour. Odour is just as important as cleaning.

You want potential buyers to feel that the home is well cared for and maintained. This will give them reason to believe no hidden problems exist.  Nasty smells are a no no.

It’s very satisfying to see your home sparkly clean and smelling like roses for potential buyers.

Best Cleaning Products to Prepare Your Home For Sale

White Cleaning Vinegar

This product is very different from the vinegar you put on salad or use for cooking.  You can certainly use plain vinegar to clean in fact if I don’t have cleaning vinegar, I use plain vinegar in my dishwasher. It makes everything sparkle although it’s not as effective as cleaning vinegar.

The difference between the two is the acidity. Normal eating vinegar has 5 percent acidity whereas cleaning vinegar has 6 percent so never consume cleaning vinegar.

Cleaning Vinegar which you can purchase at any grocery store is extremely cost effective and is excellent at getting rid of bad odours.  It removes grease, dirt and grim easily and leaves surfaces clean and shiny. For a ready made nice smelling cleaning vinegar try this lovely rosemary and lavendar product.

The other amazing thing about cleaning vinegar is, it’s a natural product and a fantastic alternative to harsh chemical products. The only surfaces not recommended for use are, marble, granite and stone.

The one downside is that even though this product is effective it doesn’t smell fantastic.  I have a recipe to make your own cleaning product that smells way nicer.

NATURAL CLEANING RECIPE-You will need.

• A Nice Smelling Essential Oil.  I personally love Eucalyptus oil which has an uplifting, refreshing scent that can clear the air of bacteria. Smells so clean. Another one I love is lemon essential oil which is perfect for cleaning as it has antiviral and antibacterial properties and is super fresh.
• Clean Empty Spray Bottles.To make this up in the above spray bottles add approximately 165 mls of cleaning vinegar and 80mls of water.  Then add a few drops of your favourite essential oil. Voila! Your own very natural and effective cleaning product. You can also use cleaning vinegar on the floor however my preference is a steam mop.  I have tried and used a number of products for the floor and mostly always revert to my steam mop for the best result. The only exception is wood flooring like a deck for example where I’ll use a floor cleaner specifically recommend for wood.

Methylated Spirits

I come from a long line of clean freaks and one of the most amazing hacks I’ve learned for cleaning windows is good old fashion methylated spirits or metho for short.

I have tried and tested nearly every window cleaning product on the market and nearly always return to my go to for window cleaning. Metho is the BEST glass cleaner.

When I was a child mum made me clean windows with metho, warm water and newspaper! Yes you heard right.  These days I use a large bowl filled with half warm to hot water and half methylated spirits.   I use a clean dishcloth to wipe if not slop onto windows then use a squeegee in up and down strokes to clean off.  I then wipe off any excess with paper towel. Magic! Again you can purchase metho from any grocery store but I tend to purchase in bulk.

The below sparkly clean window was cleaned with metho. That view is spectacular.  A buyer will love this.

Microfiber Cleaning Cloths

To tell you the truth I wondered what all the fuss was about with these cloths.  It was my brother who said to try them on my reading glasses when I forgot to bring my glass spray on a trip.

They are the best! So soft and now I use them for everything.  I purchased these ones and haven’t looked back.

They are super effective on reading glasses so long as kids or partners don’t use them for something else and left-over particles scratch them.   I keep one in the car, in the office, in my bedside table.  So much easier than spray and tissues. People who wear glasses will get this.

I found other uses for them as well like cleaning surfaces and general-purpose cleaning. They are very absorbent and effective in picking up dirt. They are one of the best cleaning products to prepare your home for sale.

Bi-Carb Soda

This is another natural product that’s also used in cooking.  It’s actually a salt.  Its pH is slightly higher and therefore the opposite of acidic.

Bi-Carb Soda is a super cleaner and can be used for a lot of different cleaning options in the home. For me I am more interested in this product for its ability to kill or neutralize odours.  I have no idea the exact science as to why it neutralizes odours but it really does.

Place in the back of a fridge or sprinkle near stinky areas in your home.  Like the bottom of a rubbish bin. Just remember to replace regularly as its function diminishes with time.

When I am preparing a house for sale I buy bi-carb soda in bulk and put it everywhere to neutralize nasty odours.

I have animals; cats and dogs so I sprinkle over my rugs and let sit for 20 minutes and then vacuum.  It’s a lot cheaper than some of the more expensive carpet sprays and way more natural.

Nappy San

Now this really is a miracle product.  And what I use it for does not involve dirty nappies.  As a nurse other nurses often talk about food, cleaning you know normal everyday jobs during breaks.

One day I was whinging about cleaning my oven.  The worst job ever and one I hardly ever do. I really cannot stand the strong oven cleaners that make you feel like you can’t breathe.

Anyway she asked me if I had tried Nappy San.  I just laughed. Arrh no, isn’t Nappy San for soaking dirty nappies?

She continued on, saying nappy san is the best product to clean oven racks sparkly clean.

Okay. Hmmmm?  I gave it a go. Did what she said and soaked them for 24 hrs in the bathtub with a good 4-5 cup fulls of nappy san (could have been more there wasn’t an exact amount just a lot) in very hot water.  For safety best to not let children be around for this one.

24 hrs later they were indeed sparkly clean.  The grease and grim just melted off when wiped with a cloth.  Oven cleaning is messy at the best of times and yes, the bathtub was a mess but trying this was a bonus for me.  Give it a go it’s cheap.  You have nothing to lose but oven racks that come up a treat.

Potential buyers always have a little sneaky peak at the inside of an oven and this is a sure-fire way to make it sparkle.