The Best Gear to Help You Clean Up Your Act—and Your House
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Despite the implicit promise of many a cleaning-product commercial, I have never achieved deep personal satisfaction from scrubbing crusted strawberry oatmeal off my kitchen table (thanks, toddlers!). Routine household cleaning is thankless, tedious, and begging for automation—the second you pick up the living room, someone tumbles through the front door and messes it all up again. But one of the best parts of my job is tackling the disaster swamp that is my house with the latest, greatest cleaning tech and passing on my findings to you. Whether you're looking for an air purifier that literally destroys pollutants or a sustainable way to get your cleansing suds, we have you covered.
- Larq
Self-Sanitizing Water
Larq Larq BottleThe dark, moist interior of your reusable water bottle is the perfect place for bacteria from your mouth to proliferate. If you're not washing it out at least once a day, you're not washing it enough. But for those of us who tend to let our bottles languish at the bottom of our gym bags, Larq's beautiful 17-ounce bottle has a rechargeable UV-C LED light in the lid that sterilizes the water inside every two hours—or whenever you tap the lid. Go ahead, back-wash away. Your dirty mouth-stink will be neutralized soon enough.
- Photograph: Blueland
Sustainable Cleaner
Blueland The Clean Essentials KitMost cleaning fluids aren't very environmentally friendly, but not in the ways that you might think. Water is the typically the main ingredient, and that's heavy, bulky, and expensive to ship. They're also packaged in single-use plastic bottles. To reduce carbon emissions and plastic waste, cleaning startup Blueland dispenses cleaning fluids as tiny tablets of soluble multisurface, bathroom, or glass cleaner. Just drop the tablets into Blueland's 20-ounce, reusable "forever" bottles and fill with water from the tap. When you need more tablets, Blueland sells them in packs of three, six, and nine, and they're considerably cheaper than buying yet another bottle of cleanser from the supermarket.
- Photograph: Dyson
The Best Vacuum
Dyson V11 Torque DriveI love robot vacuums. But for sheer versatility and convenience, you can't beat a cordless stick vacuum for cleaning carpet, crumbs in your car, or spiderwebs in the ceiling. The Dyson V11 Torque Drive is an exemplar of the form, with suction that's capable of lifting the rugs off my floor and a dynamic load sensor that communicates with the brush head 360 times a second. The vacuum's processor keeps track of how much suction power is needed for your dirty floors, along with the remaining battery life, to continually update the estimated run time. It also comes with a huge variety of attachments ... maybe too many. I still haven't figured out what the mini motorized head is for.
- iRobot
A Smart Mop-Bot
iRobot Braava M6Mopping is disgusting, and most robot wet mops are pathetically ineffective. iRobot's new Wi-Fi-enabled Braava M6 uses a precision jet spray and a wet mopping pad, which come in both disposable ($8) and reusable versions ($20). The jets spray spray down surfaces before the bot tackles the grime and grease. It uses iRobot's advanced iAdapt 3.0 Navigation technology and edge-cleaning tools to leave no corner untouched. It can even communicate with iRobot's vacuums to clean in sequence, vacuuming and then mopping with no input from the user at all.
- Humankind
Refillable Deodorant
By Humankind DeodorantA lifetime's worth of buying deodorant at the supermarket leads to a lot of plastic deodorant containers in landfills. Personal care manufacturer By Humankind is trying to make the process of keeping your pits fresh just a little less trashy. Their refillable deodorant containers are guaranteed for life. I took their unscented aluminum- and paraben-free deodorant on a trial-by-fire three-day camping trip and ended the weekend stink-free. And if you want to attract koalas, it also comes in eucalyptus.
- Shyn
Toothbrush Subscription
Shyn Daily CollectionEveryone, are we really so gross that we can't be trusted to replace our toothbrush heads before they're worn to a nubbin? Apparently so. Our reviewer Chris Null is currently updating his list of favorite electric toothbrushes to add brands with subscription toothbrush heads. His favorite are from Shyn. Their starter kit gets you a brush with a single head, carrying case, and charger, and a subscription for a new head every two to three months. The heads are also suspiciously similar to, and cross-compatible with the popular Philips Sonicare line, if you already own one of those.
- Awair
Air-Quality Monitor
Awair Awair 2nd EditionAwair recently released the second edition of its air-quality monitor. It's just as good-looking as the original, finished in handcrafted walnut, with a retro-chic design that conjures the Tivoli Model One radio. The Wi-Fi-enabled monitor tracks your home's temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, chemicals, and dust particles to give you an indoor air-quality score. It might also be able to tell you that your furnace is broken.
- Molekule
Rarified Air
Molekule Air PurifierIn addition to being one of the most gorgeous air purifiers that I've tested, the Molekule might be the most revolutionary. Most air purifiers filter household air through a HEPA filter, which isn't effective for some pollutants and occasionally lets them escape. The Molekule uses a process called photo electrochemical oxidation to break down pollutants at the molecular level, destroying viruses and bacteria, as well as airborne chemicals. It can clean the air in a 600-square-foot room in an hour, and the fan is exceptionally quiet.
- Dr. Bronner's
One Soap to Rule Them All
Dr. Bronner's Castile Liquid SoapDr. Bronner's soap is overwhelmingly versatile and is a product that deserves its cult status. The gentle all-purpose cleaner is made from a combination of organic oils, which means that you can use it on your face, hair, body, dog. And since it's biodegradable, I also use it to wash clothes and dishes while camping. Bonus: The label can be an amusing read.
- Loop
Refillable Wipes
Loop Clorox Disinfecting WipesIn fact, most cleaning products are packaged in single-use containers. Loop is a reusable packaging program that partners with big brands like Clorox to provide household goods in a reusable "milkman model." Clorox commissioned a stainless steel canister from manufacturing company Kohler to house their multi-purpose, lemon-scented disinfecting wipes. When you've used up the last one, put it back in the Loop tote and schedule a pickup through Loop's website to have it refilled and sent back to your home.
- Litter-Robot
A Brilliant Kitty Litter Box
Litter-Robot Litter-Robot 3 ConnectWe saw the Litter-Robot 3 Connect at CES this year, and we were all enthralled. As with all Litter-Robots, this cat loo automatically sifts your feline's solidified waste nuggets into a drawer for easy disposal. It will keep your cat litter fresh for up to a week, and the app alerts you when the disposal drawer needs emptying. The Connect can also sense when your fur baby is inside to track its bathroom habits. Plus, you can shorten the wait times between cleaning cycles to prevent your disgusting canine from going to town on its contents.
- Ryobi
Life-Changing Lawn Mower
Ryobi Electric Self-Propelled MowerIf you're still yanking a cord to start your mower, let me help you see the error of your ways. Instead of filling your yard with fumes, shredded grass clippings, and exasperation, consider an electric replacement. The Ryobi self-propelled mower has an intelligent motor that allows it to calibrate how much energy it needs to propel itself over stubborn tufts of grass, and a 20- to 30-minute run time that makes it ideal for smaller properties. It's also light and folds down for easier storage, and most importantly for a family with napping younglings—it's quiet.
- Tara Moore/Getty Images
An App for Chores
Tody TodyNow that you have all the gear, how often do you use it? Do you wait until dog hair tumbleweeds stick to your lips, or you can smell your towels from outside the bathroom? The Tody app, available for iOS and Android, prioritizes household tasks by need, rather than deadline. Divide your house into cleaning areas and add tasks per area, like changing your bed linens or purging leftovers from the fridge. Set a frequency, such as once a week, for each chore. When you get the chance, check the app to see which parts of your house you've been neglecting the most. A green status bar for the kitchen means you're good to go; a red status bar means your bathroom probably resembles a scene from Blade Runner. Hop to it!
This story is part of a series on how we clean—from organizing your photos to washing your tuchus.
How We Clean✨ Tidy the f*** up: a conversation with Messie Condo ✨ Protein picker-upper molecules keep your cells clean✨ Bye-bye dingleberry: How bidets will change your life ✨ How to tame your trove of photos with Google Photo ✨ Optimize your home life with our Gear team’s best picks, from robot vacuums to affordable mattresses to smart speakers.
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