What Can I Clean That With?

September 17, 2026

Steady Adulting

By Sofía Fehér and Guillermo Álvarez

As much as we try to keep our homes clean, moving into a new place can introduce an entirely new problem: different building materials require different kinds of care.

What worked perfectly well on Formica may not be appropriate for marble. A cleaner that was fine on your old bathroom floor may damage the flooring in your new home. Even something as simple as figuring out whether a floor is laminate, vinyl, linoleum, hardwood, or tile can turn an ordinary cleaning job into a guessing game.

Then there is the other question: How often should I actually be cleaning this?

That is why we created the What Can I Clean That With? guide.

It is designed to help you identify common surfaces and materials throughout your home or office, choose appropriate cleaning tools and products, and avoid some of the mistakes that can permanently damage finishes, floors, furniture, appliances, and electronics.

Because cleaning your home should make it look better—not leave you wondering whether you just ruined the countertop.

What Can I Clean That With? gives you a room-by-room reference, a material guide, flooring information, and quick reminders about what to use—and what not to use—so you can clean with a little more confidence and a lot less guesswork.