Making Essential Family Grooming Aides Last Twice as Long or Longer

Your family has to stay clean and groomed, but you don't have to spend a fortune, regardless what advertisements tell you. Starting with soaps and ending with shampoos, now you can ensure your family's cleanliness at a fraction of the price.

Soap Bar Scrubby - Make Soaps Last (Almost) Forever

Do not throw away those pieces of bar soap when they get too little to handle. Use them up by placing them into a loufah-type scrubby mitt or gloves (usually sold in pairs) at the dollar store. If you go with the loufah gloves, simply tie the fingers over the cuff, to keep soap ends locked in.

No additional soap is needed for an all over body scrub. I like to keep one in the shower for an exfoliating body scrub, and one by the sink, filled with all my special face-soap ends.

Liquid Pump Soaps - More Soap at a Fraction of the Price

When your supply of liquid Softsoap is running low, gather them up and label one for every member of your house, or at least differentiate between kids, dad, and your hand soaps. Labeling each reusable pump with family names in black permanent marker won't wear off as quickly.

Refill the kids' soap pump with inexpensive fruity-scented shampoos (see last section) along with a fingernail brush, to encourage longer hand/nail washing. Refill the household resident mechanic or outdoorsman soap pump/s with inexpensive store-brand dishwashing liquid, to cut grease and stains. Include a dish of baking soda on the side for heavy-duty pumice-style scrubbing granules.

Fill your soap pump with an inexpensive mix of equal parts shampoo and conditioner for gentle cleansing (see last section). Baking soda will also help to gently remove stains from your yard-working hands, and a quick fingertip-dipping in bleach (diluted with water) will turn your nails bright white again.

Scented Hairsprays - Getting More for the Money

The next time you use up all your pump-bottle hairspray, save the bottle along with the pump-spray tops. When you re-purchase your favorite brand, make sure to get the super-hold type which will hold up after a little watering down. At the same time you'll also be purchasing an inexpensive bottle of rose water spray or scented facial mister (or homemade equivalent).

Using the two new bottles of hairspray and rose water spray or facial mister, you will be adding half of each into the one saved spray bottle. Empty the remaining rose water spray into the half-full hairspray bottle and you will end up with two delightfully smelling bottles of a milder hairspray product at a much lower price.

I have also added water into the mix and ended up with 3 bottles of wonderfully scented, light-to-the-touch hairspray. You will also end up with healthier hair and more natural-looking hair styles.

Shampoo for Body Wash - Interchangeable at One Third the Cost

If you use body wash, which is available in baby, child, and adult formulations, then you know how expensive it is. Even the economy family-size store brands sell for $5.00 or more.

When well known brands of shampoo and conditioners such as Suave or VO5 go on sale for under a dollar each, stock up. Purchase favorites for your hair, as well as delightfully-scented "gentle" formulas to use as body wash for your family.

Our favorite selections are vanilla musk, green apple, and coconut, which can be mixed with equal parts of matching conditioners, or diluted with water. Kids can use their favorites for shampoo as well as body wash or bubble bath. For baby make sure to dilute a mix of shampoo/conditioner separately, using equal parts water for a gentle clean.

For extra wintertime or summer after-sun skin conditioning, try adding several drops of baby oil or perfumed oils, into shampoo bottles clearly marked body-wash in permanent markers. Because the oil will float to the top, remember to shake body wash before each use, to save your skin while saving your family money!