Effective cleaning starts with making sure you have the right tools and products.  Check your tools often to make sure that they are still up to the job.  A crumbling sponge and a threadbare mop make for extra work.  A vacuum cleaner with a cracked guard can damage your furniture.

To make your cleaning most effective it's helpful to keep a caddy of your products and tools together, so that you or your cleaner has everything you need on you as you work through your home.

Your basics are...

1. Glass Cleaner

2. General Purpose Cleaner - Choose one in a spray bottle.  Supermarket brands tend to be as good.

3. Wood Polish

4. Rubber Gloves

5. Floor Cleaner - Concentrate

6. Lambs wool Duster

7. Nylon scrubbing pad

8. Clean Cotton Rags

Below I've listed some more cleaning products and equipment that are useful but not essential...

1. Micro fibre Cloths.  Excellent for cleaning class, Perspex, woodwork, chrome...  And all manner of other surfaces.  Quickly becoming a must have for your home.

2. Heavy duty degreasing cleaner or mousse type product, like Cif, which is fast to use.

3. Stiff bristled toothbrush - for scrubbing around taps and tight areas

4. Plastic squeegee for bathrooms