Have you heard of Norwex? It’s a cleaning product company, microfiber cloths that have a really high fiber count, so they can grab lots of dirt/dust/oil, and they also have silver threads woven in for antibacterial properties.  Just using them with water easily lifts bacteria, kitchen grime, grease, dust, and dirt.  (You can learn more about Norwex and purchase here.)

I have avoided microfiber cleaning because I really don’t like how it feels to touch the microfiber.  But my desire to have an easier time dusting, cleaning the stove, cleaning up the million spills in the kitchen, and cleaning the tub/shower provoked me to give Norwex a shot.

I’m glad I did, it really cuts down on my cleaning time, especially with the stove, cabinets, and tub.  The cloths aren’t so ‘catchy’ (the part of the texture that I don’t like about synthetic cloths) once they’re wet.

Since I liked Norwex so much, I thought I’d try E-cloth (you can see e-cloth here).  E-cloth is a less expensive alternative to Norwex, they have a similar fiber count and cleaning method. They don’t have the silver woven in, which explains the cost difference.  E-Cloth also doesn’t have the mitt or duster, though they do have a window cloth.

Regarding the silver within the Norwex cloths, the silver is only antibacterial for the bacteria in the cloth itself – this is a plus if you toss your cleaning cloth into the hamper and it doesn’t get washed for a couple days, but isn’t necessarily for actually cleaning your house.

Conclusions

I like the plain E-Cloths just as much as the Norwex. Their weave seems to be a little looser, so they might require a few more passes when scrubbing to pick up the same amount, but overall they’re very similar.  The same goes with their window cloth, it works very well, though is a slightly looser weave and takes maybe a few more seconds than the Norwex cloth to clean the same window.  However, I really like the mitt and dusting wand that came in the Norwex Household Plus Collection (the environmental cloth, dusting wand, window cloth, and dusting mitt).

I have thick white baseboards that collect dust easily, so I use the duster to quickly swipe them without bending down around the whole house a few times a week.  The duster also works really well for getting my blinds free of dust in one pass and reaching tall corners for dusting and cobweb removal. I use the dusting mitt more often wet than dry for actual dusting, actually, and I use it to wipe down all the grooves in the cabinet doors in one pass. Both our kitchen and the kids’ bathrooms need to have the cabinets wiped down at least once a week, and this mitt does the job quickly.  I also use it to wipe out the bath tub quickly, and get the water deposits off the faucets and knobs.

The general cleaning cloths are really fantastic at cleaning grease and other splatters off the stove – I used to spray the whole stove down with vinegar/water (not a huge fan of how vinegar smells to clean with, but I used it anyway) and then let it sit while I did all the dishes, then come back to the stove and scrub, rinsing out the cotton dish cloth multiple ltimes. The microfiber does really well at cleaning the stove with just water, and also appliances like the blender base or stand mixer, which also tend to need a good wipe down after each use. Like I said, I really prefer the way cotton feels, so I wouldn’t be keeping microfiber in my kitchen if it didn’t work. And it does, so it stays :)

Recommendations

I’m really happy with what I bought, I do think that most houses are going to want to have more general cleaning cloths than the one that’s in the Norwex Household Plus Collection, and E-cloths general cleaning cloths work well for supplementing this.

My cleaning schedule

I have a simple cleaning/organizing schedule that we’ve been following. Routine is not only important for the kids to know what’s expected, but it’s also important for me; once something’s a habit it takes so much less effort to complete.  This schedule also allows me to stop once the day’s jobs are done, without feeling like there’s more I should do before we can go out and have fun.  Some days we’re just hanging out at home so I’ll do other things like wash the windows, organize the kids’ toys, clean the smudges from the light switches – that kind of thing.

Morning jobs:

Make sure the bedrooms are picked up, run the Roomba upstairs

Have my 5-year-old empty the trash

Have my 5-year-old bring the trash to the curb if it’s trash pickup the next day, or bring it in if that day was trash pickup

Empty dishwasher

Dust either upstairs or down stairs – my 7-year-old does the baseboards, I do the window casings.

Mid-day:

Sweep under the table

Pick up kids’ room at the end of quiet time

Evening:

Bring out recycling

Pick up any toys that are out downstairs

Wipe down kitchen, clean under table again.

 

Daily chores, written on a chalkboard in our back entry to remind us:

Monday: Laundry. You’ll notice this three times a week. I keep a hamper in my room and in the kids’ room, and any laundry that’s made down stairs goes right into the washer.  Doing laundry every day seems to make a neverending to-fold pile somewhere in the house for me.  Doing it once a week is overwhelming and prevents us from being able to leave the house that day. Three days is working for me.  I will do whatever hamper is fuller on my laundry days, and if there isn’t much, I’ll also toss in towels or sheets, whatever needs cleaning more.

Tuesday: Bathrooms. Take out bathroom trash.  Then in this order: Wipe down mirror, sink, counter, tub, toilet.  Separate cloth for the floor- moving from the door to around the toilet. I’ll often have the kids take a bath at this time and wipe out the tub when they’re done.

Wednesday: Laundry.

Thursday: Floors. Vacuum upstairs and down with the upright vacuum, vacuum the actual stairs (my least favorite chore), get along the edges of the hardwood with the hose-attachment for the vacuum, mop the hardwood and spot clean.

Friday: Laundry.

Saturday: Decluttering. I pick a spot or a room and just declutter that area. Once we’re all done with the chaos of moving (we moved in April, but hey, who’s keeping track?) I’ll use this time to toss/donate broken toys, stained clothes, outgrown clothes, outgrown shoes, paperwork that creeps in, and change the minimal decorating that we do for the seasons/holidays.  I have the kids empty all the bathroom/laundry trashes at this time.

Sunday: Church/yardwork. This is a nice way to be outside while the kids play.

 

That’s our cleaning schedule for right now, I’m feel like I get to everything, but don’t spend a whole day cleaning. Depending on the kids’ schedules I do the actual cleaning at different times, but I prefer to do it in the morning when possible.