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Old 02-22-2010, 08:29 PM   #1
kerosene
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Home made cleaning supplies

Okay, so I have been cleaning houses for a few weeks, now to make a little extra money. I originally got a whole bunch of cleaning supplies, but have since learned that I can make a lot of stuff, myself. Some of it is great, some of it is not as great.

Does anyone make their own cleaning supplies? If so, what do you use and do you love it?
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Old 02-22-2010, 08:37 PM   #2
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David Sedaris wrote about his gig as a house cleaner in NYC. He said he used a mixture of Bleach and ammonia, which was very effective as long as you kept repeating to yourself

"I want to live, I want to live, I want to live..."

(For the humor impaired: This will not really work and will really kill you. It was a joke. And now back to our genuine cleaning tips)

I use Borax as an alkalinizer. It is awesome for everything.
Baking soda and vinegar.

What are you trying to clean?
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Old 02-22-2010, 09:42 PM   #3
Juniper
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I basically clean everything in my house with vinegar/water in a spray bottle, diluted pine-sol in a spray bottle, and Comet.

I also make my own laundry soap, sometimes. It's a huge savings. Goes down to about ten cents a load.
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Old 02-22-2010, 10:07 PM   #4
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Quote:
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I basically clean everything in my house with vinegar/water in a spray bottle
::can't think of a good douche joke::
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Old 02-22-2010, 10:13 PM   #5
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We go to yard sales, especially the big community ones, and buy up all of the left over cleaning supplies for cheap. 1/2 full bottles of name brand cleaning solutions for 50 cent to a dollar, when a full bottle would cost $3-$8. Not bad. Then we top off like cleaning bottles and wallah! We are not strangers to cleaning homes for extra mullah.

It's been noted elsewhere in the Cellar we are pikers. This is just more proof of the same.
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Old 02-23-2010, 09:22 AM   #6
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I've had good luck with paint thinner getting soap scum off of bathroom tile.
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Old 02-23-2010, 11:04 AM   #7
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Citra solv is the most absolute dopest of all cleaners.
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Old 02-23-2010, 11:15 AM   #8
TheMercenary
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I have read that cheap vodka was a really good surface cleaner. I would have to look into it more before I could endorse it.
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Old 02-23-2010, 12:01 PM   #9
xoxoxoBruce
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I've had good luck with paint thinner getting soap scum off of bathroom tile.
I hope you were following the instructions and using in a well ventilated area. Maybe the sparky electric fan will remove those explosive fumes. White Vinegar works well.
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Old 02-23-2010, 12:17 PM   #10
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Has anyone attempted to make their own laundry detergent? If so, how were the results and any recommendations on clothes not to use it on or is it pretty versatile? I wear a lot of sweaters in the winter so I don't want to ruin 75% of my winter shirts in one wash.
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Old 02-23-2010, 12:37 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce View Post
I hope you were following the instructions and using in a well ventilated area. Maybe the sparky electric fan will remove those explosive fumes. White Vinegar works well.
yup. Window open and vent fan on.
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Old 02-23-2010, 12:46 PM   #12
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For my wannabe hardwood floor, I use a third each of white vinegar, alcohol, and water...works pretty well.
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Old 02-23-2010, 01:39 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45 View Post
Has anyone attempted to make their own laundry detergent? If so, how were the results and any recommendations on clothes not to use it on or is it pretty versatile? I wear a lot of sweaters in the winter so I don't want to ruin 75% of my winter shirts in one wash.
Yup. I do. Grate up some kind of bath soap. I usually use Ivory, though most instructions say to use Fels Naptha - it really doesn't matter. You can also just save up bath soap slivers or use whatever is on sale. Dissolve it in 2 quarts of hot water on the stove - but beware - this pot may taste like soap for a while, I found out the hard way by making pasta shortly thereafter. Yuck. I use an old pot now, just for that. Anyway . . . I think then it's 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda (not baking soda). Mix them all together and let it set up overnight in a bucket (cat litter buckets are good for this). You get a bucket full of weird looking gelatinous glop.

It works fine on everything I've tried so far, but it does work better if you dissolve it first in warm water then add the clothes. Which I guess is how you're supposed to do the wash anyway.
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Old 02-23-2010, 01:47 PM   #14
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Does it really work out to be cheaper? I don't know what borax goes for these days, or what washing soda goes for. The washing soda sounds like a special order item and sounds fairly expensive. And bars of bath soap aren't free.

Vinegar is a lot cheaper than a bottle of spray cleaner. You can get a gallon of white vinegar for a couple of bucks, and clorox bathroom cleaner will cost maybe 5 bucks for a small bottle. So there's savings there, but some of these things sound like a lot of work for little savings.
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Old 02-23-2010, 02:20 PM   #15
piercehawkeye45
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The article I got a recipe from compared the price to $0.0225 per load with homemade versus $0.20 a load with Tide. So its around ten times as cheap.

Thanks Juniper.
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