How to Clean Up on Savings

Cleaners can get pricey, especially when they're name brands. Unfortunately, most of the time it's the name brands that actually work the best!

Even though that's the case, I give generics the benefit of the doubt, at least once, because you never know when one of them might actually do the job better and save you money.

One cleaner I use umpteen times a day is Windex. I have these awful tile counter tops that show every bit of grease dirt and smudgy finger prints. One day I decided I'd try Great Value (Wal-mart) window cleaner.

I bought a large refill and hated every minute of it. It never worked on my tile counter tops the way Windex did. While at the Dollar Tree, I took my chances again and bought another big refill (it was the same price as the little spray bottle). This time it worked like a champ on my tile counters that are oh-so-hard to keep clean. Aside from saving over $2 per refill, it doesn't stink to high heaven like Windex does!


Another favorite cleaner is Clorox Clean up...the all purpose bleach cleaner. I use this in my white enamel sink which gets dingy without it. Again, while at the Dollar Tree I noticed that they had a version of their own & I tried it. It works every bit as good! I highly recommend it. It's in a white bottle with orange and green print that says something like Cleaner with Bleach. It looks similar to Clorox's bottle.

My all time favorite cleaner has to be Awesome, because it's a laundry life saver! It's only available at Dollar Tree. This stuff gets of dried on blood! My daughter has frequent nose bleeds at night and by morning it's all dried. I just spray it and throw it in the wash without even having to scrub it and it always comes out. It also takes the grease out of clothing, even when it's been through the washer & dryer! It doesn't work as well for me with rust, but normally I don't have too much trouble with rust. I've tried Awesome's other cleaners like the laundry stain one and the citrus but none of them work so don't waste your money! Look for the clear bottle with orange writing and yellow liquid.

Two more tips while we're on the subject of cleaning, get yourself a Mr. Clean sponge...those white ones that feel weird. If you have any scuff marks anywhere, wet it and scrub. These little wonders will take care of it. If you have dingy refrigerator door handles or leather shoes, it sucks the dirt right off! The best part is that no cleaner is needed. When you rinse it out, all the dirt runs right out of the sponge! They will fall apart if you try to use them on surfaces with texture so save them for smooth surfaces.

Last tip - when you cook a really yummy dinner in a skillet, you can end up with some seriously stuck-on stuff! Get off the stuff you can with a plastic scraper, make sure your surface is wet and sprinkle with baking soda, allowing it to soak for about 15 minutes then wipe clean. Use a a scrubby sponge to scrub off any stubborn spots. If you have a pan that's not non-stick, it's nearly miraculous how well it works!