Cleaning House

It's a slow internet day. There doesn't seem to be much of interest to read today. Now that I upgraded to a DSL connection it only takes me a few minutes to check my email, visit a couple of favorite forums, read the local news and post to my blog. This leaves me with more... "free time". As I was pondering what I should do with my "free time" today, the nagging images of my dirty dishes, dirty floors and the pile of laundry kept flashing in my mind like a bad slide show. I guess I'll be cleaning today. But, only after I make this post because now I have a topic!

I don't really spend a lot of money on different cleaning products. Anymore. I used to, back when I thought they really did save me time and got things super-duper clean, therefore I simply could not live without them. I will admit though I still have a few products that are just my favorite trusted friends. But, I don't have a cabinet full of various cleansers and polishes. I've found that I can clean just about anything in my house with ammonia, vinegar, bleach (but don't mix it with the ammonia) and baking soda.

You can find tips for using these products all over the internet. So, I won't go into all of the possibilities, but I will run down a few of the things I do.

Ammonia - mix 1 part ammonia with 3 parts water, place in sprayer bottle and use for general cleaning and windows.

Bleach - use to sanitize or whiten anything (pour into toilets).

Vinegar - add to dishwasher, add to laundry (the really smelly laundry or the fabrics that wrinkle badly), use to remove hardwater limescale everywhere.

Baking Soda - place on damp pots to remove tough burns (let sit about 5 minutes), use to absorb carpet odors.

For tough carpet stains, I dilute some "Shout" and spray it directly on the stain before cleaning the carpet.

And for those of you who simply must have some cleaning products because using the four I mentioned is just way too simple, basic and rustic for you... try stocking up at the dollar store in your area. You can usually find great bargains on such products in the aisles of Fred's, Dollar General and The Dollar Spot.