5 Simple Home Cleaning Tricks to Save Money

Cleaning takes quite some effort, more so if you have a large house or an apartment. It’s time-consuming and often also pricey. Cleaning supplies, chemicals, mops, sponges, and other such items can often be quite expensive. For this reason, people over at Clean That Floor came up with a list of simple home cleaning tricks to save money.

These tricks are easy to do regardless of how often you clean. Some of these tricks include ingredients and stuff you have at home, while others show you a new way of using cleaning tools and chemicals.

Avoid abrasive cleaners and concentrated products

Concentrated products and abrasive cleaners are often the choices of many. These are heavily commercialized, which might be the reason why we grab them first. However, in most cases, your house doesn’t really need an abrasive cleaner. While such a cleaner might get the stain out, it might also damage the surface after a few uses. If you use it on your sink, you’ll definitely have to buy a new one sooner than you would if you didn’t use an abrasive cleaner.

Instead, use a standard-strength product for most jobs. It’s usually strong enough to tackle most areas such as kitchen counter, floor, and sink. Give your sink an herbal bath instead of using a concentrated cleaner. Put some thyme or rosemary in hot water for several hours before straining it. Stop up the sink, pour the solution you made, and let it sit for at least 12 hours. You can do this at night, and in the morning, you’ll find it refreshed and shiny.

Use cloths instead of paper towels

Though paper towels are quite convenient, they’re costly. Also, what happens when you forget to buy them? To avoid the nuisance, try using actual cloths in your kitchen. It’s the old way, so you may or may not know of it. On top of that, it’s much more eco-friendly since there’s no plastic packaging, or using needless paper. Cloths work the same way, but because they’re reusable, they’re much more cost-effective. They can last a long time before you ever need to buy new ones, though this depends on how you wash and maintain them. Also, different cloths are meant for various tasks, so you won’t actually have to use paper towels for anything. There are cloths to replace napkins and paper tissues as well. Certain cloths are great for wiping and polishing dishes. Microfiber ones are ideal for polishing different surfaces and cleaning things like kitchen counters, sink, bathroom, etc.

Stop using plastic bags

Most people use a lot of different plastic bags for various purposes. Some use them for food storage, especially when you want to freeze stuff while others use it in their trash cans. If your nearby supermarket uses plastic bags instead of paper ones, you can use them in several ways. These are great for storage if they’re clean and without a tear. However, this only applies if the supermarket hands them for free. It’s better to bring your own bag if they’re charging the plastic ones. If you happen to get free plastic bags for your groceries, you can use them for your trash can. If you’re one of those people who buy extra plastic bags to place in their trash can, using a bag you already have will save you some money. In case you run out of these bags, you can just give your trash can a quick wash instead of buying new ones to place inside.

It’s a bit contradictory; buying plastic bags to throw trash in. It’s awful for the environment since there’s already so much plastic pollution. On top of that, it’s needlessly costly, especially if you already have some bags you brought the groceries in. Also, buying some reusable food containers is much more cost-effective than always buying bags. Plus, glass containers are a bit pricier but will pay off in the long run since you can use them for a longer time.

Make your own cleaning solutions

Chemicals and cleaning solutions are often quite expensive, depending on where you live. Given that we use them a lot, the expense keeps adding up. To avoid this, you can try making your own cleaning solutions from the stuff you already have at home. Most DIY cleaning solutions are easy to make and are far cheaper than the ones you buy in the supermarket. On top of that, you probably already have the ingredients. Things like baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice are often all you need to clean your bathroom, kitchen, floors, and other such areas. Even if you don’t have them, they’re not as expensive as actual cleaning chemicals. Plus, cleaning solutions are often heavy chemicals that are irritating your skin, eyes, and throat. They’re not the best for the surfaces of your home either, especially if you use them too often. We already mentioned how some concentrated products could damage your sink after just a few uses.

Use a bagless vacuum cleaner

By using a bagless vacuum cleaner, you eliminate the need for continually buying new bags. Not only this is a more cost-effective solution, but it’s also more eco-friendly. Bagless vacuums usually have a canister that you empty once it’s full. You just remove it from the unit and shake its contents into your trash can. There’s no need for additional bags you’d have to throw away after a few uses.

This is an especially convenient trick if you have pets and are vacuuming a few times a week. Bags probably won’t last you such a long time, and you’d spend quite some money on them. Plus, some cleaners require particular bags that could be pretty expensive. Still, bagless units aren’t recommended to allergy-prone people. They can sometimes be a bit tricky to empty, so you could inhale some of the dust, triggering your allergies. If you’re prone to allergies, consider getting a water vacuum. It uses water filtration, so all the dirt remains trapped in the water as you throw it out.