How to Spring Clean Your Home and Save Pounds!

I think we are all looking to save money wherever we can with the cost of living crisis. And although prices are soaring, spring is on the doorstep and for many of us that means we still get the urge to throw open the doors and windows and spring clean our homes.

But we also know that the cost of cleaning products just like everything else is at the highest we have ever known . When you go to the supermarket to replenish the cleaning cupboard it can be a bit of a shock and we can question what is essential.

We are going to share with you some homemade cleaning products recipes that we use over the next coming weeks. Many of the ingredients will be things you may already have in your home. Others you will need to buy, but they will last longer, go further and be cheaper by a mile than anything you can buy off the shelf in your local supermarket.

You will be able to keep your home clean and smelling fresh for a fraction of the normal cost. And there is an added bonus, because you can reuse the old empty cleaning containers, and spray bottles that would normally be discarded when empty. You don’t have to be an eco warrior or be driven to save the planet. But if you are saving the pennies and being kinder to the planet, what is not to like?

Many of the recipes use Borax, and this is not available in the UK but you can easily buy Borax substitute. And when we refer to Borax this is the substitute that we use and it is widely available throughout the UK.

We would like to show you just how cheap and money saving making your own can be, and yes they do clean as well as leading brands in our opinion. The All purpose cleaning spray, which is the first recipe we will share with you today, cost one fifth of the price of supermarket bought simulator products, less chemicals less cost. And takes minutes to make.

Just think on that one product alone how much money you can save in a year!

ALL PURPOSE SPRAY (Approximate cost 19p)

Elbow (Asda) £1.25

Ecover Multi Purpose surface cleaner £2.50 (Tesco)

And although the ingredients are not the same they all do the same job! But for less than one fifth of the price you would pay in a supermarket.

This spray will dissolve dirt and grease residue from kitchen surfaces and can be used in the bathroom and around the house. It has natural antiseptic properties, and it smells good too!

1 teaspoon of Borax

5 drops of Rosemary essential oils

10 Drops of Lavender essential oil

½ teaspoons natural liquid dishwashing soap

2 Tablespoons of distilled white vinegar

500ml warm water

Method

Add the borax and the warm water to an old clean spray bottle, and shake well. Next add the remaining ingredients and again shake well. And it’s ready to use to clean down surfaces, woodwork and freshen wiping down with a damp cloth or sponge!

Here is a quick approximate costing of the wonderful All purpose cleaning spray. The prices and suppliers we bought from are stated, but with the wonder of the internet you can probably find even cheaper ingredients!

Borax 500g is £1.99, there are approximately 166 teaspoons in a 500g packet = 0.01p per teaspoon ( we bought from the ethical superstore but it is widely available and many supermarkets carry it.

Come back next week for a complete list of all our homemade cleaning products for cleaning your kitchen!