Tightwad Tuesday: Homemade Cleaning Products

by Lynnae on January 29, 2008 · 73 comments

Libman Mop

The Libman mop is my favorite mop. To clean, just throw the mop head in the washing machine.

One of the ways I save money is by not buying too many cleaning products.  It’s not only less expensive, but often it’s better for the environment to avoid harsh chemicals.  And with the right mix of ingredients, homemade cleaning solutions often work just as well, and sometimes better, than their store bought counterparts.

The three ingredients I always have on hand for cleaning are baking soda, vinegar, and Dawn dishwashing detergent.  You can clean almost anything with these three items.

To clean windows, mix 2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar, and up to 1/2 teaspoon of Dawn in a spray bottle.  It cleans windows beautifully!

For floors, add 1 cup vinegar to 1 gallon hot water and mop away!

My favorite bathroom cleaner is a spray bottle filled with 1/2 cup Dawn and as much vinegar as the bottle holds.  It works better than any commercial tub cleaner I’ve ever tried!

For cleaning toilets, mix 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup Dawn, and 1/4 cup water.  Let sit on the toilet bowl for a couple of hours, swish with a toilet brush, and flush.

Plain baking soda works just like scouring powder.  It’s also great for deodorizing carpet.  Just sprinkle on the carpet, let sit for a while, and vacuum up!

Have you ever tried homemade cleaners?  What is your experience?  Do you have any great recipes?  I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Photo by jspatchwork.

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{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Sarah January 15, 2009 at 2:46 am

Leslie said:

“has anyone ever thought of making it into one product and adding some scented oils to it or even lemon juice. All three would clean, deodorize and sanitize!”

What quantities of each would you use?

Reply

2 Faerylandmom January 23, 2009 at 8:37 pm

Now, is this Dawn you use the ultra formula or the “original” original?

Faerylandmom’s last blog post..Elephant Mental

Reply

3 ams March 16, 2009 at 10:16 pm

how do you clean granite and natural stone surface.

i have been buying a really good cleaner made by METHOD HOME.
They have a website, a company based in Boston. They are available
at Lowes, Target. I just buy the REFILL bottle around $ 7.

I would really love to cut the cost of cleaning the GRANITE counter
top, and the Natural Stone floor to the bare minimum, if I could…

any suggestions of successful trial in the past?

Lynnae, thanks for this website. I will copy and paste some
of the suggestion above. Yes, indeed, cleaning supplies are the
most expensive items when I do my grocery, and the cost seems to be
going up. I almost fainted the other day, CVS has PALMOLIVE with
OXY for $ 1.00 (special price), the bottle seemed very small, its
a 10 oz indeed. I will def try to do my own cleaning supply in the
future…

Any suggestion on Granite and Natural Stones?

Thanks a lot!

Ams

Reply

4 Cristina March 18, 2009 at 12:18 pm

I like to use lemon juice to clean hard water build up in the sinks. I just let the juice sit there until the stains start to break up and then rinse it away. Plus, there’s nothing more fresh and clean smelling than lemons!

And another tip…for jewelry…I scrup rings and such with toothpaste to bring back that like-new luster!

Reply

5 Margaret April 17, 2009 at 2:06 pm

Window or glass cleaner used by my mother for years and now by me. Equal parts of white vinegar, methylated spirits, and water. Put in an old detergent bottle or spray bottle and shake well before each use. Keeps well. Rub on and then polish off with a dry cloth.

Reply

6 Margaret April 17, 2009 at 2:08 pm

Window or glass cleaner used by my mother for years and now by me.

Equal parts of white vinegar, methylated spirits and water. Shake well before each use. Keeps well. Rub on and then “polish” off with a dry cloth.

Reply

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