Thursday, July 7, 2011

My Favorite Cleaners

I have to admit that I'm a reformed Swiffer junkie. If a company made a "quick" cleaning option I bought it. I had every kind of swiffer floor cleaner, including the carpet flick that didn't have a long life span and was only good for getting the cat hair off of the carpet. I had the Scrubbing Bubbles foaming shower cleaner, and the automatic shower cleaner, I also used their bathroom wipes. I used Clorox wipes like they were going out of style and tried windex wipes. Yep, I filled more landfills alone than most small cities, and my house wasn't cleaner.
Recently, I had a revelation. I use about 4 different cleaners: Vinegar water, homemade sanitizer, homemade disinfectant, and a homemade scrub.
Here are my "homemade" cleaners:


Vinegar Water
1 part vingegar
1 part water
I use this to clean the counters, my tables, the highchair, etc. It's like an all-purpose cleaner.
When I mop I use about a 1/4 cup vinegar to a gallon of water. I actually bought a pro-mist mop and keep it filled with this solution. It's great for cleaning under the highchair and table after each meal.

Sanitizer
1/2 tsp Chlorine Bleach
22 oz Water
This mixture is the measurements to make a sanitizing spray like that of Clorox Hard Surface Sanitizing Spray. *That spray comes in a 22 oz bottle. You can refill the bottle and keep using it. An extra benefit is that bleach loses it's strength the longer it's stored in the bottle, so you can refresh this spray much more often for less money!

Disinfectant
1 1/2 Tbsp Chlorine Bleach
24 oz water
I had to do the math for this myself. This is great for the bathroom, and I save so much money!

Scrub
Baking Soda
Dish Soap
I use this to scrub sinks and the tub. I sprinkle the baking soda and then drizzle the soap over it and get out the old elbow grease! This works really well, and makes my tub look amazing!

There you have it, all my favorite cleaning products and each bottle costs me a fraction of a dollar!
Happy Cleaning!

3 comments:

  1. Great tips! I should probably invest in a couple of spray bottles... I had the brilliant idea of using baking soda to scrub my tub a couple of weeks ago, just got it wet, sprinkled with baking soda, then actually used my feet to do the scrubbing. I got a clean tub, and a nice pedi all at the same time! lol

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  2. Heidi, that's hilarious! I wouldn't have thought to do that, but now, maybe I'll try it. :D To think, I've been wasting my energy cleaning with my hands!

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