Bring Back Big Families

Ringing in 2026 with My Top 2025 Finds for Big-Family Life: Affordable Essentials We Can’t Live Without

Quick note: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you—it helps keep this big-family blog running!

First things first: Happy New Year to anyone starting their year off with me here on the blog!

Second, I’ve got some new ideas for the blog coming in the new year. Some fresh perspectives, some new content types, and maybe even a guest blog or two (also open to any ideas any of my readers have for what you want to see in 2026!)!

Third, as 2025 wrapped up yesterday and 2026 kicks into full gear today, I want to start this year by giving you some of 2025’s best gear for big-family survival. These are some of my tried-and-true favorites as a dad of six. (Affiliate links used—small commission helps keep the bricks flowing.)

So, without further ado, let’s dive in.

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Stains and Laundry

I hate to start with stains and laundry, but with six kids running around, stains and massive amounts of laundry are as inevitable as the sunrise. Someone is constantly getting something on and changing their clothes.

So, our go-to stain remover for clothes is Fels-Naptha.

What’s that? You’ve never heard of Fels-Naphtha? Well, it’s time to change that.

We use so much of this stuff that we should probably buy stock in it. It works on just about any kind of stain imaginable and is incredibly inexpensive compared to some other stain removing products we’ve tried that work only half as well.

Pick up a bar or two for yourself here. You absolutely won’t regret it. I give this the first ever Bring Back Big Families 10 out of 10 Product Award. It’s one that I can say we use multiple loads a week and it works every single time. It’s that good at fighting stains.

Speaking of laundry, we use a TON of Arm & Hammer Clean Scentsations scent boosters. Our kids have sensitive skin, so we have to use scent free detergent, but these don’t seem to affect their skin at all. I don’t know why, but we don’t question it because they smell so good!

I’d give these an 8.5 out of 10 because I wish the scent lasted just a little longer, but these are the best we can do with the sensitive skin issues.

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Coughs and Stuffy Noses

There are a lot of little germs being shared in our household. Every year in the fall, the coughs and stuffy noses start up. And as soon as they do, we run our Vicks Vaporizer. It has calmed coughs and eased stuffy noses many nights. It’s such a simple machine, but it works wonders on little noses and throats.

If you pick one up, don’t forget to pick up some extra Vapopads. They to pretty quickly, so having a stash on hand is always a good idea.

I give the Vaporizer and Vapopads a solid 9.5 out of 10, only because the refill pads are a little pricier than I’d like them to be, but they work so well that it justifies it for me.

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Cookware

Another thing I do a lot of is cooking. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I am the family cook, for better or for worse (I’ve sort of written about that here if you’re interested in reading my thoughts on feeding my family). And by far, my favorite pan in the whole kitchen is my 12” Nonstick Deep Frying Skillet. It is my jack-of-all-trades workhorse. I can make anything and everything imaginable in it, from breakfast sausage patties and eggs to chicken Alfredo to one of my wife’s favorite one-pot meals we call Sploosh (I’ll share the recipe on a future blog about some family recipes. Stay tuned!).

From boiling to sautéing to frying, this pan really can do everything you need. And with seven mouths to feed (eight as soon as the baby gets old enough), it’s got more than enough room to make meals big enough for everyone.

(Confession: the pan linked above is not the exact one I have. I have the Pioneer Woman version which I can’t seem to locate for sale anymore, but it’s the exact same size, style, and color scheme as this one. However, mine doesn’t have the little pour spouts on each side, which kind of makes me jealous of this one!)

Overall, this is an amazing pan. I can’t recommend it enough. Another 9.5 out of 10, only because I’m jealous that mine doesn’t have the side spouts.

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Dishes

With cooking comes dishes. Lots and lots of dishes. And with dishes comes my favorite dishcloth: Swedish Dishcloths. If you’ve never used a Swedish dishcloth, you don’t know what you’re missing. They’re the single best dishwashing item I’ve ever used. I’ve tried sponges and regular dishcloths, and they have nothing on these. They clean so well and absorb so liquid that you can use them instead of paper towels (I still use paper towels, but not nearly as much with one of these in the sink). Plus, to sterilize them, you can microwave it for 30 seconds while it’s wet and they come out steam cleaned. They last forever, too, much longer than any sponge over ever used.

Here’s another 10 out of 10 item for me. I love them and can’t find a single thing I dislike about them.

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Steamer Bags

The last one for today is for baby bottles. After washing them, they have to be sterilized. And these Impresa Microwave Baby Bottle Steam Bags are by far the best thing we’ve ever used. We’ve done the big plastic trays before, but those take up way too much room. These bags take up virtually no room and are reusable (they say up to 20, but they’re good enough to use longer than that). For anyone who has baby bottles to sterilize, I can’t recommend these enough. 10 out of 10 easily.

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There you have it, my 2025 hall-of-fame lineup for surviving (and thriving) in a house full of kids. From obliterating stains with Fels-Naptha to wiping down counters with those magical Swedish dishcloths, these are the everyday heroes that keep our family of eight running without completely losing our minds.

None of these are fancy or super expensive, but every single one has earned permanent real estate in our home because they just plain work. If you’re raising any sized crew, I hope a few of these make your days a little easier and your wallet a little happier.

What about you? Got a can’t-live-without product that saves your sanity in a big family? Drop it in the comments! I’m always looking for the next 10/10 to add to the rotation. And you might just earn a shoutout in a future product blog!

And if there’s anything specific you’d like to see on the blog in 2026 (recipes, more gear roundups, guest posts, whatever), let me know. Here’s to a messy, loud, and wonderful new year!

Thanks for reading, and happy 2026!