Making Your Own Cleaning Products to Save Money

Cleaning products is something every household spends money on at least once or twice a month. When you walk in the aisles where the cleaning products are at your local store, you will see that the number of cleaning products keep growing daily. Have you ever taken the time to look at what ingredients are in the cleaners that you spend your money on? Most consumers will answer that with a "No". There are so many things that are in our cleaners that we get from the stores that can be toxic. I myself would rather have a cleaner that is trustworthy and doesn't have all these things in them that you need a chemist to explain to you.

Ask yourself these two questions. What rooms do I have the biggest cleaning jobs? What do I need my cleaning products to do? Once you have the answers you will see that the main theme is to clean grit and grim from surfaces. Now, take the time to stop and think of what your great grandmother and grandmother used to clean with. I guarantee you they did not have the choices of products that we have today. My grandmother laughs when she goes down the store aisles and then she looks at me and says, "All these products trying to do the same job, I'll stick to the basics that I know will remove the dirt and grim. People will pay $4 for something they can make for less than $2 themselves at home." Well here are a few ways that you can make your own cleaning products and keep the other $2 in your wallet.

All that you need to get started on making your own cleaning solutions is a spray bottle, liquid dishwashing detergent, water, lemons, salt, white distilled vinegar, baking soda, and washing soda. Washing soda is found on the laundry aisle or you can get it from the online store for Soaps Gone Buy. The most popular companies that offer washing soda is Arm -n- Hammer. If you go to the store and buy one of each of these it will run you around $15. These products will last a lot longer than one of the cleaners that you will get at the store.

Time to get to cleaning so let's start with the bathroom. You can clean the tub, sink, and toilet with a multi-purpose cleaning mixture of 2 cups of warm water, 2 tablespoons of liquid dishwashing detergent, and ½ teaspoon of washing soda. Put all of this in a spray bottle and shake well. This will not scratch or leave residue behind. This solution is also good to clean the tile in your bathroom. Once a week I pour about 1 cup of vinegar in the bowl of the toilet and let it sit for around 30 minutes for germ killing power. This solution stores well in the spray bottle.

Dusting is easy with a simple solution of ¼ cup of orange or lemon juice and 3 cup of olive oil. It will leave your furniture shining and dust free. This will also help add moisture to your furniture's wood.

Window cleaning can be one of the biggest chores in a house. If you have a squeegee use it with this glass cleaning solution. To start off cleaning the glass in your home you might want to add ½ teaspoon of liquid detergent to cut through all of the buildup the store bought cleaners have left behind. The mixture consist of 1 cup of water and 1 cup of vinegar. It will leave your glass streak free.

Another major cleaning area of the house is the kitchen. Use the multi-purpose cleaning mixture of 2 cups of warm water, 2 tablespoons of liquid dishwashing detergent, and ½ teaspoon of washing soda. This works great for counter tops and sinks. For your appliances try mixing 2 cups of baking soda and 1 quart warm water and if your garbage disposal gets an odor try dropping an orange or lemon down it and turn it on, the scent from the citrus will fill the kitchen.

A homemade air freshener is easy to make if you have citrus in your house. All that you need is one piece of citrus and some salt. Take the insides of the citrus out (insides could be used in the garbage disposal method above) and place it skin side down in a dish and sprinkle it liberally with salt. This method is good for any room of your house. I even put this in the microwave to kill any odors that might be there.

For stubborn stains in the house that you find while cleaning you can mix baking soda, liquid detergent, and vinegar. This is a recipe that I tell everyone to find your own consistency that you like to use. I personally use ½ cup of baking soda, less than (about half) ¼ cup of liquid detergent, and ¼ cup of vinegar. You will want to use a soft cloth and dip it into the solution.

If you have copper to clean try using lemon juice and baking soda to clean it. Rug stains can also be removed by putting baking powder directly on the stain and after an hour vacuum it up. If the stain is not removed try the rug shampoo mixture. To make rug shampoo ¼ cup of liquid detergent, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, and 2 points of warm water. Mix this solution til you have a foam and cover the stained area with it and scrub. Once the area is dry vacuum again.

As you can see, you don't have to buy one of every cleaner at your local store to clean your house. It is just the matter of getting some basics that will last longer than the store bought cleaners and knowing how to pair them up to create the right solution for the cleaning job. Your wallet will thank you for becoming more frugal with your cleaning products.