SUN Meals answer summer hunger pangs
'They love it,' Britney Bansley said of her three children, Joshua Smith, 8, Cephas Smith, 6, and Evalynn Smith, 4. 'This my first time here because I have a random day off. My babysitter has been bringing them.'
Bansley said she likes the program also because if the kids don't finish their meals, they're able to bring them home to eat later.
River Forest is one of dozens of Northwest Indiana school districts and charter schools taking part in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's SUN Meals, a free summer nutrition program for children 18-and-under.
'Our kids really need it,' said River Forest food service director Nick Alessandri. 'Thirty-five is a pretty good turnout,' he said of Thursday's attendance at Twin Oaks. 'I definitely think the program is necessary.'
Throughout the U.S., various sites, including schools, parks, libraries, and others offer free lunches while school is out to make sure children receive nutritious options.
Formerly known as the Summer Food Service Program, it's been around for decades and received a menu update last year by the Biden administration with SUN Meals, SUN Meals To-GO and the new SUN Bucks program.
This year, Indiana opted out of the second-year SUN Bucks program, which provides needy families in the Electronic Benefits Transfer program (EBT) with a grocery benefit of $120 per eligible school child.
Indiana joined the program last year under former Gov. Eric Holcomb, but officials in the Braun administration blamed Holcomb's administration for insufficient planning and funding preparations leaving it unable to fulfill the program's requirements.
The SUN Meals program, however, remains unaffected throughout the state.
The Twin Oaks Park site is one five sites served by River Forest schools, said Superintendent Kevin Trezak.
Twin Oaks is the lone one with a learning component, said New Chicago Park Board vice president Morgan McCabe.
On Thursday, the children watched Patricia Riley-Churilla teach common American Sign Language phrases such as family and mother.
They also have speakers from the New Chicago-Lake Station Public Library and the Shirley Heinze Land Trust. The kids craft art projects on Mondays and last year, they painted park benches, McCabe said.
Trezak said the three offsites together are averaging about 85 kids a day. 'These are great numbers for us since the offsite spots are aimed to serve those with transportation needs,' he said.
Northwest Indiana is home to multiple free school lunch sites from East Chicago to LaPorte. To find a site, see: https://www.fns.usda.gov/summer/sitefinder.
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The Hill
a day ago
- The Hill
You could get paid for catching these fish species
(NEXSTAR) — You may not be getting an extra paycheck in August, but you could earn a little dough if you're handy with a rod and reel. In several states, anglers can be paid for catching certain species of fish. Payouts range from a few dollars to six-figures, depending on the type of fish and how many are caught. In states along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, bounties have been placed on black carp. Black carp, like the three other species found in the U.S., were brought from overseas to stock aquaculture ponds, the U.S. Department of Agriculture explains. Invasive carp — black, bighead, grass, and silver — are 'fast-growing and prolific feeders that out-compete native fish and leave a trail of environmental destruction in their wake.' How 'corn sweat' can make a hot summer day even worse To help combat this, the Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee, part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has been offering a bounty on black carp caught in the Mississippi River basin and surrounding areas. The bounty, originally for carp caught in Illinois and neighboring states, was recently expanded to additional regions. It's all part of the 'Keep, Cool, Call' initiative. Funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the $100 per fish bounty is available for qualifying black carp captures, with up to $1,000 available to each angler monthly. The carp must be caught in the Mississippi River or its tributaries in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Should you catch what you believe to be a black carp in any of those waters, wildlife officials ask that you keep the fish; note the location in which you caught it and details about the habitat in that area; take photos of its head, mouth, and its length; and record what gear and bait you used. The fish should be humanely killed and kept on ice or in a freezer, officials say, because it's illegal to have a live carp in your possession. Once you've recorded the necessary information and stored the fish, you'll want to call your local authorities to report the catch. Though not part of that program, Utah has launched a similar effort to remove carp from its Utah Lake. The Great Carp Hunt contest runs through November of this year, offering teams of up to five anglers monthly two-day events to catch as many carp as possible, Nexstar's KTVX explains. For every carp caught, teams earn entries into a monthly raffle of $1,000 cash. The hunt's rules also stipulate that the team that removes the most carp from Utah Lake each month will win equipment or gear. The team that catches the most carp throughout the entirety of the hunt receives a $10,000 cash prize. Based on the latest tally, roughly 3,500 carp have been caught as part of the hunt this year. In nearby Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, anglers have received thousands of dollars in reward payments for catching one native fish species said to be harming another. Officials launched the Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Program in 1990 to knock down the population of the fish, which are known to eat millions of young salmon and steelhead before they're able to make it out to sea. The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, which administers the program, says the overall goal is to cull the larger, older Northern Pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Each Northern Pikeminnow that measures at least nine inches in length could be worth $6 to $10, depending on when it is caught during the five-month season. Fish found to have tags previously implanted in young salmon could be worth $200 or $500 a piece, depending on the specific tag. In 2024 alone, one angler made over $164,000, according to officials. Among the top 20 anglers, the average number of fish caught was 4,677, totaling about $47,286 in reward payments per participant. Additional details can be found on the program's website. Anglers in Idaho are also able to cash in on incentive programs for lake trout and walleye caught in Lake Pend Oreille and its tributaries and rainbow trout caught in the South Fork of the Snake River. Regardless of whether your invasive catch can be exchanged for cash, you should confirm with local wildlife officials whether you need to report it. They'll likely also have tips on what to do with the fish, which, in most cases, should not be returned to the water.
USA Today
3 days ago
- USA Today
The heir's property: one man's journey to reclaim family land in the American South
'The Heir's Property" is an in-depth look at the issue of land passed down through generations, told through the lens of one man's struggle to retain land purchased a century ago by his great-grandfather, who was born into slavery during the Confederacy. Heirs' property is usually defined as land handed down without clear, official documentation. Over the course of the 20th century, Black Americans lost roughly 80% of the property they owned at the peak of ownership a few decades after the Civil War because of theft and systemic injustices. This is the first in a two-part series. It was a hot July afternoon, and Saul Blair stood at the edge of a forest in northern Georgia, watching a pickup truck bounce along a rutted dirt road. Blair is a retired health care executive who wore a suit and tie to work every day, long after everyone else switched to khakis. At one point in his career, as regional director for a national company, his territory − Arizona and part of New Mexico − generated 40% of the revenue for the entire country. On this day, he wore the body armor of a modern weekend warrior: Patagonia sweat-wicking, sun-blocking separates; trail running shoes; bug spray. For all that, the land had gotten under his skin. The property had been purchased by Blair's great-grandfather, John Thomas, Jr., a man born into slavery in 1859 who nonetheless managed the incredible: acquiring more than 300 acres deep in the heart of the Confederacy and dividing it among his 11 children when he died. Blair inherited the plots owned by his mother, Amminita Benson-Blair, who begged Saul on her deathbed in 2010 to 'not lose Grandaddy's land.' He has spent the better part of his retirement − and a lot of time in the years before it − trying to honor that request. How hard could it be to 'not lose' several dozen acres of land? In a nation where the scars of slavery and racialized violence still loom, pretty hard, as it turns out. Researchers estimate that between 1865 and 1910, Black Americans acquired 15 million acres of land. But by 2001, an estimated 80% of it had been lost. 'Lost' can mean several things: sold for pennies on the dollar by ancestors who had no other options, seized in a tax lien sale or foreclosure auction, taken by scammers, held in indefinite legal limbo when succeeding generations have so many part-owners that they can't agree on anything. Blair's records are meticulous and his research extensive. His two parcels of property are held in trust by LLCs he organized. He has an agreement with a program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a good relationship with Georgia's state Forestry Commission. He knows about property law, forest management and local history thanks to his yearslong odyssey to make the land his own. Yet the man driving toward him was about the 17th logger Blair had contacted over the past year and a half. As part of the agreement with the USDA, some trees needed to be cut down and hauled out. Most loggers told him the job was too small to be worth their while. Some said conditions were too wet, or the trees were too young. Many simply never called back. Blair had higher hopes for the man maneuvering toward him that morning. Charles Ware was a family friend. He was a jack-of-all-trades, not the owner of an established logging company, and was hungrier for the work. He was also Black. For all his advantages − and Blair knew he was one of the lucky ones − wrangling the land often felt futile. He felt it slipping through his fingers, little by little. The primary purpose of his visit was hiring a logger, but the more he learned about the roadblocks faced by Thomas' other descendants, the more he despaired. 'If I can't make this work, other Black landowners are doomed,' he said. John Thomas Jr. John Thomas Jr. spent $4,735.60 − about $107,000 in today's dollars − for 306.59 acres of farmland in Rayle, a speck of a town two hours east of Atlanta. When he died, one parcel went to Lizzie Thomas, who later married Alfred Benson. Amminita, Blair's mother, was their daughter. Saul Blair was born in Los Angeles in 1949. He's the middle child, with one older and one younger sister. His father was often absent, and he was gone by the time Saul graduated high school. At age 16, Blair started working in a hospital over spring vacation, filing, pulling patient charts, and doing other clerical work. He stayed on, going to school from morning to midafternoon, then worked at the hospital from about 3 to 11 p.m. He kept up that schedule through four years at UCLA, and when he graduated, he started working at the hospital full time. All told, he spent nearly two decades there. He got married and had three sons. In 1984, a memory tugged at him. He asked a legal firm affiliated with the hospital to track down what had become of the land his great-grandfather left to his children. A lawyer named Cheri Laverty returned an astonishing four-page document tracing each of the 11 plots − she called them 'tracks' or 'tracts,' variously − through the previous five decades. Some of the plots had been foreclosed on; some had been sold, including one for as little as $10. Laverty included a hand-sketched family tree of sorts, noting the transactions. 'In summarizing, I think that you can safely assume that Tract Nos. 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 have been legally transferred to people outside of your family,' Laverty wrote. Not even 50 years had passed since Thomas died, and half of his legacy was gone. Blair read the report, put it in a desk drawer and carried on with his life: raising his sons and advancing a hard-charging career. What is heirs' property? Property that passes informally between generations may be one of the thorniest yet least-acknowledged challenges facing Black Americans today. One of the most comprehensive estimates suggests there's well over $30 billion worth of such property throughout the country, much of it in the Deep South and Appalachia. Though Americans of all backgrounds have personal experience with family property transfers that don't go smoothly, it may be particularly resonant among Black and Native American communities. Fannie Mae, which wrote the analysis noted above, puts it this way: 'Inherited properties can have title issues, which in some cases are a product of generations of systemic exclusion from financial and legal systems. Due to various racial and economic disparities, land retention and wealth acquisition are inhibited for some households due to property title issues.' In 2020, Thomas Mitchell, a law professor, won a MacArthur Genius Grant for his work on heirs' property legal reforms. One of Mitchell's most crucial accomplishments was developing model legislation for states to protect heir-owners and streamline the process for resolving their estates. The legislation, the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, has become law in 22 states, including Georgia. In awarding the grant, the MacArthur Foundation said 'Mitchell is remedying a major factor in the racial wealth gap.' Saul Blair's recognition of the enormity of the situation energizes his efforts. 'Is our family also the victim of inappropriate acquisition of land (by) whites?' he mused in June. 'If it's true, then we want our land back. It's become my mission. And I don't apologize to anybody.' First steps Blair left Cheri Laverty's research untouched for nearly 20 years, but in the early 2000s, as his mother's health declined, he pulled it out again and began to use the internet to do his own research. He found an organization called the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, where an attorney helped him get the title establishing formal ownership of his parcel. With her guidance, Blair also set up the LLC with some of his cousins. His research also led him to McIntosh SEED (Sustainable Environment and Economic Development), a rural community development organization. McIntosh SEED works across the Deep South and views its agricultural work as inseparable from fighting racism. The group helped Blair develop a land management program and connected him to a branch of the USDA called the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). NRCS's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) helps farmers, ranchers and forest landowners work toward cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better conditions for wildlife. EQIP can help small landowners offset some of the costs of maintaining their property, but perhaps even more valuable is the on-the-ground assistance Blair gets from a state agency that helps implement its plan. Casey Tudor, a forester with the Georgia Forestry Commission, knows Blair's two tracts like some people know their own backyards. During Blair's June trip, Tudor explained that the most important reason to thin out trees is to allow more sunlight to penetrate the forest. Georgia is the most-forested state in the nation, Tudor said in an interview with USA TODAY, which means that if someone inherits land there, it's a good bet it's going to 'have timber all over it.' The success of some of the programs for landowners may mean more property is transitioning from agriculture toward forests. An outbreak of pine beetles and 2024's Hurricane Helene helped contribute to a glut of pulpwood in the market, however, which drove down the value of that wood and made loggers even less interested in investing resources on a small lot like Blair's. The Wilkes County Colony Blair knows little about John Thomas' life despite his extensive research. He spoke in June with Susan O'Donovan, a professor at the University of Memphis whose research focuses on the lives of formerly enslaved people in the period after the Civil War. O'Donovan didn't know about John Thomas before being contacted as part of this USA TODAY project but was familiar with the history of a group of formerly enslaved people from Wilkes County. 'A bunch of them pooled their money, formed what we now know as the Wilkes County Colony, and relocated into southwest Georgia, where they rented a plantation in Dougherty County,' O'Donovan said in an interview. It was just one example of freed people banding together in a world turned upside down by emancipation. The federal government's few attempts to transition the recently emancipated into the postwar economy were inadequate, historians believe. And life was hard. During the war, the South lost its place as the world's major supplier of cotton, so by 1867, its economy was suffering, even as much of the land had been degraded by the crop itself. Most work available to formerly enslaved people would have involved farming. Sharecropping − akin to indentured servitude − would have been the least appealing. One step up from that was working for someone else, usually a White farmer or plantation owner, for wages. That presented less risk but almost zero autonomy, and working conditions were often not much different from slavery. One step up from 'wage work' was renting your own land, which is how John Thomas started out. It was still risky, but it provided more independence. 'The best thing was to own your own land,' O'Donovan said. 'If you could pay for your land, and if you could make enough every year to cover your taxes, you weren't beholden to anybody. You bore the risk of the crop. But you could grow enough food to survive. You had an autonomy as a landholder that was denied to everybody else.' O'Donovan speculates that Thomas took advantage of his limited autonomy as a renter to make additional streams of income however he could: growing fruit and vegetables for sale in nearby towns, or to the steamboat trade that sprung up along the Savannah River. He may also have cut wood for sale. Thomas' children probably contributed to the family's income. Boys may have worked in the field, and girls may have been indoor domestic workers. 'These weren't high-wage opportunities,' O'Donovan said. 'But if you had the freedom to piece them together, which you're not going to get if you're a wage worker or a sharecropper, you could begin to generate that money.' The document that recorded Thomas' land purchase says he had previously rented it. He and others who had been enslaved would have been acutely aware of the importance of owning property, O'Donovan said, in large part from simply observing the race and power dynamics around them: White people owned, Black people did not. The same notions about real estate we accept today − ''It's an asset; you can pass it on to your children; this is how you build wealth" − would have been just as familiar then. 'Generations of African-Americans were not able to build wealth generation by generation, by accumulating property, being able to pay for their kids to go to college, all this stuff,' O'Donovan said. 'That is what makes the middle class the middle class, which makes rich people rich. Yeah, housing is everything.' The plot thickens Of all the mysteries surrounding John Thomas' life, one of the most confounding is how he pulled it off. Blair had long assumed that Thomas had paid cash for the property, and O'Donovan confirmed it's almost unimaginable that a Black man could have found a way to finance the purchase that wouldn't have been so costly as to be prohibitive. But recently, a detail on the purchase documents had caught Blair's attention. Nine years had passed between when the landowners made Thomas a 'bond for title,' whatever that was, and when the official ownership document was filed. Had Thomas paid the White men installments on the property from 1909 to 1918? Blair found either scenario − that a formerly enslaved man could have come up with the equivalent of $100,000 cash, or that he could have trusted a White family to make good on a yearslong agreement in the same community where human beings had only recently been chattel property − equally dubious. In late June, Blair traveled to Georgia with two first cousins. He and Linda Benson, 69, a special-education teacher who lives near him in Mesa, Arizona, spent little time together as children but have become close as adults. Another cousin, Carol Nickelson, is 84 and lives in Manhattan, retired from managerial roles at big companies like Verizon. All are grandchildren of Lizzie Benson, one of John's 11 children. Blair is responsible for two of the original 11 parcels of land: Tract 3, which he manages via an LLC that includes the cousins and other descendants of Lizzie Benson, and Tract 4, which he bought from a distant cousin named Yolande Minor. The purpose of the trip was hiring a logger for the two tracts, but they also took the opportunity to meet family. Blair had wanted to see Minor, but she was in the hospital. Instead, he and Benson had lunch with Ella Barnes and Vivian Gamble, sisters who were also Thomas' great-granddaughters. Barnes and Gamble had their own predicament. Their property had become landlocked. Outsiders had bought up some of Thomas' property to their south, blocking their only access point. And at some time in the past few years, they discovered their tax bills were being sent to, and paid, by someone with no connection to the family, without their knowledge. Over lunch, the sisters asked Benson and Blair to visit the tax office in the Rayles county seat on their behalf to sort out the tax question. As they drove away, the two cousins were perplexed. How could a random stranger be paying the family's taxes? They assumed Ella and Vivian would have to have been delinquent before such a thing could happen. Blair, who's usually good-natured, often half-joked that his inability to hire a logger felt like a 'conspiracy.' Was this another collusion to deprive the family of their inheritance? Coming Sunday: The Heir's Property, Part 2
Buzz Feed
3 days ago
- Buzz Feed
39 Amazon Cleaning Items Our Readers Are Loving In 2025
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At first, I was embarrassed to post pictures, but I had to share how well this cleaner works." —Mary ElizabethPrice: $19.98+ (available in two sizes and two scents) A portable Bissell Little Green upholstery cleaner that'll leave you nothing short of *shocked* when it magically restores your dirty, paw print-covered furniture and carpeting right before your eyes. 😲 Promising review: "I bought this to clean my upholstery in my home. We have dogs who rub up against our couches and toddlers who spill A LOT, so things can get quite messy. This little machine is perfect to clean up spills or just keep our furniture looking brand spanking new. I could not believe how amazing everything looked after using this, and how disgusting the dirty tank was after I used it. This machine is super simple to use, easy to store, and lightweight enough to easily move from place to place. 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We were so impressed, we gifted these for all of our pet-loving friends." —AnonMPrice: $24.99+ (available in two colors) A screen-cleaning brush that'll help you finally deal with all the dust, pollen, and mystery grime clinging to your window and door screens. You don't even have to pop the screen out — just swipe this double-sided brush over it and feel wildly accomplished in under two minutes. A Chomp! oil stain remover designed to yank stubborn grease and motor oil right out of your driveway or garage floor. Just pour it on, let that chalk‑like paste dry, then sweep or scrub it away (so you don't have to stare at mysterious dark spots every time you pull in the car). Promising review: "I went in skeptical, I'm not going to lie. We had grease spilled on our brand-new paver patio. The grease had been sitting for a few weeks, and I saw an ad for this stuff. I ordered it to try because why not? Well, I'll be damned because this took the spots right off! No evidence we ever spilled anything! I'd buy it again." —SusanPrice: $17.97+ (available in two sizes) A Windex outdoor glass cleaner that hooks straight onto your garden hose, making it ridiculously easy to wash away caked-on dirt, pollen, and patio grime from windows, doors, brick, and even your outdoor furniture. You just set it to 'clean,' spray until the suds foam, rinse, and step back, and voila! A Shark Steam Scrubber designed with special rotating pads and targeted steam power to tackle stuck-on stains on sealed floors (without breaking your back). With three steam modes and LED headlights to spotlight hidden grime, it basically turns you into a floor-cleaning cyborg (but like, a chic one). Promising review: "I was skeptical but am very satisfied! I have one dog & one cat, which = plenty of hair. After vacuuming my vinyl floor, I used this on the medium steam setting. It gets the hair you miss and the sandy grit that's hard to get up in Florida. SUPER easy to take apart to clean, and extra-long cord for covering more distance. A++" —StacyPrice: $127+ (available in four styles) A stain-blasting Wet & Forget exterior spray ready to zap green and black stains from your patio, furniture, or stone steps — no scrubbing or rinsing needed. Just spray it on, walk away, and let wind and rain work their magic. Most stains fade in weeks, heavy-duty ones might take months, and your surfaces can stay clean for over a year. Bioclean, a hard water stain remover made for blasting away years of mineral buildup on shower doors, glass, taps, and even stainless steel with a single scrub. Just scoop the mint‑scented cream onto a cloth or pad, rub firmly, rinse, and watch spots vanish. It's eco‑friendly, biodegradable, and tough enough for pros like yourself. A tub of TikTok-famous The Pink Stuff — a vegan, all-purpose cleaning paste that'll magically remove anything from everything, such as the grease on your stovetop or the burnt bits stuck to a frying pan. Promising review: "Oh my gosh — this stuff is a life changer! Used it to get my fiberglass shower totally clean. Nothing else would get it done, and this stuff brought my shower back to near new in one use. We've since cleaned a weird chalky film off our garage door, removed wall markings, and cleaned my storm door. We'll never be without a jar (or three) of this stuff." —Nancy $5.97 A pack of carborundum sponges made to erase stuck-on gunk from pots, pans, sinks — even BBQ grates — just by adding water. Ditch the smelly scrubbers and feel like a kitchen pro as they buff away grime *without* scratching surfaces. A broom specifically for pet hair that'll have you quite literally *raking* out all the dog and/or cat hair that's interwoven itself with your carpet and rugs. I have never been so impressed yet disgusted at the same time. A Baseboard Buddy built to help you strip away scuffs, dust, and caked-on crumbs from your baseboards, moldings, and trim without bending like a pretzel or getting on your hands and knees. You slip the ergonomic scraper in, sweep sideways, and watch as crisp, clean lines emerge along every wall in your house. A pack of duster sponges here to help you tackle dust, hair, and grime from blinds, vents, baseboards — even faucets — with just water (or a drop of soap if you're feeling fancy). Their U-shaped groove and semi-circle shape slip into tight spots, making quick work of the "nooks and crannies" corners that usually ignore your cloth. A bottle of Miss Mouth's Messy Eater Stain Treater Spray that'll rescue you from toddler blowout stains, epic coffee splashes, and more. Just mist it on, blot, and rinse. Thanks to its Safer‑Choice formula, most blemishes disappear fast (and it being non‑toxic is a nice bonus). A six-pack of Affresh washing machine cleaners because, yes, your dishwasher does need to be cleaned occasionally, despite the fact that its literal job is to wash the things you put inside it. Promising review: "I have ordered this product before and really like it. I have an older washing machine, and when the water starts to smell a little funky, I will throw one of these in the wash on its own, and it helps to keep things fresh. I have even used this on my parents' and in-laws' machines, and it has done a good job in keeping all three smelling good. They are very easy to use; it's basically a tablet that you can throw into the washing machine. Like I mentioned, I will throw it in on its own and let my machine do a full cycle, and that seems to help get things cleaned up." —ArielPrice: $11.98 Hope's Perfect Sink solution that restores the gleam to your stainless‑steel, porcelain, composite, or Corian sinks and leaves an invisible water‑repellant barrier so future messes bead away. You spread the creamy polish, rinse, then marvel as your sink looks brand‑new (and stays that way for days). An electric spin scrubber guaranteed to tackle grimy grout, tub slime, and shower mildew with zero back-breaking bending. You adjust its long detachable handle, pick from eight brush heads and three speeds, then let the scrubber do the work — 90 minutes of runtime means you can practically deep-clean every corner in one charge. Users rave it's a 'game-changer,' especially for those with knee pain or arthritis. A pack of melamine cleaning sponges here to make all your wipe-downs faster and more satisfying. Now you can dive head-first into dust, spills, fingerprints (even sticky handprints), scuffs, and stains with these Magic Eraser-like sponges that'll buff your surfaces back into gleaming glory. A pack of reusable Swiffer mop pads designed to fit your Swiffer Sweeper or Wet Jet so you can ditch the single-use pads and mop smarter. They grip pet hair, dust, and spills with built-in looped fibers, absorb more water, and are machine washable. (Plus they're eco‑ and wallet-friendly!) A Glisten garbage disposer cleaner to scrub away tough grunge and odor-causing buildup from sidewalls and blades and under the splash guard with its oh-so-satisfying foaming formula. Promising review: "It seems counterintuitive to put a little packet down your garbage disposal to clean it, but this does actually seem to work, at least for getting out weird smells that baking soda and vinegar don't really touch. I scrub the sink down first, especially around the garbage disposal area, rinse it down, and then just follow the directions on the package. I have used it with single, large sinks and with double sinks — the only difference is that the double sink will have blue cleaning foam rise up the drain, which you rinse away when the disposal sounds clear again. I have tried the foaming cleaner in a can, but unfortunately, it stopped coming out of the can about 10% of the way through. Went back to this tried-and-true." —KSPrice: $3.67+ for a four-pack (available in three sizes) A dryer-lint brush, because even though YOU clean out the lint trap *every* time, it doesn't mean your roommates do. There's likely SO much more hiding in your dryer gap and exhaust port. This tool makes it easy to get all that yuckiness out and will leave you feeling like your clothes are extra clean the next time you dry a load. Promising review: "Works perfectly for scrubbing the stuck lint out of the insides of your dryer. Everyone who owns a dryer should have these, they're basic safety equipment. Clean that lint, reduce fire hazards, and make the machine more efficient. They're long enough, strong enough, and just flexible enough without being too flexible." —Winged WolfPrice: $6.99 A pack of Keurig cleaning cups — despite all the deliciousness that comes out of that glorious machine, there's likely a lot of grime and gunk hiding on the inside that has no business being in your morning coffee. Promising review: "I bought this product because the needle in my Keurig 2.0 keeps clogging, causing inconsistent brew and taste. These cleaning cups fixed both of my issues, and I especially liked that it was really quick and easy to use. I put the cleaning pod in and ran one cycle, then took the pod out, and ran a rinse cycle to clean out any leftover grinds. FAST, EASY, and GREAT results. VERY HAPPY!" —Corey WestPrice: $9.95 A stainless steel cleaner to instantly wipe away those mysterious streaks and smudges that somehow always appear on your fridge, oven, and sink. It also comes with a microfiber cleaning cloth! Promising review: "I switched to this product because the stainless steel cleaner I had been using was no longer available, and this one had great reviews. It deserves every one of them. Easy to use and leaves no streaks. If a touch-up is needed at some point, that spot will blend in with the rest of the appliance; no need to do the whole dang thing again. Highly recommended; in fact, even if the last product I used became available again, I would stick with this one." —BethesdaPrice: $19.95 A handheld steam cleaner ready to steam away grime in tight spots with zero chemicals. It heats up in just 3–5 minutes, shoots 230 degrees of pressurized steam through 10 different attachment options, and tackles everything from grout and grease to upholstery and pet beds — all while you stay upright and chemical-free. A Rubbermaid power scrubber that took a page out of your electric toothbrush's playbook to help you clean tile grout and other hard-to-reach areas of your home. Promising review: "My wrist says thank you! This works amazingly well! I do professional house cleaning for a living, and this is a game changer! Just look at what the power scrubber with a little baking soda, dish soap, and vinegar can do! Powerful combo!" —Nicole FosterPrice: $23.29 A set of drill brushes for anyone who's seriously looking to kick their cleaning game up a notch. They're great for cleaning things like tile, grout, door tracks, and tops?! OK, so the drill is NOT included. This is just a set of three brushes that attach to your drill, or this one you might wanna buy. Promising review: "I bought this on a whim because my walk-in shower is just a pain to clean. I'm 51, and I guess I've just been old school with how I clean, so I was hand-scrubbing it for years. The FIRST time I used this to clean my shower, it took five minutes AND it scrubbed my shower cleaner than it has been in years. In the corners, the floor, the glass came out squeaky clean. I'm NEVER cleaning my shower by hand again." —TerryPrice: $18.95+ (available in six colors) An O-Cedar spin mop and bucket that represents what I would call true *MOP MAGIC.* With a hands-free wringer, splash guard, and millions of microfiber strands that can cut through dirt *without* harsh chemicals, I'm not sure what else you could ask of a mop. This thing is the GOAT of cleaning house. Promising review: "I love this mop set. It is very easy to handle. The container has a water chamber and a draining chamber. It makes my job easy. It is much better than my old mop. The handle, you can make it longer or shorter. It helps me to clean each corner. As you can shorten the handle, you don't need much space to store it after use. Even my daughter helps me to clean the floor. They love to drain the mop by pumping the pedal. It's fun for my kids, too, so it's a great buy. You can change the mop head when it gets very messy." —NinaPrice: $34.99 A tub o' heavy-duty cleaning wipes formulated with aloe vera and vitamin E to be easy on your hands and tough on stains. Better yet, they're safe to use on just about any surface. Maybe buy one of these for each roommate and stick a bow on it?? These wipes are nonabrasive, so they're safe to use on smooth surfaces like car review: "I think these wipes are made out of magic because they can clean just about anything with very little effort! One wipe cleaned my ENTIRE BATHTUB, including the hard-water buildup and some residual soap scum. The wipe stayed wet for the entire use, and there was absolutely no sweating involved. I hate cleaning, but I was so pumped about the tub, I took wipe number two to my hood vent, and good golly, it's like it's brand-new. I've told everyone I know to buy these." —JenMPrice: $16.28 A pumice cleaning stone you can use to remove those pesky rings or hard water stains from your toilet. When you've tried everything and nothing else seems to work, this thing might just do the trick. Promising review: "Our kids' bathroom toilet had nasty stains from hard water buildup, and none of the bathroom cleaning products worked, nor did scrubbing with bathroom-specific 'wands.' We were about to resort to replacing the whole toilet until I found out about this pumice stone online. Took a chance and with a light scrubbing for about 15 min, the toilet looks brand new again! I am so glad I found this magic stone." —RiaRinaPrice: $14.99 A Eufy robot vacuum straight from the year 3000. This thing glides under furniture to quietly suck up dust, pet hair, and daily debris, alllllllll without you so much as lifting a finger. You press one button on the remote, and it runs up to 100 minutes, self-recharges, and adapts the suction level from hard floors to medium-pile carpets with its BoostIQ. A bottle of Puracy Natural Laundry Stain Remover that's, ahem: vegan, gluten free, hypoallergenic, nonbleaching, biodegradable, and certified cruelty-free — AND works THIS well?! I mean, talk about a no-brainer. Goodbye, stained laundry! Promising review: "If I could give this more stars, I would! One of the best stain removers I've found. I have a toddler and a mechanic for a husband, and it takes care of all of their messes!" —TessaPrice: $16.99 A Car Guys Super Cleaner you can use to revive every inch of your car — leather seats, fabric, vinyl, even dashboard trim — without leaving sticky residue behind. You just shake, mist it onto a microfiber cloth, wipe, and watch the grime vanish. It's like an instant interior makeover to keep your ride lookin' fresh off the lot. And a portable car vacuum cleaner to help you stay on top of things when it comes to cleaning your vehicle. It's fully equipped with a 16-foot-long cable that plugs right into your car's lighter port — how easy is that!? Promising review: "This thing is awesome! I own a 2018 Dodge Durango that sadly does not have leather seats. I own three dogs, and it is just a nightmare pulling out my extension cord to vacuum my truck. I can now just plug this little guy into my 12-volt car outlet and I'm good to go! The power in this vacuum is as good as it's going to get for a car vacuum, so if you want extreme suction, then buy a shop vac. Also, the attachments are fantastic." —SallyPrice: $22.49 A jetted tub cleaner because you have no idea what's hiding in those jets of yours. Better to just do the dirty work now, rather than find some unwanted surprises the next time you're trying to take a relaxing evening bath. Promising review: "Love this stuff. I was skeptical at first. I am a huge germaphobe and this worked well enough for me to actually take a bath at my new place with the jets on!" —AnnPrice: $18.37+ (available in two sizes) A broom and dustpan set that, dare I say, might actually make sweeping feel almost FUN?? You stand straight, sweep debris into the pan, and glide the broom through the built‑in comb to strip off dust, pet hair, and fuzz. Bonus: it clips upright for neat storage, and the telescoping handle adjusts to your height so no more hunching over!! Promising review: "Makes clean up a breeze! Very heavy duty, got this after having lots of cheap dust pans break all the time. This one is self-standing, which is very nice; it doesn't tip over like cheap dust pans. Heavy duty, good broom and dust pan!" —karriejanePrice: $25.99+ (available in six colors) Some restorative wipes for bringing the color back to siding, patio furniture, grills, and more that have taken a beating over the seasons. These wipes are saturated with a solution that cuts through the cloudiness to revive oxidized, faded, and sun-damaged surfaces. A pack of eight microfiber cleaning cloths that'll become your best friends when it comes to *streak-free* cleaning — use them on your car, stainless steel, countertops, wood furniture, floors, metal fixtures, and wayyy more. You'll get a better clean and waste fewer paper towels and disposable wipes — you can put that extra money toward exciting travel adventures, instead.
