Now that we’re spending more time at home, it also means we’re cleaning a lot more. Just think about it: the more time you spend in one place, the dirtier it gets. Or maybe you’re finally acknowledging how dirty it actually is now that you’re in your own home more often. Either way, we could all use a gadget or two to make cleaning easier. Bonus points if the gadget does the cleaning for you.
From robot vacuums to helpful cleaning tablets, we’ve rounded up 15 splurge-worthy cleaning products worth investing in. Although some of these products are on the more expensive side, we’ve put them through some rigorous testing and determined that not only are they durable, but they always get the job done, making them worth the money.
1. The best robot vacuum on the market
We already know that robot vacuums are a saving grace for anyone who hates vacuuming every single day. But there’s one tedious issue about running your ‘bot daily: you have to constantly empty the dirt bin out—which is easy to forget. But the iRobot Roomba i7+ has solved that problem and empties itself out in its charging station. On top of that it has excellent suction, so it will actually get your floors clean too. That’s why we named it the best robot vacuum we’ve ever tested, and it will easily check your least favorite chore off your to-do list.
Get the iRobot Roomba i7+ at Best Buy for $799
2. An electric mop that cuts through grime
Let’s be honest: mopping is one of the most forgotten cleaning chores. You don’t realize how dirty your floors actually are until you do it—and it’s horrifying. And the dirtiest of floors require some special attention and some serious scrubbing power. We named the Gladwell Cordless Rechargeable Electric Mop the number one mop after testing some of the best ones on the market. Although you need to wait a few hours for it to charge, once it gets going, you simply push it along your floors and it picks up a ton of grime, saving you time and arm aches.
Get the Gladwell Cordless Rechargeable Electric Mop at Walmart for $149.95
3. A highly-rated drying rack
I am a huge culprit of attempting to dry my air dry-only clothes on hangers. Not only do I run out of doorknobs to hang them from, but it’s also inefficient and takes what feels like a day to dry. That’s where this highly-rated drying rack from Home Depot comes in. It has 46-linear feet of drying space for all your clothes, but it also folds nicely away, meaning it isn’t a space hog. It also has six shape options as well as a sweater shelf and shoe drying rack to dry every possible article of clothing. Plus, reviewers who exclusively hang dry all their clothes are obsessed with how spacious this rack is.
Get the Gullwing Portable Drying Rack at Home Depot for $48.99
4. A powerful cordless vacuum
To get your floors cleaned quickly and efficiently, we recommend using the Dyson V11 Torque Drive. It’s the best cordless vacuum we’ve ever tested and with good reason. It has powerful cleaning, great battery life, and exciting features like an LCD screen that displays battery life and an automatic suction adjustment that will alter the amount of suction depending on the floor type. Pretty neat, right? This, in turn, saves the battery life and ensures you’ll get an adequate clean.
Get the Dyson V11 Torque Drive at Dyson for $699.99
5. Absorbent dish towels
If you’re into hand drying dishes, you’re going to want an absorbent dish towel that’s still soft on your hands. Enter: the All-Purpose Pantry Towel from Williams Sonoma. After using them to dry dishes of all shapes and sizes, we found that it was our favorite dish towel of the bunch. Made of ribbon cotton terry, it was quite absorbent, meaning you won’t have to go through several to get your washed dishes dry. Plus, they come in several fun color options.
Get the Williams Sonoma All-Purpose Pantry Towels at William Sonoma for $19.95
6. A high-quality dish drying rack
For those of us who prefer to air try our dishes, try the PremiumRacks Professional Dish Rack. It’s a mouthful but it’s absolutely worth it. Of all the dish drying racks we’ve tested, we found that it had a ton of useful bells and whistles like two levels for dish drying. This means that it takes up the same amount of countertop space, but you can cram more dishes in there. It also comes with a microfiber towel that sits underneath the rack to pick up any dripage.
Get the PremiumRacks Professional Dish Rack at Walmart for $54.99
7. A popular hand duster
Dusting is a sneeze-inducing chore that has to be done, and if you want to pick up every last spec hiding in your home, you’ll need a powerful duster. This one from OXO is quite popular because it’s covered in long microfibers that dirt and dust cling to. Even better, reviewers claim that it still fits in small spaces despite its large surface area.
Get the OXO Microfiber Hand Duster at Bed Bath and Beyond for $9.99
8. Tablets that clean your washer and dishwasher
Although your washing machine and dishwasher wash things, they are dirtier than you think and are in need of washing too. You might not know this, but you're actually supposed to clean your dishwasher and washing machine regularly. If you don't, grime and other odor-causing bacteria can build up, making your clothes come out stinky, even though they're "technically" clean. Thanks to these tablets from Affresh, cleaning both of these appliances is super easy. Just pop one in once a month and the tablet does all the rest.
- Get the Affresh Dishwasher Cleaner Tablets at Home Depot for $5.99
- Get the Affresh Washer Cleaner (6-Pack) at Home Depot for $11.99
9. A broom that expertly removes pet hair
We love our pets, but their shedded fur—not so much. Oftentimes, it gets stuck in the carpet or is impossible to pull off your hardwood floors. But this unique rubber broom attracts debris and hair, which will collect pet fur you didn’t even know was wedged in there. Plus, it also includes a squeegee on one side, which reviewers say is best for getting pet hair out of thick rugs without damaging them.
Get the FURemover Extendable Pet Hair Removal Broom at Chewy for $13.33
10. An incredibly powerful canister vacuum
Canister vacuums, which have a wand and canister, can be heavier and on the pricier side, but they hold a ton of dirt, have incredible suction, and can get into those hard-to-reach places. And the Miele Complete C3 Kona is the cream of the crop. It’s lightweight and quiet, but was the most powerful of all the canister vacuums we tested. If you’re serious about getting a deep clean, we highly recommend it.
Get the Miele Complete C3 Kona at Abt for $899
11. A cheeky figure that cleans your microwave
Have you ever experienced pasta sauce exploding all over the microwave after overheating it? I have. It’s a pain in the butt to clean—especially when you’ve forgotten to wipe it down and it's turned to hardened gunk. This little, angry-looking figure uses water and vinegar to soften up food crusted on the inside of a microwave, transforming it into something easy to wipe off.
Get the Angry Mama Microwave Cleaner at The Container Store for $9.99
12. A self-cleaning litter box
Do you really need a $500 litter box? Well, if you really hate cleaning yours, you might consider it. The Litter Robot 3 Connect is a smart, automated litter box that cleans itself after every single use. Sound too good to be true? After trying it, our tester fell in love with this magical gadget and says it smells way less than any other litter box she’s used. Unlike other self-cleaning litter boxes, the Litter Robot rotate and dumps your cat’s dump into an easy to toss compartment.
Get the Litter Robot 3 Connect for $499
13. A genius clog-stopper
I’m not exaggerating when I say that the TubShroom has changed my life. This ingenious little stopper sits right in your shower drain and will prevent any hair or gunk from slipping into the drain. As someone with thick, curly hair, I can attest that I haven’t had any clogs since using one and it’s prevented me from using any smelly, chemical drain removers. At just over $10, it’s a small investment that will keep your pipes clean.
Get the TubShroom Drain Protector at Walmart for $12.95
14. A handheld vacuum for quick messes
Cleanup becomes much easier if you can quickly suck up little messes throughout the day. A handheld vacuum is the perfect way to accomplish that. The Dyson V7 Car + Boat is our favorite handheld vacuum because it has a long battery life, powerful suction, and plenty of attachments for all your cleaning needs. Bonus: you can even charge it in your car, if you want to bring it along to clean during long road trips.
Get the Dyson V7 Car + Boat at Dyson for $239.99
15. An antibacterial trash can
Having a quality trash can isn’t something you typically think of splurging on, but hear me out: this one from Simplehuman is incredible. It has a Nano-Clear coat that harnesses UV rays to repel fingerprints, inhibit germs and microbes, and eliminate odors—a.k.a. you won’t have to worry about cleaning it or contracting bacteria from it. That’s why we named it the best kitchen trash can we’ve ever tested. Plus, it comes in a sleek stainless steel finish and has a smooth open and close that’s essentially noiseless.
Get the Simplehuman 45L Rectangular Step Can at Simplehuman for $130
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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.