Each day we will be posting our readers “Thrifty Cleaning and Organization Tips”. At the end of the month, one of you will win a $25.00 Gift Card For all the details click here.
Loraine
Some of you may already do this little organizing tip that saves lots of time. PIN YOUR SOCKS TOGETHER BEFORE WASHING THEM! Buy a pack of the large quilting safety pins (that say rust resistant) and pin your socks together before tossing them into the hamper. This saves lots of sorting time later as well as the dreaded missing socks eaten by the mysterious sock monster inside the washing machine.
Heather
The best thing I’ve found to clean windows and mirrors is… newspapers!!! I really dislike the lint that is left on my windows and mirrors after I clean using paper towels or a rag. Newspapers don’t leave streaks or lint on those surfaces, and they’re pretty thrifty because, lets be honest, we all have them left over from Sunday papers!
Great use of them, and pretty sparkling windows!
Michelle
I have to say I really love those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers! I had some scuff marks on my wood floors this weekend and it just took them right off! When you have kids around you never know what you are going to have to clean up like crayon on the walls
Lynne
When my kids were little we set up chore charts and they earned rewards every week. Now my oldest is getting married in a month and can clean anything. He is the one who kept his apartment at college relatively clean (might have been what caught his soon to be bride’s eye) and I will miss his help with spring cleaning (his sisters just aren’t as good at cleaning my cabinet doors). I like Lime-a-way on my sinks and tubs–we have super hard water and a water softner doesn’t seem to help a whole lot
Karma
Put a slice of lemon in a little bowl of water. Microwave for 30 seconds. It loosens up all the guck in your microwave. Just wipe clean with a paper towel!
Amber p
My cleaning tip is always do the “unexpected guest” areas first. . .When I get my living room rug vaccumed, my kitchen counters cleaned off, the dishwaster going. . .I know my house is decent enough for company and it motivates me to do the rest of the house. I don’t let myself get involved in cleaning every inch of the bathroom tub, only to come out and see that my living room is still a mess.
My fave product is the scrubbling bubbles automatic shower cleaner sprayer. . I think it really cuts down on cleaning time for the bathtub!
Meme
If I feel decent but just blah and don’t want to do anything I put on some upbeat music. I tell myself ok I will sit here and sort papers (seems like no matter what I do we have piles of it laying around) from commercial break to commercial break. Normally by the second commercial break I am up doing a little more active cleaning can’t sit still with upbeat music on can you.
Pretty soon I’ve done a bunch.
Holly N.
For Katie B. & those who are thinking of making their own laundry soap – I personally prefer the power version. The liquid is NOT going to look like store bought, it is clumpy, gooey, and most of all the liquid version clogged up my front load washer. It also takes a little bit of time to make, not much, but more than the power version. I’ve read of plenty of people using homemade liquid and it works for them, just not me. Another reason I like the power is – it is sooooooo easy to make. I happened to find all the things I needed at Fred Meyer. The only work for the power is to grate a bar of soap, the rest is mixing the other ingredients.
*One thing I do different is to add water softener power to my mix. I saw it right beside the Borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda – on the box it suggested to use in the dishwasher and for laundry. I think it’s helped.
**Another thing – you can use vinegar instead of fabric softener! It works so well and it helps with smells – no one will ever be able to tell (smell the vinegar)
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Keep your Thrifty Cleaning and Organization Tips coming!!!
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