By: Allison Park
Well it’s that time of year again, when we get rid of the clutter in our house and start the deep cleaning after a long cold winter. I must say, I am shocked by the amount of money I have spent at the store on just cleaning products from trash bags to drain cleaner and everything in between.
I was flipping through a cook book one day that also has recipes for household type items. I ran across a recipe for drain cleaner. We were having problems at that time getting our drain un-clogged and I was tired of spending $8 at the store for the best drain cleaner, to no avail. The recipe was simple and cheap enough, that I thought, why not give it a try….it worked! Ok, it’s a little complex, so pay attention, here are the ingredients… Baking soda, vinegar, water…yep, that’s it!
Pour 1 cup of baking soda down your drain immediately followed by 1 cup of vinegar. Let it rest for 30 minutes. Pour boiling water down the drain to clear. If it doesn’t quite clear, do it a second time. This drain cleaner costs roughly $1-2, as opposed to $8, you are saving $6-7 and the time it takes to go to the store to get the drain cleaner. And if you have toddlers, you don’t have to worry about them somehow finding and drinking all those horribly toxic chemicals that are in the store-bought drain cleaners. With all these positives, why would you ever use anything else?
Here are some other cleaning items you can save money on:
- All Purpose Cleaner: 1 gallon water, 1 cup ammonia, ½ cup vinegar, ½ cup baking soda. Combine all ingredients. Pour into a spray bottle and clean to your heart’s content! Counter-top disinfectant 2 Tbsp. ammonia, ½ cup rubbing alcohol, ¼ cup vinegar, Water. Put ammonia, alcohol and vinegar in a spray bottle and fill with water.
- Dishwasher Soap: 1 Tbsp. baking soda, 1 Tbsp. Borax Mix, and use in place of dishwasher detergent. You can also make larger quantities to have readily available.
- Liquid Hand Soap: ½ bar soap, 4 cups water, ¼ cup borax or washing soda Grate the soap and place in a saucepan with water and heat. Do not boil. Add borax or washing soda. Stir until dissolved. Pour into a 2 gallon jug and top off with water. It will thicken as it cools. Place in a pump bottle.
I got all of these recipes from an amazing cookbook called Dining on a Dime Cookbook: Eat better, Spend Less! By Tawra Kellam and Jill Cooper. I highly recommend this book for recipes that will help you save money and taste delicious! You can literally save hundreds of dollars a year by making all of your own cleaners, seriously, add it up next time you are out and think about how many times a year you buy each product…don’t forget to add sales tax. You will be shocked!
