The Frugal but Green Way to Clean any House

Long before Swiffers and Tide, folks cleaned their homes with common ingredients that were cheap and effective. You can do the same, saving thousands of dollars per year on cleaning products, and keeping your home free of toxins and potential allergens.

The most common staples in cleaning a home are:baking soda, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, flannel or 400+ thread count old cotton sheets, tee-shirt rags, lemon juice, tea tree oil, and Dr. Bronner's.

Cleaning surfaces in the bathroom and kitchen: get a largish spray bottle (check the gardening section of major stores) and fill with clean water, a few drops of Dr. Bronner's, and a drop of tea tree oil. Spray down countertops, fridge, range, washer and dryer... whatever you like to clean. You can use cut-up tee-shirts for the wipe down.

Scrubbing surfaces: make up a paste of baking soda and water; it will separate quickly so keep a small spoon in the bowl or jar you are using. Spread onto the surface, bathtubs and sinks are the typical targets, and use elbow grease to scrub. You can use a scouring pad or brush but a wad of tee-shirt rags work for me. The real trick of using baking soda for scouring is rinsing - rinse well! Get a big bucket of water or large jar to rinse. You may want to go back over the surface with the spray bottle.

Denastying the toilet bowl: first, get everyone in the house to use the facility before you even attempt because there is a waiting period. Take about 1 cup of baking soda and dump into the toilet and follow up with about 2 cups of white vinegar (must be vinegar and not a lemon juice sub here). It will fizz up all crazy like the old Pop Rocks candy. With gloved hands, take your scrub brush or wad of rags and swirl and wipe down the bowl. The baking soda and vinegar will pull off most of the gross but the swirling is necessary. At this time, use your spray bottle to wipe down both sides of the seat and the rims. Put down seat and lid and tackle the rest of the toilet with spray bottle and spots of baking soda paste if needed. Now flush! Now take about 1 cup lemon juice or vinegar and pour into the bowl - leave for at least an hour before flushing.