Visit any supermarket cleaning aisle and you are bombarded with options – toilet cleaner with bleach, toilet cleaner with lemon, disposable toilet brushes, antibacterial all purpose with lemon, orange or linen fresh scent, no-wax floor cleaner, floor cleaner for wood, throw-away mops, windex with lemon, windex with orange……

I think you get the picture. Along with all these choices, comes the consequences. If you have young children you worry about safety of chemicals. If you believe Al Gore, you worry about the effects of that particular cleaner on the environment. And, if your wallet’s feeling lean, you worry about the price.

I have 6 words for you: vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice and salt. Take any combination of those products and you can clean virtually anything. In fact, except for the occasional dusting polish and lysol spray, that is all I use to clean everything except dishes and clothes. It’s cheap. It’s economical and it’s environmentally responsible.

Vinegar acts like a disinfectant. I fill up a spray bottle with 1 part vinegar, 1 part water and clean everything from my windows, mirrors, counter tops, toilets and even my floors. (Don’t use vinegar on hardwood surfaces. It’s always a better to follow manufacturer’s instructions to prolong the life and beauty of your floors.)

Vinegar brings a great shine to faucets and stainless steel. However, make sure that once you spray it, you rinse metal surfaces with water. Because vinegar is acidic, it could be corrosive to metal if not rinsed off.

Have a dried-on, sticky mess to remove from your stove top? Pour a little salt on it. The salt is a mild abrasive that will help dissolve and remove it. A little elbow grease, dish detergent and salt and you can clean up just about any stubborn mess in your home.

Want a fresh smell with your clean? Add a little lemon juice to it. It’s inexpensive, takes only a little and chances are you already have some in your fridge. There’s no need to splurge on fancy cleaners that could harm little ones (children or pets) and the environment, not to mention the impact on your grocery bill.

And the baking soda? Using it as you clean can eliminate odors. It’s great to store in the fridge to battle the stink or pour down the sink with a little vinegar and salt to unclog drains.

So the next time you go to stock up on cleaner – remember the best option just might already be in your kitchen cabinets.

Welcome back!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 6:59 am and is filed under Family Life, Frugal Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.