Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Cleaning Makes Cents

    So I'm cleaning my house today and a thought occurred to me.  Well actually many thoughts occurred to me,  like "I really needed to clip my toe nails like a week ago" and "Darn it, I forgot to buy hot dogs Sunday" and "Why is Lightning McQueen in a sock behind the toilet?" and "If I find one more clump of dog hair I'm trading Copper in for a non-shedding poodle!"  But the thought I wanted to share with you pertains to cleaning supplies and detergents and such.  I spend A LOT of money on cleaning supplies.  Especially since we moved.  I've been better about cleaning the whole house weekly instead of.....well I'd rather not say how often I did it before.  I've got a much bigger house now.  I went from one teeny, tiny bathroom to three bathrooms!  We eat most of our meals here instead of at my momma's house.  There's a lot more to clean these days!  Every week I'm buying Pledge or Scrubbing Bubbles or Windex or Gain or Downy or Finish, and those things aren't cheap!  Now cleaning supplies are absolutely necessary so I'm not gonna stop buying them and let my house go to the dogs.  Although if you could see the red hair on my wood floors right now you'd think I already have.  Copper!  But seriously.  There's got to be a cheaper way to keep my house clean.  My husband works really hard for us to have a comfortable life style and for me to stay at home and how do I thank him?  By making the throne smell like "mountain streams."  Let's spend the money on a trip to the actual mountains and play in an actual stream when we get there!  And is it really necessary for my windows to smell like "crystal rain."  I don't recall ever seeing anyone walk through my house sniffing my windows.  The dogs rub there noses on them, but I don't think that counts!   I pay extra so that my wood furniture and my dishes smell like "oranges," my laundry smells like "the tropics" in "April,"  and my bathroom smells like "fresh mountains springs."  And for what!  So I can open the windows and have the smell of cow poop from neighboring farms fill the house (which I do because turning off the ac and opening the windows and letting the breeze blow through the house saves money on our electric bill).  Well no more!  It's time to start cleaning with the basics.  I know my grandma's didn't have all these choices for cleaning products, and there houses were probably cleaner than mine.  So here's where you come in....  I could probably google it and find all the answers I need, but I want to help you while helping me.  Is there something you've always wanted to try, but you've just been to afraid or even lazy to do it.  Tell me!  I'll try it for you!  For instance, there's a recipe for homemade laundry detergent that I've always wanted to try and I've never done it because I'm too scared that I'll go through all the trouble of collecting the ingredients and making it and then I won't like it.  Not anymore.  As soon as I run out of my current $12 detergent I'm gonna whip up a batch of the homemade stuff, which I know is gonna be way cheaper, and I'll let you know how I like it.  Send me any tips or ideas you have by emailing me or leave it as a comment.  I want to start saving some major money this month and I want to help you do it as well.  So get to sending!

Sincerely,
The Woman Who Just Realized She Forgot To Wash Her Hands Between Cleaning The Toilets And Typing This Post 

3 comments:

  1. Yay! I so want to do this too! Keep me posted, Rachel.

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  2. Cheap vodka. Seriously - google it! Great disinfectant, all surface cleaner, and shines glass great, too. I use 1 part vodka to 3 parts water on my granite. Besides, it truly is much safer if (heaven forbid) a kid or dog gets into the cleaning supplies. Oh, I also spray it undiluted in the air to freshen the kitchen after frying bacon etc. How's that for pushing my teetotaling baptist roots to the limit (of course, I don't drink it but still you should have seen my Grandmother's face when she found out!)

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  3. Vinegar is great for cleaning windows...and use newspapers instead of paper towels (no lint and your gonna throw the paper away anyhow). Bleach is the best disinfectant....Mix like a capful to a regular squirt bottle that you buy at wally world for $1 - that's all we used when I worked at a daycare. I have a cousin who makes her own detergent and she swears by it.

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