Some of the cleaners are easier to make and store because they are liquid. If using herbs you just need to see how they are stored. But I have never made detergent (only seen recipe for the dry kind) because I live in a humid area and am worried it'll clump into one big mess. Have y'all tried either of them? I like making my own because it's cheap overall and less harmful chemicals and smells.
I recently tried making a hydrogen peroxide and baking soda paste to clean some of my baking pans and frying pans. Many web sites were claiming that this mixture will remove even the most stubborn caked on grease stains on stuff. You just basically pour some baking soda into a bowl and keep adding in a little peroxide and stirring it in, until you get a runny paste consistency. Then apply it to the greasy areas and let it sit for a couple hours. After it's rested for a while, it the stains should wipe away pretty easily when rinsing off the pans. The first time I tried it on the baking pan which came with my toaster oven, which only had some minor stains, and it worked pretty well. However I only waited about 30 minutes because I was impatient to see if it would work or not. It took a little bit of elbow grease with a wet dish rag to wipe the stains away, but considering that they wouldn't come off at all prior to trying this, it definitely worked. The next item I tried this on was a frying pan. It's an aluminum pan with a nonstick interior. The exterior aluminum is just raw exposed metal, no coatings on it. It had gotten really brown on the bottoms and sides of the pan since I bought it a few months ago. This time around, I applied a lot of paste all over the pan, and let it rest for nearly two hours. When I finally tried to wipe it off, unfortunately the paste didn't seem to work very well at all. It only removed a minimal amount of the stains. I'm not sure if this was due to the severity of the stains, or perhaps if this method doesn't work on raw exposed aluminum.
I like to use store bought detergent and cleaners. I've tried some baking soda just sprinkled on the floor to see if it makes any difference and it does. I find cheap cleaners and detergents at Walmart or on sale at CVS with their weekly sales. CVS has their weekly sales online per State.
Primarily, I like to use purchased cleaners and detergents. But I do realize that it might be more cost effective to make my own. I have just never gotten around to doing it yet. But when we are out of cleaners and such, I will often use a solution of vinegar and salt to clean. it often does a much better job than the purchased cleaners do.
No, I much prefer store bought detergents too. To be honest, I'm not even sure you'd save that much if you made your own, because I feel that you can get the cleaning materials pretty cheap. These days you can also get environmentally friendly versions which have no chemicals in them, although those tend to be expensive. I just don't have the time nor the energy, plus I really like some of the scents they throw in the detergents LOL.
When the process of making a cleaning solution is simple say like diluting vinegar with water and using it as a cleaning agent I'll do it. Anything else I'll buy because the one time I tried to make a detergent I wasted a lot of time and the end product was not good for anything. Wasted time, wasted money.I'd rather look for deals and buy the cheapest detergents.
I know people who make their own, and they love it. I have tried making a few things, but not the laundry detergent. I have seen some liquid laundry detergent recipes on Lifehack, and I'm sure there are some on Pinterest too. Also, there are lots of sites such as homesteading types, etc. where they make pretty much everything from scratch, so they would probably have something too. Most of the recipes seem to use Borax, just like the dry one does.
Making your own household cleaning products from natural ingredients instead of buying the commercially made ones containing a huge amount of chemicals - is for sure - apart from being way better from a health point of view - an excellent way of reducing costs, if looking to save money - particularly as - not only are the majority quick and easy to make - but also just as effective - if not better - than many of the store bought ones. As for me - I've always used natural alternatives - not initially to save money - but because I'm allergic to a lot of commercial cleaning products and detergents - and although I've made many very effective variations of almost every type of natural cleaner over the years - from fabric softener, laundry detergent, oven cleaner to multi-purpose household cleaners and more - I now - apart from occasionally using baking soda and lemon - mainly use - an all purpose liquid cleaner that I make using Soap Nuts. Particularly as – not only does the multi-purpose cleaner made from - boiling the Soap Nuts in water and simmering for 30 minutes - cost almost nothing to make - but it does an absolutely excellent job of cleaning just about everything imaginable in and around the house - from washing dishes to cleaning the car - as well as being particularly good for cleaning jewellery, cleansing and detoxifying fruit and vegetables and for removing household odors - and course there is the added benefit that Soap Nuts themselves - are an excellent hypo-allergenic substitute for laundry detergent.
Thank you @gata montes and the rest of the comments. I am not too worried about costs, but the chemicals tend to make me sick and some even make it hard to breathe and I don't like it. Thank you for the link as well. I will check it out. I'm using a store bought hypo-allergenic detergent right now. Though it's nice, it is not cheap!
I use lemon juice mixed with water and apple cider vinegar mixed with water to clean most of my house. I make the ACV myself and then just add water and put it in a spray bottle. Both lemon juice and apple cider vinegar are antibacterial, so very effective to clean. My neighbour makes a cleaning detergent with lemon or tangerine peels which he ferments by adding sugar and water. I don't know the exact recipe, but I know it takes a few weeks to make.
Yes, I do that at times. I have made the baking soda, hydrogen peroxide method for removing baking stains too, and when my window cleaner ran out, I refilled the bottle with white vinegar and water. It seems to work as well...and I have saved a bit of money I belive. As far as other cleaners, I have not tried them.
I like to use vinegar and water too. I use an old spray bottle and put vinegar and water in it. I'll spray down and wipe counters, toilets and floors. To clean your microwave, I put vinegar in a bowl and set in the microwave for two and half minutes. Take out the bowl and the steam from the vinegar heating up has loosened all the dirty build up in the microwave. Just wipe down the microwave and it's clean as new. It's a great all natural cleaner for around the house. I buy the largest jug of vinegar when it goes on sale and save a ton of money on buying household cleaners. Vinegar can replace most cleaners. Its natural and easy to use.
I haven't really thought of making my own detergent, since I would prefer convenience and just buy them in stores. I only consider trying out those homemade cleaning agents if the stain that I'm trying to remove is stubborn to disappear with those chemical cleaning agents.
If possible and had we more time at our disposal, we would make our own cleaners or detergents. The thing is, the process of making cleaners and detergents is really time-consuming compared to just straight out buying a cheap pack at the grocery story. Also, if you use cleaners and detergents wisely, there's no need for you to replenish your stock on a weekly basis. They may even last a month or so.
I had a bunch of homemade detergent recipes pinned on Pinterest and decided to delete them because I read a few stories about people who used those grated bars of soap and ended up ruining their washing machines. The film from the grated soap gummed up one blogger's washing machine and the cost of getting it fixed canceled out her savings. I'd rather pay the few extra bucks for liquid detergent and not coat my building's washing machine in soap film.
