Dyson V8 Fluffy, $1,199

Some of us have reservations about cordless vacuum cleaners and the impression that they’re not powerful enough to clean the house, but all that will change when you turn on the Dyson V8 Fluffy. The mighty V8 engine sits in the handle of the vacuum cleaner, making maneuvering easy on the wrists. 

It picks up pet fur, debris and dust with ease – even the fine dust from renovation works as demonstrated by the image below. If you have pets at home, the Quick Release Mini Motorized Tool attachment picks up fur from sofas and mattresses with just one pass. 

Its relatively small size also means it fits nicely into small shoe cabinets, saving space unlike bulky corded vacuum cleaners. A drawback that most people talk about is its 40-minute battery life, but when cleaning a HDB 4-room flat, it’s more than sufficient time for the entire apartment. 

Apart from its sleek design, powerful suction and handy size, another feature I love is the attachments that come with it. The Fluffy head is designed for hard flooring, which means it works well for most HDB floors which are covered with tiles or concrete screed. The crevice tool reaches into small nook and crannies so you never miss a spot, and my personal favourite is the Quick Release Mini Motorized Tool which as mentioned above, rids your soft furnishings of pet hair. 

Available at Harvey Norman, Courts, Best Denki and selected departmental stores. 

Neato Botvac Connected, $999

The Neato Botvac Connected complements the Dyson V8 Fluffy cordless vacuum cleaner perfectly. While the Dyson V8 is used for deep cleaning and vaccuming up hard-to-reach spots, the Neato Botvac does a fantastic job at clearing away random hair and dust. 

It comes with its own app (available for both iOS and Android), which allows you to name it, as well as set a cleansing schedule so you can come home to a spotless floor. After cleaning, it gives you a summary of the time it took to clean, the area it has cleaned, and a map which turned out to be a really accurate floor plan of the house. 

Neato Botvac Connected App

While there are definitely cheaper options for a robot vacuum, a key consideration when choosing one is its software. Robot vacuums can seem to be doing the cleaning job for you, but when the software doesn’t systematically clean the house, all it does is going to be bumping around all your furniture until it runs out of battery and return to its charging port. 

After observing the Neato Botvac Connected during its cleaning routine, I’ve realised that it goes around the perimeter of the apartment, then it does a left-to-right S-loop for the smaller segmented areas to ensure a thorough clean. 

Again, if you have pets, it comes with magnetic strips so you can set up no-go zones so that the litter box or food bowls aren’t pushed around during its clean. I also can’t stress enough how great it is to come home to clean floor without having to lift a finger.

Available at www.neatorobotics.com.sg

Cleaning Tools That Every New Home Owner Needs - Boomjoy P4 Spray Mop

Boomjoy P4 Spray Mop, $49.95

I grew up using the traditional mop and pail when helping my mum with housework, but had this spray mop been invented earlier, it would’ve made cleaning much less back-breaking. With a 350 ml spray bottle, which serves as your reservoir of water and cleaning fluid, the Boomjoy P4 Spray Mop covers between 800 to 1,000 square feet (about the side of a 3- to 4-room HDB). If you have a bigger apartment, there is another version which holds more water.

The spray handle allows you to dispense cleaning liquid and water directly onto the floor, while the mibrofibre cloth wicks away dirt and picks up hair at the same time. This means you won’t have to lug around a pail, or go through the repetitive motion of soaking the mop and wringing it before cleaning. The mop also comes with a handy scraping tool to allow you to remove hair and fur easily from the microfibre cloth.

Available at Home-Fix

Cleaning Tools That Every New Home Owner Needs - Leifheit Trekker Floor Squeegee Wiper

Leifheit Trekker Floor Squeegee Wiper, $34

If water stains in the bathroom annoy you, invest in the Leifheit Trekker Floor Squeegee Wiper. The wide, thicker sponge wipes away water on the floor and glass so floor dries quicker. Call me obsessive, but I’ve been using it everyday on my glass shower screens in a bid to reduce soap scum stains near the bottom of the screens. It’s tedious to do daily, but it’s worth it to maintain a clean shower screen.  

I’ve also noticed that wiping away the pools of water reduces the humidity in the bathroom, which in the long run, will be great for reducing damage to your carpentry. 

Available at Home-Fix and Tangs

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