As a special education teacher, teaching cleaning skills is one of the most essential life skills skills that I teach my students. It not only helps them become independent but also promotes confidence and self-esteem.
I personally loooove to clean and come from family of cleaning lovers! Over the years, I have tried and tested numerous cleaning items in my own home and in my life skills classroom, and some have stood out as favorites for both me and my students. In this article, I will be sharing those items with you so that you can also equip your life skills classroom with the best cleaning tools available. So let’s get started!
O’Cedar Spin Mop
If you do not own an O’Cedar Spin mop in your classroom or your own home, you are missing out! If you are not familiar, this is a mopping system that features a removeable mop head (so it’s easy to throw in the washing machine or replace when necessary). When you’re ready to clean, simple dip the mop in to the large water bucket. Then, before you get to work, make sure you stick the mop head in the spinner. Press down and release the pedal 8-10 times. This wrings out the mop really well so you don’t get any puddles on the ground. One of the best things about this cleaning system is that it removes bacteria without cleaners. I usually just use warm/hot water.
Dawn Dish Soap
We all know Dawn dish soap. The commercials feature a cute little duck getting washed off to show how gentle it is. Not only is Dawn great for cleaning dishes and baby birds, it’s actually great to use as an overall multipurpose cleaner. In my classroom (and sometimes even at home), I’ll just take squeeze of Dawn soap on to a paper towel or microfiber cloth, add some hot water, and wipe down a surface with it. I know one hesitation of teaching cleaning skills can be the safety of the chemical we use, but thankfully, Dawn is super gentle. It cuts through any dirt, it’s antibacterial, and best of all, it is safe for our students to use.
Microfiber Cleaning Cloths
I discovered these microfiber cloths during Covid during that period where paper towels were far and few between. I knew when I moved to my life skills classroom this year, they would come in handy. These are so easy to grab for messes, and if your students have access to a washing machine, they can also practice laundry whenever they need to be washed! Having these also means you won’t have to have rolls of paper towels at your disposal, which can get expensive if you are buying them out of your own pocket.
Shirt Folding Board
Laundry can be a big pain in the butt for most of us. We have been using this shirt folding board to help make sure our laundry comes out folded more uniform. It actually works great for pants as well, as you just have to place the pants horizonal and let this contraption do the rest. This also works as a great vocational skill.
Affresh Washing Machine Cleaner
Many of you might be unaware of this, but it’s important to maintain appliances in our homes. I have been attempting to build this in to my instruction for my students for their own benefit, but also so our school can help preserve the great life skills materials we have! One thing I have religiously used for my own washing machine is washing machine cleaner. You dump it in and just run a regular hot cycle with the washing machine empty. A student one day asked about cleaning the washing machine. I don’t think he knew who his teacher was, and I brought in a packet of this washing machine cleaner. We had a chance to use it and talk about the importance of maintaining appliances. There are actually many other appliances that need to be cleaned and maintained, which is great to work on with your students. Some of these include the dishwasher (you can buy a similar cleaner on Amazon), Keurig coffee machines, removing lint from dryer, cleaning air filters from the AC/air purifier, and cleaning the vacuum filter.
In conclusion, these are some my favorite items to use when teaching cleaning skills in my life skills classroom. They have been game changers for my special education students and even for myself in my own home!
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