At one point, my under-the-sink cabinet looked like a cleaning aisle exploded. There were bottles for glass, bottles for counters, bottles for bathrooms, bottles that promised to make my stainless steel shine like the top of the Chrysler Building. I had so many sprays that Max started calling it “the chemical graveyard.” And honestly? He wasn’t wrong.
The irony? I only used two of them regularly. The rest sat there, gathering dust and leaking mysterious blue liquid that stained the shelf liner. Every time I opened that cabinet, it was like being guilt-tripped by a cluttered rainbow of half-empty bottles.
So, I cut the drama. I found one all-purpose non-toxic cleaner that actually works on almost everything (yes, even the bathroom sink after Max “forgets” to rinse his toothpaste spit). Then I keep one other spray specifically for glass and mirrors because streaky fingerprints on windows drive me absolutely bananas. That’s it. Two sprays. Done.
And you know what? The house is still clean. My countertops aren’t sticky, my bathroom doesn’t smell like a swamp, and I can actually find the sponge without knocking over twelve bottles like some kind of sad game of Jenga.
Max, for the record, doesn’t trust me with bleach anymore. Long story short: I may have ruined a favorite pair of his jeans during a “deep clean” phase. Let’s just say bleach and multitasking don’t mix. Honestly, it was the perfect excuse to banish bleach forever—I didn’t want that stuff in the house anyway.
Now, cleaning is so much simpler. No cabinet full of chemical chaos, no fake “lavender meadow” scents that make me sneeze, just a couple of sprays that don’t make me feel like I’m fumigating the house. The best part? I can actually open the cabinet without holding my breath.
And maybe, just maybe, Max has stopped side-eyeing me every time I wipe down the counters. Well… almost. See Latest.