We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
If you really think about how dirty purses, backpacks, and bags of all kinds get, it’s quite sickening. They look so cute on the outside, but on the inside? You don’t want to know. Amid the discarded gum wrappers, food crumbs, and other random garbage, it’s a miracle you manage to fish your keys out every day. While there are tools for cleaning your floors, products to get all the grease off your dishes, and even organizers for your electrical cables, there aren’t as many solutions for keeping the bottom of your tote free of debris — or so you might’ve thought. As you know, here at AT we like to share our top cleaning solutions for every spot, even the most random areas you hadn’t thought to tidy up. This next find is cool because it doesn’t actually require you to do any work. Just plop it in your favorite satchel, and collect it at the end of the week.
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I’m talking, of course, about The Clean Ball. The name sounds so official, and that’s because this product is not to be underestimated when it comes to picking up even the most minuscule particles off the floor of your beloved baguette. You can purchase one for just $13, or get a set of three for $10 each. The ball’s functionality is pretty straightforward. Just stick it in your bag, leave it there for a couple days or so, and remove it. Once you’ve rinsed out all the bad stuff with water, reassemble the ball, and it’s ready to use again! Nearly 2,000 five-star Amazon ratings testify that this product does exactly what it claims. “My purse sheds strings… and this snags the sheds perfectly,” one reviewer wrote. “Grabs all the normal ‘purse glitter’ too!” If the prospect of putting one more thing in your purse irks you, don’t worry. The Clean Ball is no larger than a gum ball, so there’s a good chance you’ll forget it’s even in there.
Considering that you lug it everywhere and might have to set it on the ground between classes or errands, you don’t have much control over how stained the exterior of your bag gets — but now you can keep the interior spotless. Some customers love this product so much, they’ve bought multiple for all their bags, car trunks, and kids’ backpacks. Whatever works, we say! Clearly, The Clean Ball does.
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Of all the household cleaners I own, the one I think about the least is my glass cleaner. I’ve never strayed from keeping a bottle of Windex stocked at all times to use for wiping windows and mirrors. However, when it comes to just about any other cleaning spray, I’m constantly testing new products. That’s exactly how I came across Therapy Clean, the brand behind the plant-based cleaning products we can’t stop raving about, including their wood cleaner, stainless steel polish, and all-purpose sprays that our readers now love, too.
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After testing their lineup of cleaners in my kitchen and being impressed with their performance and excellent scents, I was eager to try out the Window & Glass Cleaner to see if it would unseat my go-to bottle of Windex. The result? A streak-free kitchen window and oven door with an extremely refreshing aroma. And at just $5 a bottle, it’s hard to find a reason not to try it out!
As with the other Therapy Clean products, there are a few obvious factors I love about this glass cleaner. The first is (unsurprisingly!) the amazing smell. One of the biggest draws of this cleaning line is that they use essential oils in each of their products, so you’re left with a fresh scent in addition to a clean home. The main component of this cleaning formula is white vinegar, plus a mild plant-derived cleanser. The result is an ammonia-free glass cleaner that you’ll be happy to use over and over again.
Therapy Clean takes an aromatherapy approach when coming up with scents, which means that each product has a unique blend that you’ve probably never come across in your surface cleaners before! This glass cleaner smells of mint leaf and fir balsam, with notes of orange, spearmint, geranium, and peppermint. The inviting blend of mint, citrus, and floral scents will actually make you look forward to cleaning your windows. I love spraying it on the window I have in my kitchen so I’m left with a refreshing scent that makes the entire room feel cleaner.
Of course, the most important aspect is how well this glass cleaner performs. Because of its vinegar-based cleanser, it wipes up stubborn spots easily. This is especially useful in my kitchen because I have a small space so just about everything seems to get covered in grime quickly — especially the window. I’ve found that this spray also holds up on its streak-free claim, as I use it on mirrors in my bathroom and bedroom, too, and never need to re-spray to get rid of streaks.
Overall, I’ve been pleased with this affordable plant-based glass cleaner. Clearly, I just can’t get enough of Therapy Clean as almost my entire cleaning shelf has been replaced with their products! I’m such a fan of their simple ingredients, amazing scents, and affordable price points. Now, with this glass cleaner, I can tackle my entire kitchen with no problem — and no harsh odors!
Erin writes about all things shopping-related for The Kitchn, including highlighting small cookware brands, testing cool products, or scoping out need-to-know sales. She’s also a regular at the Trader Joe’s cheese section and has a never-ending supply of tea at home.
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Sometimes it takes the spring cleaning bug to make you realize just how many parts of your home have gone neglected. For me, this has included polishing my wood cabinets and cleaning my exterior windows on a busy Brooklyn street, just to name a couple. One area that has gone neglected for what I assume has been years (I moved into an apartment my friends have lived in since 2017!) is my fridge. Because it’s mostly covered in magnets and save-the-dates, it sounded daunting to take them all down and wipe the highly smudged stainless steel exterior. But, when I came across this plant-based cleaner, I was so excited to try it that I didn’t mind the hassle. And it sure has paid off!
Earlier this year, I tested out the wood cleaner and polish from plant-based cleaning brand, Therapy Clean. I was shocked by how shiny it made my cabinets with hardly any elbow grease! Encouraged by these results, I tried the Therapy Clean Stainless Steel Cleaner on the years of fingerprints smudged on my fridge. What I wound up with was a gorgeous streak- and smudge-free door that I can’t help but admire.
As an added plus, you can try both items (as well as the all-purpose sprays we happen to love, too!) for yourself now at a hefty discount. Therapy Clean is hosting a sitewide 4th of July BOGO sale — use the code BOGOTHERAPYat checkout to take 50 percent off the second item! The sale doesn’t apply to any subscriptions, so just keep that in mind when you’re filling up your cart.
As with the wood polish, there are a few obvious factors I love about this stainless steel cleaner. The first is the amazing smell. One of the biggest draws of this cleaning line is that they use essential oils in each of their products, so you’re left with a fresh scent in addition to a clean home. This creamy formula is made with coconut oil and lavender oil, so your kitchen will already feel cleaner after spraying because it just smells so nice.
The second aspect I can’t get enough of is the fact that it truly is streak-free. At first, I wasn’t sure if this would hold true because of the thicker formula and creamy color. However, after just one swipe, it left behind zero residue or streaks. And although I had tons of smudges and stains on my fridge door, it required little effort to wipe them away. Just a few wipes and they were gone, a shining surface left behind in their wake. To make your cleaning experience even better, the stainless steel kit includes a large microfiber cloth for wiping and buffing that you can use over and over again.
It’s also designed to leave a protective barrier behind to resist fingerprints, dust, dirt, oil, and smudges. So I’m excited to keep an eye on my fridge and see how long it lasts!
After cleaning my fridge, I moved on to my sink. I first gave it a good scrub by using Bon Ami (which happens to be a great way to clean stainless steel!). Then, I sprayed this cleaner all over the sink and faucet and wiped everything down. The sink looked great, but I was particularly impressed with the faucet. It immediately sparkled!
And don’t just take our word for it — more than 11,000 customers gave this cleaner a 5-star rating on Amazon, with tons of stunning pictures to support just how shiny you can get your stainless steel appliances. When you’re done, you can sit back and admire the sparkle just like I keep doing every time I step into the kitchen!
Erin writes about all things shopping-related for The Kitchn, including highlighting small cookware brands, testing cool products, or scoping out need-to-know sales. She’s also a regular at the Trader Joe’s cheese section and has a never-ending supply of tea at home.
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Recently, I took my first vacation since before the pandemic, and I returned home to find my apartment was a mess. After spending a week in an airy, spotless hotel room, I was now standing in a tiny studio where the floors looked dull and dirty, the shelves were dusty, and the whole space felt cluttered. While I vacuum and dust regularly, I realized that after nearly two years of spending more time at home (including working from home), my apartment desperately needed a much deeper cleaning. Over the following weekends, I started purging closets, dusting everything from bookshelves to baseboards, and to help tackle a multitude of chores, I purchased the PurSteam ThermaPro 211 10-in-One Steam Mop, an Amazon bestseller with over 23,000 5-star ratings that I had read about on Apartment Therapy.
I had been considering buying this steam mop for quite a while, because it claims to do it all: clean floors, rugs, blinds, glass, mirrors, grout, and upholstery, and it even converts into a handheld clothing steamer (because who feels like ironing?). Since I was on a mission to make my place spotless, it seemed the perfect time to finally take the plunge and buy this multitasking tool. The fact that the mop was on sale for $70 didn’t hurt, either!
Once the mop arrived, I couldn’t wait to take it for a spin, because I was certain it would make my life easier. Lifting it out of the box, it was surprisingly compact, lightweight, and easy to assemble. All I had to do was attach the mop head to the base. The mop comes with eight attachments — an angled nozzle, a scrape tool, a double brush tool, a big brush tool, a small brush tool, a steamer jet, a steamer attachment, a squeegee attachment — plus two washable, reusable microfiber cloths, a steamer cloth for the steamer attachment, a carpet glider for cleaning rugs, and a funnel and cup for filling the water tank. Whew!
The options of what I could clean were endless, but I decided to start with my drab hardwood floors. After vacuuming my living area, I attached a microfiber cloth to the mop head, filled the water tank (which provides 12 minutes of steam), plugged it in, and turned the dial up a few notches to get a small stream of steam flowing. It heated up within seconds, and then I effortlessly glided it across the floor and wiped away dust, dirt, and a few tiny dried-up stains I hadn’t noticed before. Within five minutes, I was done, and the wood was literally gleaming and looked like new — even some of the small scratches in the floor were hardly noticeable.
Next, I tackled a few tasks in the bathroom, using the steamer jet and double brush tools to scrub the blackened grout between the floor tiles. I was appalled and amazed by the dirty water that pooled on the white tile as it swiftly lifted out the grime. After mopping down the floor, I turned my attention to the sink faucet, which had a bit of limescale buildup on the knobs. For this job, I refilled the tank and again used the steamer jet and double brush attachments to scrub the discolored deposits away (be careful when switching/adding attachments — those things can get hot from the steam). Though it took a few minutes, the steamer did an incredible job and the silver fixtures were left spotless and sparkling.
Since there was still some water left in the tank, I turned my attention to the shower tiles, swiftly brushing any traces of mildew out of the grout. Usually I find this chore laborious because of all the stretching and scrubbing, but the steamer made it so there was no sweat strain on my back. With my cleaning done for the day, I filled the tank one last time, attached the steamer tool and cloth, and steamed the wrinkles out of a shirt I wore to dinner with a friend that night. Among the topics we discussed? My obsession with my new steam mop!
The PurSteam ThermaPro 211 is seriously a game-changer, and I only wish I had gotten it sooner. I have been wowed by how useful it is and how it makes cleaning my apartment so much faster and easier. In fact, it is actually motivating me to clean more, and I can’t wait to use it on my stove, my area rug, my sofa, my windows, and my mirrors. If only it could wash my dishes… but maybe they’ll make an attachment for that too.
Britt is a stargazer and sunrise-chaser with a collection of magic erasers, and a fascination with the fantastic. A storyteller at heart, she finds inspiration in all the small things, and can likely be found singing show tunes, catching up on K-dramas, or going on adventures to satiate her natural-born wanderlust. (Sometimes even all at the same time.) An all-around creative, Britt has worked in various facets with Scene Louisiana, The Nerd Machine, and The Daebak Company, Inc.
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