8 Cleaning Tools That Make Cleaning Easier to Start (Amazon Finds)

Here's a secret about cleaning with an ADHD brain: the hard part is rarely the cleaning. It's everything before the cleaning. Find the vacuum. Untangle the cord. Fill the bucket. Find the good cloth. By then, the energy is gone.

So the best cleaning tools aren't the most powerful ones. They're the ones with the least setup, the ones you can grab and use in under ten seconds.

Here are eight tools that shrink the "getting ready" part down to almost nothing, plus a few tips on where to keep them.

The 10-second rule

When you're choosing a cleaning tool, ask: can I go from "I noticed a mess" to "I'm cleaning it" in ten seconds?

• Cordless beats corded.
• Spray mop beats bucket and mop.
• Soap-in-the-handle beats sponge plus bottle.
• A tool in every room beats one tool in the hall closet.

Every second of setup you remove makes the task more likely to happen.

Where you keep tools matters more than which tools

A handheld vacuum in the hall closet gets used once a month. The same vacuum mounted on the kitchen wall gets used every day.

Keep cleaning tools where messes happen:

• Kitchen: handheld vacuum, spray and cloths, dish brush.
• Bathroom: toilet brush, squeegee, a pack of wipes under the sink.
• Living room: a mini dustpan in a basket, a lint or pet hair roller.

Yes, that might mean owning two of something. That's okay. Two cheap tools that get used beat one fancy tool that doesn't.

Make tools easy to put away, too

A tool that's annoying to put back will end up leaning against a wall forever. Wall mounts, hooks and caddies help. The spray mop hangs on a hook. The handheld vacuum lives on its charger. The cloths go in a small bin.

If putting a tool away takes one motion, you'll do it.

The grab-and-go caddy

For bigger cleans, keep a caddy stocked with your essentials: one all-purpose spray, a glass cleaner, cloths, a scrub brush and a few trash bags. Carry the whole caddy from room to room.

This stops the "walk to the kitchen to get something, get distracted by the kitchen, forget about the bathroom" loop. We all know that loop.

Color-code your cloths

Microfiber cloths in different colors take all the thinking out of which cloth goes where. Pick a simple rule, like blue for glass, green for kitchen, pink for bathroom, and you'll never have to wonder whether that cloth was used on the toilet.

Toss them in the wash, and they're ready again.

A quick word on gadgets

It's easy to get excited about cleaning gadgets. (Guilty.) Before you buy one, ask: will I actually use this at least once a week? Will it replace something I already own? If the answer is no, it'll end up as clutter, and clutter is the opposite of what we're going for.

The finds

Pick the one task you avoid most. Then pick the tool that removes its setup. That's the one to try first.

And if you want a room-by-room list of which tools to keep where, it's inside The Messy Brain Home Reset.

The Messy Brain Home Reset

The shame-free 7-day system to get your home under control — and a restart plan for when life happens.

Get the ebook · $9.99