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Save Money on Cleaning Supplies Copyright © by Michelle Jones, Founder of GrocerySavingTips.com Tip # 1 - The reason why I haven't shared many tips on cleaning supplies over the years is because I do like to BUY them! Hey, when our kids were babies I made homemade baby wipes, used cloth diapers, and nursed all of them for the first year. That's right, four children... no baby formula! I'd like to say we made it all the way through with no baby wipes or disposable diapers as well but eventually we broke down and made the switch. :o) With four kids and a publishing business to run, I need my ready made cleaners, PLEASE! I do not have a housekeeper, though I surely could use one, I hate the smell of bleach and vinegar, or rather I should say it literally makes me ill and I have to be very careful of the cleaning supplies I do use. So, I have a few products that I like, especially the lemon scent Clorax disposable wipes, and I always try to get them for the best price. I also use coupons, get my cleaning products on sale, and use refills whenever possible. If you have homemade recipes for cleaning products that you use regularly in your home and would like to share them here with our readers please use the contact link below. Thanks! * * * Readers' Tips... Contact Michelle to Submit a Tip "Place Comet cleanser or any discount brand as long as it is the kind you use for cleaning tubs and sinks in the bottom of your garbage can, then place garbage bags in it. This simple step will save time cleaning the garbage can; it will absorb any liquids and it keeps the can smelling great. And it will save you money because you won't have to buy bug spray to keep the bugs away." - Dawn B. "Beware of Wal-mart pricing! Half a gallon of white vinegar was 10 cents higher than a gallon of the same brand. We have found the same to be true on Dawn dish liquid, by figuring the cost per ounce, we came out better by buying several small bottles. Same on toilet tissue. Check and recheck those prices. Also, try adding white vinegar to your laundry's fabric softener dispenser instead of that higher priced softener. Clothes are just as soft, no vinegar smell and I swear my whites have become whiter!" - Betty "I do laundry
for just a few pennies a load... I put this in my Downey ball so it gets into the rinse cycle and I don't have to wait around. Makes clothes soft and fluffy and they don't smell like vinegar, just fresh! Makes cloth diapers soft too and you don't have the same issues you would with absorbency as you would if you used store softener. I was making a softener with vinegar, baking soda and water but it was messy and plain vinegar works. I also have been able to cure my 17-month-old's eczema by making my own products, she had chronic problems and then within one week of using these it was gone!!! :)" - Maria Gross "I have found a product that saves me money, shelf space, is good for the environment and does not have a strong chemical smell. It is called CitraSolv and I can only find it at a local grocery store in the organic section. A bottle of it is about $15. Sounds high, but you dilute it. One cap in a $.99 spray bottle of water cleans counters, glass, furniture, walls, carpet stains, etc. Two to Three caps in a mop bucket cleans floors and is safe on wood and tile. I still buy the disinfectant cleaners for the bath and for after I cut meat in the kitchen, but for everything else, it is all I use. It is made from oranges so you have the faint scent that smells like someone just sliced an orange. A bottle can last me 9 months so I am spending $1.66 per month to clean my kitchen and living area. I don't have bottles to throw out or to make space for in the cabinet. No coupons though." - Missy "I use baking soda mixed with Dr. Bronner's peppermint liquid soap instead of commercial "Soft Scrub". This is safe to use around children, and doesn't leave the chemical smell. Mix baking soda with the soap to a frosting-like consistency and use as you would Soft Scrub or Comet. I also keep a spray bottle filled with vinegar to disinfect countertops. This is also safe around children. Annie Berthold-Bond has a great book called "Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living" that is full of easy recipes for homemade household and personal care products. I purchased this book when my daughter was a baby, because she had respiratory problems and I wanted to reduce the chemicals used in my home. It turned out to have economic benefits as well. Vinegar, baking soda and borax - along with my favorite peppermint soap - can clean almost anything in the house." - Kate "I clean houses for a living. I use undiluted 3% Hydrogen Peroxide in spray bottle for wiping counters, washing window, mirrors, stuck on gunk. It's odorless and It is a lot cheaper than other cleaners." - Karel
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