Frugal Cleaning

[lucille]

Originally Posted by farley2k

Great ideas, but I am not going to give up my Magic Eraser. I love that thing. I have no idea what is in it, but it can clean anything I have thrown at it.

They are made out of melamine foam. So you don't need to buy the brand name Magic Erasers. The store brand are the exact same thing. If you ever run across big sheets of melamine foam for cheap buy it up! I am not sure what else melamine foam is used for so I have no clue where you would find it but that is all Magic Erasers are.

[lucille]

We power cleaned our fridge recently. It is amazing the hidden ick you find when you actually take everything completely out including the shelves. We used Method cleaner on a bit of it. The rest just hot soap and water and a scrubber sponge. Oh and and old toothbrush. It worked great to get the ick out of small spots. We also discovered that the shelves of our fridge pull out like drawers so you can get at things. We have lived here for a year and nobody noticed this. We rearranged the entire fridge so things we use frequently are higher up and in the front so there is less stooping to find things. Stooping over kills my back.

I'm going to have to try the magic erasers on our tub. We have not been able to get them fully clean since we moved in and one had drywall primer spilled in it.

[lucille]

I tried the magic eraser (the store brand version) on our tragically hopeless bathtub. I used baking soda and lemon juice along with a grout brush. Wow!

The magic eraser and baking soda got the normal soap scum and ick off of the walls. The problem was the textured bottom of the tub. It was disgusting when we moved it. I tried soft scrub, the scrubbing bubbles stuff and this stuff called Kaboom that we used to clean the bathroom in our rental when we moved out. None got the dark stuff out of the texture on the bottom of the tub even with the grout brush.

I dumped baking soda all over the floor of the tub, added a few tablespoons of lemon juice here and there and scrubbed with the grout brush. It took some scrubbing but it came up, all of it. I went over it with the magic eraser to get the bits left that the brush didn't get. It looks new.

[Megan]

I am working on reducing the amount of cleaning supplies in my house, both for financial reasons and for health reasons - I would like to be using as few chemicals as possible. Of course, at the same time, I would like my house to be as clean as possible.

Right now, I'm still using up the last of a lot of the cleaners I have purchased, but my cheap, all-purpose favorites right now are (no surprises here) vinegar and baking soda. I also have been using Mrs. Meyers all-purpose soap for additional cleaning power.

I'm still looking for something to work at the ancient mildew stains at the bottom of my shower, however, as well as clean out any mildew that continues to build up. I will be checking out a number of the suggestions from this thread, and more are welcome!

[lucille]

Originally Posted by Megan

I am working on reducing the amount of cleaning supplies in my house, both for financial reasons and for health reasons - I would like to be using as few chemicals as possible. Of course, at the same time, I would like my house to be as clean as possible.

Right now, I'm still using up the last of a lot of the cleaners I have purchased, but my cheap, all-purpose favorites right now are (no surprises here) vinegar and baking soda. I also have been using Mrs. Meyers all-purpose soap for additional cleaning power.

I'm still looking for something to work at the ancient mildew stains at the bottom of my shower, however, as well as clean out any mildew that continues to build up. I will be checking out a number of the suggestions from this thread, and more are welcome!

Is it black or rust colored? We used vinegar and water to kill mildew growing in the basement of our rental we used to live in. I read somewhere that vinegar will kill mildew and some molds as well as bleach. I can't stand bleach fumes. I also read somewhere that the rust colored build up all around your shower is actually a mold, not rust from your water.

[khorrell]

I am a huge fan of baking soda for cleaning. I just sprinkle it over whatever I'm cleaning and attack it with a wet, soapy sponge. For stuck on things, I'll make a thin paste.

I've been rinsing my hair with vinegar for about 6 months now and I really do think it works. The smell goes away after your hair dries, and it is really soft and shiny. It does seem like my hair gets dirty faster if I've rinsed it with vinegar, but maybe that is because I'm more of a twice-a-week hair washer than an every-day hair washer.

Does anyone know if there is a recommended schedule of how often to do the vinegar rinse? And are you supposed to use regular conditioner on the other days? That seems like it would lessen the economic benefit of using vinegar.

[lucille]

What is the proportion of vinegar to water that people use to clean with? Straight vinegar is pretty strong. I tried cleaning the tub with it but it was enough to make me gag and cough. If I can get a mix figured out to do windows with I was thinking of making one with a bit of dish soap in it and see if it works for an all purpose cleaner.

[lucille]

I needed to get build up off of my iron. I didn't want to drive to town and plop down $4 for that iron cleaning product in a tube. So I looked online. One suggestion was baking soda and the other was to use a basic paste toothpaste. I tried baking soda with a bit of all purpose cleaner on a rag. It took a little scrubbing but it all came off.

[mzScarlett]

For vinegar hair rinse: put aprox a teaspoonful into a cup of warm water; that's all you need really folks; don't put it on full strength! **********for toilet I put in some vinegar & baking soda & yes it bubbles all up & some hydrogen peroxide 3% (it bleachs kills bacteria & viruses!) with the COMBINATION but do NOT store together! the hydrogen peroxide & vinegar is stronger & more effective than clorine or any toxin made. Hydrogen peroxide 3% BREAKS DOWN in light: so NEVER expose it or put it into spray bottle any amount than you are going to use for THEN, & make sure it has it's OWN spray bottle!
****Best all around cleaner I have found: for ovens, etc, is make a paste of baking soda & Kosher salt with dab of water; put on to sit then use with steel or copper metal scrubber; most comes right up; ********for bath same mixture instead of adding water to make the paste use hydrogen peroxide 3%; it cleans tubs & sinks well! Once clean, I spray with hydrogen peroxide 3% & then with vinegar & RUN! The fumes disappear almost instantly tho & this disinfects all, including VIRUSES! folks!

[wildgift]

I wish I paid more attention in chem class.

One trick is to figure out what dissolves the gunk. Some things, like sugars, dissolve in hot water. Others in spirits like alcohol. Others dissolve in mineral spirits.

Some things are kind of "base" and get neutralized by acids. (Rust is alkaline. It ends in "ide" - iron oxide.) Other things, like burnt fat, get neutralized by bases. (Fat is an acid - "fatty acids".)

Detergents are a little bit base, and cut through grease. They work by emusifying grease into a neutral, non-sticky substance that can be washed away.

Bleaches oxidize things, and kill organisms, so they are good for removing organic stains. You have to kill it first, then wash the residue away.

Abrasives work by cutting at the surface gunk. Comet and Ajax are abrasives. You use them by gently rubbing the wetted abrasive into the gunk, over and over, until the sandy abrasive cuts the gunk, and sticks to it, and then is washed away. It's a polishing action.

Many stains are a mix of things.

I think cleaning is not so much about finding the most powerful chemical, but figuring out what type of chemical will combine with the stain, and neutralize it.