Inexpensive Cleaning Alternatives
If you don't want to clean out your bank account while cleaning up your house, we have some surprising money-saving tips.
Amy Goodman, senior editor of All You magazine, showed how you can clean practically anything with some handy substitutes for expensive products.
Eliminate odors in your refrigerator with coffee grounds
Coffee grounds are known for their ability to absorb the flavors of the things around them. Try coffee grounds to keep your refrigerator from smelling nice and fresh, just as you do with an open box of baking soda. If you're a coffee drinker you can use new or used. You place them in a bowl so that the coffee grounds are exposed to the fridge. It neutralizes and absorbs odor. It may smell like coffee for the first day but afterwards that coffee smell will go away. If smells are really strong, put fresh ground coffee in bowls and let it run empty for several days. You can also put coffee in a clean cloth to get rid of the stale smell like a sachet. You can do this once a month or every two months.
For more information on getting rid of refrigerator odors, go to Mrs. CleanUSA.com
Shine copper with ketchup or Worcestershire sauce
Shine brass using a dab of Worcestershire sauce or ketchup -- the acid and vinegar combination makes this work. Squeeze the condiment onto a cloth or onto the item, rub the item then rinse with warm water or a dry towel.
Most commonly used kitchen cupboard or refrigerator ingredients that contain a natural acid, such as vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, ketchup, tomatoes, milk, and lemon and lime juice, will remove tarnish from brass. The tarnish washes away with an acid rub or soak. This will not work, however, if the piece has a lacquer coating. (Some newer brass does.)
Dishwasher Detergent Alternatives:
• 1/2 cup White Vinegar
• A few tablespoons of white laundry bleach
• Tang
• Lemon Kool Aid (Lemon is the only flavor that works)
You want to fill up the cup of your dishwasher with any of the ingredients. Pour white vinegar into the strainer to break up any gunk and you can also put it in during the rinse cycle. The vinegar will clean the gunk you can't see and deodorize the dishwasher two - it does double duty! Vinegar in the dishwasher also removes grease, detergent, debris from the food left on your pops and pans and fishy smells. The same way that bleach cleans clothes it can also cleanse and purify your dishwasher, it makes it antibacterial as well. Tang breaks down mineral deposits because of the citric acid it contains...it's the same idea with Kool Aid, only the lemon flavor works because of the citric acid. The hotter the water you use, the more purified your dishwasher will be.
Scour scuffs with a tennis ball
Use a new tennis ball to wipe scuff marks off tile, vinyl or woodwork, even painted walls. It won't harm the surface. It has to be a new tennis ball because of the fuzzies on a new ball -- that's the friction you need. It lifts the dirt off without leaving any residue behind.
Clean floors with cap full of Listerine and one gallon of water
Try Listerine mouthwash if you're out of floor cleaner. Add a capful to a gallon of water and mop vinyl or tile - but not wood- floors with the mixture. The same product that kills bad-breath germs and plaque also zaps the gunk beneath your feet; it lifts and removes. Original Listerine works because it's a little bit more acidic than other mouth washes. I tried it with Orange Citrus Listerine because that's what we have at home and it worked. However, if you really want to clean, the original is the way to go because it's stronger.
Clean toilet with antacid tablets or can of cola
You can freshen the toilet bowl with effervescent tablets (denture or antacid) in between scourings. It's great for maintaining. Drop two in water, let soak for at least 20 minutes, then brush and flush.....A can of cola dumped in for one hour also does the trick. The phosphoric acid in the beverage removes rust rings and other mineral deposits.