There are some really cheap household products that can be used to clean around your home. Things like vinegar, lemon, salt, bicarbonate of soda and newspaper all come in really Handy, have the same purpose as expensive cleaning products you can buy from the shops and hardly cost anything. Do other people use these or any other general household products?
I used all of those when I'm cleaning my house because I don't really want to buy all the expensive things as they are not going to make the cleaning easier really. Lemon is what I have to always have at home especially there is an unwanted smell around. And the second one is the newspapers because they work the best when I'm cleaning my windows.
Unless you have the right solutions then you can make your own. But it all depends on the surface that you are going to clean. Sometimes it is better to get the expensive solution that will ensure that it cleans and still keeps the surface looking good as it should be rather than those that will clean but spoil the surface in the long run.
Some of these home-made solutions do the job better than an expensive cleaning solution would. The only thing that holds most people back is that they've bought the lie that expensive cleaning products are the best. But is that the truth? I've used a solution of vinegar before for cleaning and the result was far from disappointing. Because of that I'd second a home-made cleaning solution any time.
Those are all good. There is also castille soap from the health food store that is used as a liquid soap. It is a liquid soap that is most often sold as Dr. Bonner's castille soap. I make my own liquid soaps with essential oils for body soap and hair shampoo. I noticed that it also cleaned the tub really well too. I wasn't trying to do that, but how neat to soap down all of me and wash the shower at the same time.
I love using vinegar! Like Denis mentioned, I sometimes even think they do a better job than chemical cleaners. For example, vinegar instead of Windex is awesome. And vinegar with baking soda works wonders on drains.
So, there is a laundry soap that I make for us at our house that is a home made recipe. My step-mom originally found it, otherwise I'd credit it to someone else, but from the top of my head you need Nels Naptha soap, Arm and Hammer Washing Soda and 10 Mule Borax. You grate the Nels Naptha soap and add about 8 cups of water. Start getting it hot and stir the soap so that it dissolves into the water. Then add a cup of Washing Soda and Borax (Though you can add a little bit more if you want a bit stronger but not too much). Then, stir all of that until its all dissolved together. Take a 5 gallon bucket (I got one at Lowes for like 5 bucks) and add a gallon of hot water, the mixture that you just made and warm water until you fill all 5 gallons. Its not necessarily a science but if you let all of that sit for 24 hours you have a laundry soap that works in HE or normal washers and does a great job!
