spinoff... best household/cleaning products?

[NYEmomma]

I'm curious as to everyone's favorite, budget-friendly cleaning supplies and household items.... things like toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, etc.

I've always been pretty brand specific on these items (and of course end up sticking with the most expensive items ) and would like to find a way to cut my budget. I do combine coupons with sales when I can, but I still find myself paying regular price too often. I'd love to find cheaper brands that work just as well as my more expensive ones.

 

[hsmamato2]

Bon-Ami natural cleanser (hasn't scratched yet) used for scrubbing the toilet bowls, and anything else including my glass stovetop-(.94 a can)
Trader Joes (green color) natural spray cleaner for everything including glass windows(2.99 bottle)
Nasty smelling bleach spray cleaner from walmart for the wicked mildew on my bathtub grout once a week(hate it,but it's the only thing that works)2.94 per bottle
And vinegar and baking soda for any tough jobs,and things that need deoderizing or de-germifying
That's it for here, whatever laundry detergent I find at a good price (usually Arm and Hammer) plus one cup white vinegar per load
vinegar is my best friend,it's been proven to kill as much bacteria as straight bleach(unfortunately not the bathtub mold problem tho)
SO I spend about 2.00 per month (?) on cleaners, if that.
I try to cut down on paper towels,and use cloth napkins and dishtowels a LOT more
T.P.- I buy what's on sale,and what I have a coupon for (this past week I stocked up on Scott,b/c CVS had a good deal,and I had coupons)

 

[cheerforchelsea]

I clean show homes for a local builder (also an occasional home that he has purchased from someone). I provide my own supplies so I am always looking for something that works great but costs little. I use Fabuloso poured in a spray bottle and diluted just a bit with water for bathrooms/kitchen surfaces/tile floors. Hardwoods/laminate wood floors - spray on blue windex and "mop " with microfiber cloth wrapped around me swiffer sweeper. Laundry Detergent - Xtra if I can't find a name brand on sale. For heavy bathroom cleanup the cheaper products do not work well for me - I use Scrub Free with OxyClean. For any mold issues mix half peroxide and half water - let it sit for a bit and wipe with damp rag. Good Luck!!

 

[Fly4free]

I love my purple "rags" from Flylady. They are wonderful cleaning cloths. One side is smooth, the other side (which I mostly use) is tacky and picks up everything.

I have 1 in my kitchen that keeps my quartz counters shiny. It also cleans the fingerprints off all my stainless steel appliances. I have saved a lot of $ not needing to buy those fancy counter cleaners or stainless steel cleaners. I keep 1 cloth in the bathroom to wipe up counters in there and it also cleans my mirrors with just a bit of water. Leaves no streaks.

They are also great for wiping smudges and fingerprints off paint. Too many uses to write them all........

 

[sherry7]

There's a brand of tub/shower cleaner called 'The Works'. It comes in a squeeze bottle, and is only $1 a bottle at The Dollar Tree. It's the best shower cleaner that I've ever used, and our shower gets extra dirty because DH works highway construction. (On the flip side, their brand of toilet cleaner is beyond awful.)

I buy microfiber cleaning cloths in the auto section at Walmart. Last time I got them, a 2 pack cost $1. I bought a half dozen about 5 years ago, and they're just now starting to wear out.

I really like Sears brand powdered laundry detergent. It goes on sale a few times a year, and the cost per load is only around 7-8 cents a load. I like it better than Tide, which is several times more expensive.

For a pre-treater, I use a spray called Totally Toddler. I can only find it at Babies R Us and Baby Depot. I use it on adult clothes too, and it takes out all of the stains that I've tackled. It's just as expensive as other pre-treaters, but it really does work well. Last time I bought it, I got the 1 gallon refill bottle, which is less expensive than buying the smaller containers.

 

[englishteacha]

I use Sun free and clear detergent that I get from Big Lots. It works well. I toss in a scoop of "Oxygen Cleaner" from Dollar Tree if things are particularly icky. I wash my shower with cheap shampoo, and when it needs serious scrubbing I use baking soda. I mainly clean with soap and water, sometimes scrubbing tough stuff with a magic eraser or a nylon scrubby. I have serious allergies to chemicals so I have to be really, really careful what I use. I use vinegar to disinfect and deodorize stuff, including stinky laundry. My mother in law gave us a gallon of Melaleuca cleaner 10 years ago that we still haven't put much of a dent in. I use it when I scrub floors and such. I use window cleaner on my windows (prefer windex but usually am too cheap) and Lysol toilet bowl cleaner, because I found it at Dollar Tree. Oh, I also use generic disinfecting wipes when I want to de-germ stuff quickly, like when we're battling stomach bugs and such.

 

[SaraJayne]

I use Method for most cleaning products (which isn't budget).

For laundry soap, we use either All or Purex.

TP and paper towels are only brand names. In those 2 cases, cheaper is not better.

 

[ceecee]

There's a brand of tub/shower cleaner called 'The Works'. It comes in a squeeze bottle, and is only $1 a bottle at The Dollar Tree. It's the best shower cleaner that I've ever used, and our shower gets extra dirty because DH works highway construction. (On the flip side, their brand of toilet cleaner is beyond awful.)

I LOVE the Works Toilet cleaner, it is the ONLY thing I've tried that gets out the iron in our water and I tried it all! I use the tub cleaner as well. But it takes the whole bottle to clean our garden tub and the shower. Other things work well for that.

 

[donaldandpirates]

I use Shaklee (I'm not a rep) for just about everything cleaning-wise and make my own laundry detergent.