Living Frugal
Make your own cleaners with these recipes for homemade cleaning products. Clean house cheap and fast. One of the easiest ways to save money.
Homemade cleaning products often work just as well if not better than their store bought couterparts. If you've taken a trip to the cleaning aisle lately, you'll find cleaning products very expensive.
Stock up on these homemade cleaning products to make cleaning your house easier and cheaper - without all those harsh chemicals and irritating fumes.
One more of our cheap living tips from My Frugal Money - your guide to living frugal.
Recipes for Homemade Cleaning Solutions
White Vinegar
White vinegar is a natural deodorizer. It absorbs odors instead of covering them up like the products you buy. With no coloring dyes, white vinegar won't stain the grout in your tile floor or wall. Since white vinegar is great a cutting detergent residue, it makes a great fabric softner for those of us with sensitive skin. Vinegar is a must have when you are making homemade cleaning products.
Recipes
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
Mix in a spray bottle.
For the Kitchen:
Use vinegar and water spray to clean countertops, soiled range surfaces and the backsplash
For the Bathroom:
Use the vinegar and water spray to clean countertops, floors and the exterior of the toilet.
For the tough bathroom surfaces (shower walls), remove the sprayer portion and heat the solution in the microwave until barely hot. Spray the shower with the warm solution generously, allowing to stand and soak for 10 to 15 minutes, then scrub and rinse. The heat softens soap scum and loosens hard water deposits.
I'd prefer homemade cleaning products to a store bought solution when it comes to cleaning soap scum.
Undiluted White Vinegar
For the Bathroom:
Clean shower heads that have clogged with mineral deposits with undiluted white vinegar. Use 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white venegar in a plastic storage bag. Plase the bag over the shower head and secure with a rubber band or tie with a string (tightly). Let it stand overnight, then rinse and buff the fixture to a shine.
Use undiluted white vinegar to scrub the inside of the toilet. Pour undiluted white vinegar around the bowl and scrub with a brush to remove stubborn stains and odor.
This is one of my favorite homemade cleaning products.
For the laundry:
Add one cup of undiluted white vinegar to the laundry rinse cycle instead of using fabric softner. It cuts detergent residue and softens your clothes.
For the Kitchen:
Place a bowl of vinegar in the microwave and heat for 2 minutes. The microwave will steam itself and be easy to wipe out with a wet cloth.
Lemon Juice
Lemon Juice is one of the strongest food acids and is effective against most household bacteria. Lemon Juice is another must have when you are making homemade cleaning products.
For the laundry:
Squeeze lemon juice on the stain and let the garment sit in the sun to dry and the lemon juice will bleach the stain away.
For the Kitchen:
To remove stubborn stains from your countertop, allow lemon juice to sit on the stain for 5 minutes. Scrub the stain with baking soda and watch the stain disappear.
Add lemon peels to a stinky garbage disposal and run with hot water. The odor disappears.
Around the Home:
Remove Metal Rust - Mix 2 tablespoons of salt with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Apply and rub well to remove the rust.
Clean a copper kettle - Mix cream of tarter with lemon juice and rub the copper with it; rinse well.
