HOMEMADE SAVINGS

 If you are looking for a super simple cleaner that kills germs and doesn't leave a lingering smell you can make it with 2 ingredients, one that is free and the other is likely in your pantry.

1 cup White Distilled Vinegar
1 cup warm water

mix in spray bottle.

Cost is 12 cents and it is a great deodorizer and bacteria killer due to the acid content.  If you are serious about killing germs you can also use straight vinegar in a spray bottle.

   I use this cleaner for most of the household cleaning.  It does a great job with the everyday stuff. I have omitted the lemon juice a couple of times and it still cleaned very well. This homemade cleaner costs 14 cents for a 16 ounce spray bottle with the lemon juice and about 2 cents without.If I buy Formula 409 at Dollar General it is $2.00 and needs to be replaced weekly so I save $96.72   a year with lemon juice and $102.96 a year without lemon juice.


2 tsp borax
1 tsp washing soda
4 TBS lemon juice

In a pint spray bottle, combine ingredients. Add 2 cup very hot water and shake to dissolve. Store indefinitely.

   This glass cleaner really works it smells like windex when yuo use it but as soon as the alcohol evaporates the odor is gone. I use it on my oven and microwave doors as well as mirrors and glass. Windex costs about $3.00 and I can make glass cleaner for 26 cents.


Mix in a sprayer bottle:

1 cup rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol
1 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar

   Porcelain sinks and tubs, Stainless steel kitchen sink, this stuff is great!

I mix mine in an empty ketchup/mustard squirt bottle that has been cleaned out really good.I haven't bought this stuff in a pretty long time, I will check my numbers next time I go to the store but I found it online for $2.00 for a 12 oz bottle.  I can make a 12 oz bottle for about the same price at home and not have to worry about the harsh smell or chemicals. I am working on another recipe that will not use castile soap and should be well under $1.00

2/3 cup water
1/4 cup castille soap  I have Dr Bronners brand
1 2/3 cup baking soda
2 tblspoons vinegar

Now we all know what happens when you mix vinegar and baking soda, be ready for it, put those 2 things in first and make sure the container is large enough for the foam up that WILL  happen.

   I cannot believe how easy and effective this recipe is. My wood is beautiful and dust free.

Mix in a sprayer bottle:

1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice

Add to spray bottle and shake well before each use.
 


Pledge 16 oz costs about $4.00 per bottle and because it is an aerosol I think it gets used much quicker than a regular squirt spray bottle does.  16 oz of homemade furniture polish costs about $1.50 and lasts at least twice as long in my house.

  I love this one Jetdry costs 4-5 dollars and needs to be refilled on a monthly basis for homes that do about 1 load of dishes a day, I had to fill mine once every week or two. So I averaged between 8 and 20 dollars on jetdry.

   For arguments sake we will say I only spent the 4 dollars a month on jet dry. The homemade version only costs 12 cents per month and leaves the dishes clean fresh and spot free. This saves me $3.78 cents a month or $45.36 a year



1 cup of white distilled vinegar (added to jetdry dispenser) 1.99 per gallon at Save-A-Lot

  When you have a 7 person household, 6 of which are home all day it can generate a lot of dishes. I do not exaggerate when I say we do at least 2 full dishwasher loads a day, sometimes as many as 4. I used to buy Electrasol, now called Finish, or Cascade because I felt they did a better job of cleaning than the store brands. Electrasol costs 19 cents per load of dishes if you did not add to the prewash dispenser. Cascade costs 24 cents per load if you did not add to the prewash. The homemade detergent costs 2 cents per load of dishes. I save up to 88 cents a day or $321.20 a year.




1 Cup borax costs 4.79 for 76 oz box
1 Cup baking soda costs 45 cents/box
Add 1 tablespoon to washing compartment. 

   No one likes to get shocked while trying to pull their socks off of the towels. I am also sure that no one likes paying the price of fabric softener. Here is a recipe for homemade fabric softener that really works great.

1 part baking soda-added to laundry soap (I do not add this when I use my homemade detergent which is half baking soda)
1 part white vinegar- added to fabric softener ball or dispenser
2 parts water- added to fabric softener ball or dispenser
drop of essential oil

  If you are like me and do not want to have to mix this concoction up for every load it is easy to make in bulk and stores well. 

  I use an empty fabric softener bottle (44 ounces) and add
3 cups of water
1.5 cups of white distilled vinegar
1/4 to 1/2 tsp of essential oil (optional for fragrance only) I really like vanilla for the laundry

Add 1/2 cap full to fabric softener ball  or fabric softener dispenser.



































I bought this gallon of vinegar at Dollar General for about $2.50 I have since found it for less at Save-A-Lot grocery stores for $1.99 a gallon. The water is basically free and the empty softener bottle we will count at free. The only other cost is optional. I bought my fragrance oils at Walmart they were about 5 dollars a bottle but since you are using 1/4 tsp at a time I think they may actually last forever.

  Fabric softener (cheap brands) on average costs about $3.65 for a 52 load bottle. The cost of the homemade version is 19 cents or a penny more if you use the fragrance oil. I normally purchased 2 bottles of fabric softener a month so I saved at least $75.84 cents a year in fabric softener.

   Laundry detergent- it is a money pit. We bought a front loading washer last year ( we go through a washing machine about every year... 5 kids = a lot of laundry) So I had started buying the high efficiency detergent and it was killing my cleaning budget. Even the off brands are pricey and I figured about 25 cents a load if your kids or husband didn't put in a whole cap full instead of a third of a cap like the instructions clearly state!!!!

So I normally got about 50 cents per load. I found a "recipe" for making home made detergent, it is completely safe for front loaders, and is also safe for sensitive skin types.

1 cup Fels Naptha or Ivory soap (grated finely) less than 2 dollars/ bar or 10 bars of Ivory for 3.75 at Dollar General
1/2 cup washing soda  3.79 per box ACE hardware
1/2 cup borax  4.79 per box ACE hardware

   I actually prefer to use the Ivory soap, the Fels has a strong smell, not in a bad way but my husband has pretty sensitive allergies. That said, I have also made it with 3 parts Ivory and 1 part Fels or even half and half and it did make a difference in how strong it smelled.

Estimated cost: $1 for 32 TBS or 3-6 cents per load (depending if you add 1 or 2 tbs to the washer). Or cheaper if you get any items on sale or use mostly Ivory soap as it is cheaper than the Fels. 

Use the super fine end to grate the soap so that it will dissolve properly