Save Money by Making Your Own Cleaning Supplies - Part 6

Time for some homemade recipes for floor cleaner! Yippee! I actually have to that I like quite a bit. Here it goes (ya takin' notes?)

Floor cleaner option #1:
The greatest cleaner for linoleum is plain ol' club soda. Works like a charm.


Option #2 :
I got this from my wonderful Aunt (it works great!)

Bucket o' hot water
1 cup ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda.

Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water (otherwise you'll get a film - yuck!). Add remaining ingredients. Great for grimy messes.

Hope these work for you!

Question of the day:



Some other quick cleaning tips for you:

Use distilled white vinegar instead of fabric softener in your rinse cycle.

Use dryer sheets up to 3 time (or cut them in thirds) then use them to polish you faucets or dust.

Microwave: Mix 2T baking soda or lemon juice and 1 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for five minutes or until the liquid boils and condensation builds up inside the microwave. Wipe down.

Use hydrogen peroxide in your whites instead of bleach.

Since you can't use bleach in your colored laundry loads, use borax! It disinfects and cleans as well as bleach without damaging the fabric and colors!

Hope this helps!

Save Money by Making Your Own Cleaning Supplies - Part 5

I have lots of all purpose cleaner recipes, so here it goes:

#1:
Mix equal parts rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle.

#2:
Dissolve baking soda in boiling water (maybe 1/4 c. baking soda to 1 c. water), let cool. Mix with a couple cap fulls of bleach in a spray bottle.

#3:
Mix equal parts vinegar and water and sprinkle in some borax (Maybe a tablespoon? No specific amount, it just gives the mix a little "boost".)

#4:
Hydrogen peroxide. That's all, just peroxide in the little brown bottle. You can dilute it further with water, if you want.

Question of the day:
Has anyone else tried any of these (or any other) homemade cleaning supplies? What was your opinion of them?

Thanks!

Save Money by Making Your Own Cleaning Supplies - Part 3

Make your own toilet cleaner! It's a breeze!

Sprinkle your toilet bowl with borax and baking soda. Splash in some distilled white vinegar (or spritz on with a spray bottle). Swish around the bowl and let sit for a few minutes before scrubbing and flushing.

Works just as well as any other toilet bowl cleaner that I've tried.

Hope it works for you, too.

Save Money by Making Your Own Cleaning Supplies - Part 2

A great (and cheap) window wash:

1/2 c. white vinegar
1 qt. warm water

Combine and pour into spray bottle. Works like a charm and is MUCH cheaper than windex!

Also, hydrogen peroxide cleans windows wonderfully.

Another great tip: use old newspaper to wash your windows. It doesn't leave lint and the print leaves a streak-free shine.

Enjoy!

Save Money by Making Your Own Cleaning Supplies - Part 1

One way I save a lot - and I mean a LOT - of money for my family is by making my own cleaning supplies. It's amazing what you can clean with just a few products. I'm going to share my cleaning supply recipes for you in a few posts.

First, I'd like to share with you my favorite cleaning recipe in my arsenal. Dishwasher detergent. Yes, that's right, you have other options besides those cardboard boxes at the grocery store. Dishwasher detergent is very simple to make, you use far less and it is much, much cheaper than buying it.

You need:
1 c. borax
1 c. baking soda
1/4 - 1/2 c. salt (we have well watter with lots of minerals so I use 1/2 c. to help with build-up)
2 pkgs. UNSWEETENED Lemon Kool-aid (yes, it must be lemon - it's the only one with citric acid.)

Mix together and store in an AIRTIGHT container. If it is not airtight it will clump and it's a pain to fix.

Use 1 tablespoon in the wash compartment and 1 tablespoon in the rinse compartment. That's it - 2 tablespoons total. It costs me approximately $2 to make a batch of this stuff and I can wash about 20 loads of dishes with it. That averages out to .10 cents per load.

Also, in your rinse aid compartment, start using distilled white vinegar instead of Jet-Dry. It does a superior job for far less money.

Your Welcome!