Frugal Living Tip 3: Cleaning on a dime
Lizzie Tyner | RSS | 6 Comments
Whenever I go to the store to pick up a few things to clean the house, I have noticed that there are more and more new kinds of cleaners and dusters; just basically a lot of things that I have never needed in the past to get my house clean.
I think that it’s important to show everyone that they don’t need Swiffers or Shamwows to clean their homes.
So here are a few tips to save you some money on the cleaning aisle and in your house when it comes time to clean up:
1) Paper towels can be a waste. While I think it is important to ALWAYS use a clean cloth to clean up in the kitchen, it isn’t necessary to have three rolls of paper towels to clean. Reusable towels are a good alternative to paper towels. You can clean up with them and throw them in the wash with your towels. This will also help reduce some waste that comes from your house.
2) Lysol or any other concentrated antibacterial cleaner is your best friend when it comes time to clean the kitchen. Before I discovered this tip, I can’t tell you how many bottles of pre-bottled Lysol or Formula 409 I went through cleaning up around the house (especially in the kitchen). One day while I was getting ready to mop the floor, I discovered that you can also use Lysol to clean counters. So, I put the recommended amount in a spray bottle and fill the rest of the bottle up with water. One bottle of concentrated cleaner can last our house 3 months (and that’s also using it to clean the floors).
3) Swiffer dusters are nice, but a wet cloth can do the same job. If you have a lot of knick knacks in your house and have to walk around and dust them every single week, then maybe a Swiffer duster will save you some time, but if you don’t, a wet cloth could be the cheap alternative that you are looking for.
4) Plastic bags from the grocery stores can be a good alternative to buying trash bags. Okay, unless you have completely started using reusable shopping bags, then I’m sure somewhere around your house you have some of those plastic shopping bags. I keep all of mine and use them as trash bags. This keeps us from having to buy trash bags. While you’re probably thinking that they are just too small to be used as trash bags in the kitchen trash, think about it this way: How often have you walked past your kitchen trash that you probably should have taken out yesterday? When you use smaller bags, you have to take the trash out more often and therefore, there’s less stink to deal with.
Now these tips might not be fore you or you can pick and choose which ones sound like something that you may give a try.
Clean your house and save money at the same time
Frugal living tip 2: Coupon clipping is for everyone
Tags: antibacterial, formula 409, swiffer dusters
jim from cleanig services luton | Tue, Jul 28 2009
Cheers for the article. Yer.. we save our plastic bags so we can use them for rubbish, saves a small amount of money as well.
Matthew from Shredding Service Chicago | Mon, Aug 03 2009
I think all these new products are just about convenience. You can do the same job with many things you already own in your home. Do what you can do save yourself money and also reduce your impact on the environment.
paresh from cleaner | Thu, Aug 06 2009
Of course there is a alternative to everything. Why buy costly things where we can find alternatives in our homes.
Maria from Cleaners Croydon | Fri, Sep 25 2009
Has any one tried lemons to clean, I know it sounds funny or even strange but the citric acid in lemons make fantastic cleaning, just try it you will see.
Lucy from Locksmiths Bromley | Tue, Nov 17 2009
I only use natural cleaning products and Maria that is a very good point lemons are extremely good for cleaning, they clean to a gleaming shine and it is truly superb I have to say.
Kevin from Scrap Car Anerley | Sun, Nov 22 2009
My wife always keeps the carrier bags aside for rubbish, we are a big family so we have loads of waste and the bags come in handy to use instead of bin bags that are over priced.