Ditched the cleaner, ditched the expensive products, now I need your help please.

[mckenzie]

Our circumstances have suddenly changed drastically and we need to make some mega savings in our monthly outgoings.
I’m using it as the perfect time to also change our cleaning products to those that are less harmful to the environment and use less plastic.
Please may I have your tips for cleaning with vinegar?
And any other tips please.
I have plenty of e cloths although I think that the cleaners have been using them with products. Is it enough that they get washed each time or will those e cloths now be useless used with just water?

TIA

Start with a spray bottle of vinegar and water - more or less equal quantities. I add few drops of essential oil - lemon for downstairs and peppermint upstairs. Works as a quick cleaner on worktops etc.

For cookers, sinks, showers etc etc, half and half hot vinegar and washing up liquid (cheapest you can find will do).

Glass and windows, I use the vinegar and water spray with a capful of isopropyl alcohol, or cheap vodka.

I've given up on e cloths because they are terrible for the environment - every time they're washed, microfibres are washed into rivers and then the sea. Most cleaning can be done with any cotton/bamboo cloth and hot soapy water. The sprays are useful for quick wipes or to spray on to loosen soap scum or burnt on grease.

thank you cynderella. I didn't know that about e cloths but it does of course make sense.
re the hot vinegar solution, is that just vinegar heated in the microwave with the washing up liquid? any water?

I heat vinegar in a pyrex jug in the microwave and then add same amount of washing up liquid and a few drops of essential oil. Sir to mix and pour into spray bottle.

I use it on the oven and hob, ceramic skin, shower screens. Spray on and leave. Then rinse off with hot soapy water (shower screens), scourer (oven) or a damp cloth.

Can I ask how long the vinegar smell lasts? I’ve always fancied cleaning with vinegar but I don’t want the house smelling like a pickle jar

I'd like to say it just disappears but I think I'm used to it! I do add some essential oil to everything and I have diffuser and oil burners around the house.

Vinegar smell disappears really quickly! Bicarb is also great for lots and less smelly - loads of good tips online.

Thank you for inspiring me. I now have a Squeezy bottle in the kitchen full of half vinegar/ half water which I’ll use with a j cloth (are they ok still? I have a few unused ones).
I’m waiting for a product to run out then I will use it’s squeezy bottle for a similar water/vinegar version upstairs.
And I’m about to go and try bicard of soda on my shower door which is heavily streaked from the local hard water.
Yes I know it’s Friday night but this is how I like to rock and roll

Soda crystals are fantastic for degreasing. You can get a bag pretty cheaply, although you need to make sure you store them in a cool place.

You can buy vinegar in 5 litre bottles from Asian supermarkets then decant into smaller bottles. Same with bicarbonate of soda, I think I bought a 2 or 3 kilo bag really cheaply.

Spray vinegar is amazing around grimy taps and shower heads. Then use an old toothbrush to dislodge the crud.

Think I might give the vinegar a go too then. I already use it to clean the washing machine

What vinegar do you use 😳😳😳 I looked in Sainsbury's other day... and was bamboozled by the number of different vinegars 🙄🙄

Trusting I'd pick the wrong one... I left without 🙄

The cheapest white vinegar. Don't use the aged balsamic on your taps

Old towels, baby muslins and holey old socks make good cleaning cloths. Socks on hands are great for Venetian blinds, skirting boards etc.

Infuse half vinegar and water with a chopped up lemon and bunch of rosemary. Makes a lovely smelling cleaner.

The cheapest white vinegar will do!
After reading about it on here I now use it as fabric softener, too.

I’ve cleaned my extractor hood today with white vinegar, washing up liquid and a little water although I’m not sure that the vinegar smell dissipates as quickly as you led me to believe

Hot water is also good for cleaning, all I cleaned the high chair with! I do have old fashioned scouring powder (from discount shop) for taps and thin bleach for cleaning up after doggy accidents. Toilet cleaner too of course. Use cotton clothes, old M&S boxers are good

To be honest plain water does most jobs fine- just a damp cloth. Bicarb is brilliant for scrubbing anything sticky or stuck on (eg hobs, grotty film on sinks, greasy kitchen dust on the tops of things...). Vinegar shines things and is acid, so is good for dealing with marks from hard water (soak a cloth in it and wrap it round taps for a few hours to soak through the limescale), and windows, mirrors etc (wipe with water, then spray with vinegar and polish up with newspaper).
That's pretty much everything we use. I have some method spray cleaner from when a friend moved away, which I very occasionally spray at things just to be fancy, but water, bicarb and vinegar will see you right. Oh, and bio d loo cleaner, which is thick and acid so deals with limescale on surfaces which vinegar slides right off (eg shower screens), as well as loos.

I use washing powder for clothing and then use a small amount to clean stainless kitchen sink - it cleans it really well

yes to white vinegar
you don't need much else.
possibly a descaler if in a hard water area.
for floors and surfaces you can use laundry powder or washing up liquid in warm water.

Astonish are a great range of cleaning products that are all £1 or less from the range, B&M and savers. All of the products are vegan friendly and they are fantastic!

Great thread thanks. I've been thinking about all this too.

Socks on hands. 42 years and I've never thought of this!

I just don;t get this vinegar craze. It reeks. And the smell really doesn;t go away. If you want to minimise cost just use washing up liquid - a tiny drop of it will clean acres of pretty much anything. And a capful of Zoflora will disinfect pretty much anything. A few drops of it in a spary bottle is a good surface cleaner. Months of cleaning for £2 without smelling like a chip shop.

My 2 main cleaning products:

1. Ecover toilet cleaner. I also use it to clean the bathroom sink, shower etc. and for the cat litter tray.

2. A spray bottle with roughly 30% white vinegar + 70% water, with a splash of ecover washing up liquid. I use this for almost everything. (Not metals - I believe vinegar can cause corrosion.)

I've tried various cleaning products and don't find them as good or better so these work for me.

I also have a small, hand-held steamer which is useful for odd things.

Soda crystals - I sometimes mix these with washing powder as I find that can be a bit too perfumey. It makes it go further and helps to keep the machine clean.

I can't think of anything else.

My house doesn't smell of vinegar.

However, I recently succumbed to a shower cleaner and it did really stink the house out.

So super saving MNers...what can I clean my wooden floors with? I’ve just finished my Astonish Wodden floor cleaner and need a replacement.

Could the answer ever vinegar?