Budgeting Tips to Get out of Debt and Build Wealth

It seems to be a general assumption that you can save money making your own cleaning products.  I have found that may not always be the case. Yet, many would take into account the desire to avoid commercial cleaning products because you don’t want to expose yourself or your children or the environment to the chemicals contained in commercial cleaners.  That is fine, but realize it is not always the cheapest option.  You may want to reach some compromise between the cleaning products you make and the cleaning products you buy.

I will demonstrate below how I arrived at the conclusion that it is not necessarily cheaper to make all your own cleaning products.  You can tell me whether you agree or disagree.  But in the meantime, here are some ideas for saving money on cleaning products:

Tips for Saving Money on Cleaning Products:

• Don’t buy specialty cleaning products

Don’t waste your money on cleaning products that you will only use once in a blue moon, or only in case of emergency.  Here are examples of such occasional to rare use cleaning products and a cheaper homemade alternative:

spot remover carpet/upholstery cleaner: Instead of getting a spray-and-scrub spot remover, spot-clean high-traffic areas by spraying on ammonia and scrubbing with a scrub brush or rag.  Rinse with a vinegar/water mixture, soaking up excess water as thoroughly as possible.   (Better test this on an inconspicuous spot first though.) You can also spot-clean by saturating the spot with club soda and blotting with a clean rag.

carpet cleaner machine solution: use a vinegar/water solution, or some liquid laundry detergent, instead of the expensive solution they sell you for use with the machine.

Magic Eraser: Baking soda on a wet rag will get similar results, or search online for tricks for removing the particular substance you’re dealing with.

oven cleaner: Pour some water over stuck-on spills in a warm oven, then mix equal parts of a little baking soda and a little salt.  Add some water to make a paste while the water is soaking the spill.  Wipe up the water and scrape up the loose stuff, then apply the baking soda mixture with a scrub brush.  Let it sit for a few minutes, then wipe off.  Don’t allow the mixture to get on the heating elements though.  Another tip out there is to leave 1/2 c. of ammonio in the oven overnight, then wipe it down in the morning.  With some elbow grease and maybe some steel wool, you can get your oven clean without buying any expensive cleaners.

microwave oven cleaner: Add a couple drops of dish soap and a tablespoon of vinegar to a cup of water.  Nuke it for 3 minutes, let stand for 15 minutes, then wipe down the microwave with a damp cloth.

• Don’t Waste Money on Extra Laundry Products

Shout: Soak out stains in cold water immediately.  Blot with dishsoap and cold water (dishsoap is esp. helpful with grease stains).  Blot with club soda or vinegar. If it’s really stubborn, try some ivory soap directly on the spot, scrub and rinse, then wash as usual.  http://www.ehow.com/how_2057491_remove-spots-from-clothes.html

Bounce or other dryer sheets: Shaking out the clothes will remove static without using any Bounce or dryer sheets.  Don’t throw a new sheet in every load.  Try to get a couple of uses out of a dryer sheet, and don’t use dryer sheets with things like comforters and matress pads, they don’t help anyway.  Don’t use Bounce or dryer sheets towels they will make your towels less absorbant.

Don’t buy liquid fabric softener: Try some vinegar in the softener chamber of your washing machine for deoderizing your clothes and getting them extra clean.

• Do a little light cleaning daily without special cleaning products

Household organization guru Marla Cilley (the Flylady) advocates doing a little simple cleaning every day, even just using a little dab of your shower gel or shampoo or just plain water to clean your tub, shower and bathroom sink, for instance, thus avoiding a build-up of lime scale (for you hard water sufferers) and grime that would trigger an instinct for most of us to reach for heavy-duty cleaners.  She also encourages the daily “swish and swipe” of your toilet and bathroom sink (people use ordinary leftover soap or vinegar for the toilet) and shining your kitchen sink daily.

So can you save any money making your own everyday cleaning products?

Here are some examples of prices of basic cleaning products one might typically buy on a regular basis:

(Prices from Peapod)

Windex Glass Cleaner $3.79
Windex Multi-purpose $3.79
Comet Cleanser $0.99
Murphy Oil Soap $4.29
Lysol Foaming Bathroom Cleaner $3.39
Pledge Furniture Polish Spray $4.99

Or you could make your own from the following ingredients:

Vinegar (1 gal.) $1.99
Rubbing Alcohol (32 oz at Walgreens) $2.39
Dish Soap $2.69
Baking Soda $0.99
Borax 76 ounces $3.99

(Some of the above ingredients will make several batches of cleaner.  Others will go fast and need to be replaced often, for instance vinegar, rubbing alcohol and baking soda.)

Here’s my discovery: you can purchase pretty much any every-day use cleaner at the Dollar Tree or Dollar General etc. ($6-7 total for the list I made above.)  To me this is a great deal, since it saves me from the trouble of making my own window cleaner etc.  You can also probably get some of the ingredients for making your own cleaners there too, for instance dish soap and perhaps vinegar and baking soda.  I am not sure if they would carry rubbing alcohol, and probably not a big box of Borax.

WHAT I DO:

I also am somewhat ingrained in my habits.  So here’s what I use for everyday:

• Comet or whatever scouring cleanser is $1 or less, for sinks and toilets
• Vinegar for adding to the washing machine and for making my own multi-purpose spray cleaner (this just comes in so handy), as well as for washing the floors unless I can get Murphys for cheap.
• Windex or generic Dollar Tree version (I admit I have an addiction, I just like Windexing things)
• Clorox disinfecting wipes for the bathrooms and doorknobs/lightswitches (if you don’t use more than 1-2 at a time, they last a long time for $3.29 a container)
• Orange oil cleaner for polishing wood (Pledge or other brand)
• Liquid dish soap
• Dishwasher soap
• Bleach for laundry and disinfecting humidifiers

A VERY IMPORTANT safety tip: never mix bleach with any type of acid such as ammonia or vinegar, as the combination of these causes toxic fumes.

But if you can get the ingredients cheap, you may still come out ahead making your own everyday cleaners.

Posted By: Frugal Living - Reducing Spending, Household Cleaners by Darcy