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When I took my first vacation since before the pandemic, 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.
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Hundreds of AT readers picked up this bad boy in 2022, and 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.
Once the mop arrived, I couldn’t wait to take it for a spin, as 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. (Pro Tip: Snag it now, while it’s on sale!) 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!
Ashley Abramson is a writer-mom hybrid. Her work, mostly focused on health, psychology, and parenting, has been featured in the Washington Post, New York Times, Allure, and more. She lives in the Milwaukee suburbs with her husband and two young sons.
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.
Yes, I’m essentially a professional shopper, but I’m still constantly amazed by the inventions that brands (and independent makers) come up with to simplify housekeeping, save space, and look good doing it. Yamazaki has been at the forefront of so many of these innovations for years, but the brand just continues to raise the bar. As part of its Tower collection, these Magnetic Spray Bottles practically disappear into even the most minimalist home decor schemes while allowing you to save counter, shelf, and cabinet space at the same time.
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This $12 spray bottle, available in matte black or white, holds your decanted cleaning solutions — be they for laundry stain removal or countertop disinfecting — and adheres (damage-free!) to any magnetic surface, from your dishwasher and refrigerator to your washer and dryer. Keeping these spray bottles at the ready, wherever you frequently use liquid cleaning formulations, means staying on top of regular tidying sessions, quickly addressing stain emergencies, and dedicating fewer weekends to deep-cleaning marathons.
Of course, the Magnetic Spray Bottles can be used for so much more than just cleaning. Try keeping your cooking oils in them, perhaps with some cool, custom labeling, and attach them to your fridge or oven border for easy access and quick, even application when you’re getting ready to sauté or bake. When you go to mix up your perfect salad dressing each week, why not keep it in a Yamazaki spray bottle attached to the inside of your fridge, saving shelf space and mason jars for other things? You can get as creative with the Magnetic Spray Bottles as you want.
As someone partial to decanting everything into attractive, uniform containers, I’m this close to buying 10 of these spray bottles myself, scattering them across my home, and having my cleaning solutions, air fresheners, and kitchen ingredients handy at all times.
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.
I became a Dyson convert five years ago after trying one of their vacuums at my parents’ house. I wasn’t looking to give up my tiny, handheld vacuum, because despite its many flaws — not picking up dirt on the first pass, letting dirt fall out, and running out of power in five minutes — I was able to (sort of) make it work. I told myself I didn’t need anything as fancy as a vacuum cleaner that made vacuuming easy (too luxurious!). Today, I am so glad I wised up and made an investment in something that keeps my apartment clean. And, the QVC sale on one of our favorite vacuums that’s going on right now is a great time to make your own investment, too!
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Dyson’s Omni-Glide has all the fundamental features that make their stick vacuums so popular: a powerful motor, an easy-to-empty dirt container, and enough detachable extensions to tackle any standard vacuuming job. However, there are a few areas where it earns bonus points for being extra-versatile and convenient. Honestly, this vacuum can do things that my more expensive Dyson V8 Animal can’t, and at $299.98, it’s a bargain.
One major improvement is its omnidirectional head (I just realized that’s where they get the “omni” from). Because the head has two brushes that simultaneously pull in dirt from the front, back, and sides, it actively cleans no matter where you move it. The entire head also swivels in a way that I didn’t think household vacuums could. My V8 Animal rotates easily enough, but the Omni-Glide is more responsive to your movements. And, at just 4.2 pounds, it’s incredibly lightweight.
The reason this is our favorite vacuum for hardwood floors has a lot to do with its soft nylon brushes. They’re gentle on hard surfaces — wood, tile, stone, you name it — and do a superior job of trapping particles without blowing any astray. That means small piles of dirt, crumbs, or (in my case) cat litter, get sucked up completely instead of being dispersed into little trails you have to chase down later.
But my favorite detail — and the one that makes me jealous — is the removable battery. Dyson’s stick vacuums typically come with a wall mount that doubles as a charging station. That’s how I store my Dyson and I wouldn’t have it any other way … unless I had an Omni-Glide. You can slide its battery right out of the handle and charge it in the dock without needing to have the rest of the vacuum attached. That gives you the option to hang your vacuum up if you know you always want it within reach or stash it in a closet if you don’t feel like making it part of your decor. (Though it is a Dyson, so you might want to show it off!)
Unlike my former vacuum, which shall remain nameless, this one works fantastically in handheld mode. QVC’s sale includes a bundle of three interchangeable heads that take this vacuum far beyond floors, too: The flat “worktop” head gets crumbs on counters; the crevice tool dives deep in between couch — or car seat — cushions and reaches up high to dust air vents; and the miniature, motorized head has bristles to clean rugs and furniture (including pet beds).
I’ll never get back the minutes — or possibly hours — I spent hunched over with my old vacuum. But, I can take solace knowing I’ve moved on. My Dyson changed my outlook on vacuuming from a time-sucking chore to an unobtrusive part of my routine. This Dyson can do that and more, and it’s on sale!
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.
When I lived in an apartment that had approximately 13 inches of kitchen counter space, dishes were a three-dimensional puzzle. Cleaned pots and pans had to be stacked on my small dining table while a folding dish rack and catch tray took over the stovetop. I was shifting too many things around every day and I felt like nothing was the right size for my space. I also learned that I had to wait for the burners to cool completely before setting up the tray, or it could melt. (Spoiler: It melted.)
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Thankfully, a bevy of small space-friendly dish-drying solutions have popped up to help everyone who knows that counter space is a rare and precious commodity. One device that stands out above the rest is this three-tier model from Joseph Joseph — one of our all-time favorite source for organizers. It adjusts to hold a sink full of mugs, glasses, bowls, and silverware — but also slides down into a flat, 8-inch-wide mat that you can tuck behind your faucet or store completely out of sight under your sink. This drying mat is exactly what you want in a kitchen with limited counter space: a tool that’s there when you need it, and gone when you don’t.
Having the option to expand it to three different widths — 8 inches, 13 inches, and 18.5 inches — offers much-needed flexibility in the dish-drying category. One thing I really don’t like about the bulky, metal racks is that I have to find room for them in my kitchen (which is always at-capacity and often over-capacity). I appreciate any tools that fit into my kitchen as-is and don’t make me feel like I’ve just made the whole space even more cramped or cluttered.
If you don’t usually need a drying mat but want to keep one around — say, for when you run out of room in the dishwasher because somebody (not you, though) forgot to run it — this is the perfect tool. Like any worthy dish mat, the raised edges keep water from spilling over the sides, while built-in holes on the top two tiers guide water down to a spout that drains neatly into your sink. You also don’t have to worry about trying to shake the entire mat dry when it’s fully expanded. Just collapse it down and pour any water right out the front.
Joseph Joseph always impresses us with their smart designs and clever approaches to household challenges, and this adjustable mat makes the case for rethinking your dish drying setup. Whether you have your own counter space puzzle to solve or just want to make sure you have a drying mat when you need one, this is a wise choice. Any kitchen tool that is this versatile, compact, and affordable is a must-have!
