Personally, I think those cage cleaners sold in the stores are the biggest rip off. Every other month or so, we take our birds cage outside (branches and all) and give it a good hosing down. We have a scrubber, and use elbow grease to get anything nasty and caked on off, hose it down again and let it air dry. We do the same with his t-perch and play tree. In between, we wash toys weekly in the sink with hot water, vinegar and baking soda (soaps can be toxic, and vinegar/baking soda disinfects/cleans just as well but is safe). If there's some dried poop on a perch inbetween washings, I just use a paint scraper to get it off (a specific to cleaning the bird paint scraper, never use one you've actually used on paint). I also use the scraper to get dried poop of the base of his t-perch and play stand as well (bird poop comes right off, and you can just use a little hand broom and dust pan to sweep it up). As for his dishes, I wash all 3 every day. I change his paper every other day, and vacuum his area at the same time (we keep his cage on a large, rubber backed rug to protect the carpet). Also good to know (if your new to birds), if they have a little accident on the carpet, clothing, furniture ect... Let the poop DRY completely. If you try to clean it while wet, it will make a huge mess. If you let it dry, you can pick it right up with your fingers (use a paper towel if your squeamish about it). I find it usually doesn't stain at all, but occasionally it will, and you can use spot shot on non washable stuff like carpet or upholstery, and just a regular wash cycle gets it out of clothing. Bird poop is surprisingly easy to clean up, plus it doesn't smell and is sterile since their "urine" (the white stuff) is in it too. Personally, I feel cleaning up after my parrot is a lot easier and less disgusting than cleaning up if I had a dog or cat. Really, you don't need anything fancy to clean them, just a good routine and the realization they are naturally messy creatures and don't need an absolutely pristine environment (common sense applies). Best of luck, and hope I've helped some!