Favorite Cleaning Products

Titling this post with the word favorite and cleaning in the same "sentence" is misleading.

Make no mistake, I dislike cleaning. Like, a lot.
But, it has to be done I suppose and I don't think hiring a maid to come clean this 1000 square foot condo is very practical...right?
I do have to brag on my husband for a second here...he pitches in with the cleaning and for that I am very grateful. He sees a sock on the floor and thinks the place is a wreck, so he really helps out with the cleaning.

So if I had to choose my favorite cleaning products, these would be them:
From the left to right...

1. The Swiffer Wet Jet.
It rocks. I love simplicity of it. Everything you need is in one tool.
After I sweep and sometimes vacuum (btw that is the first time I have spelled that word right on the first try in a long time) I then whip out the Swiffer Wet Jet. You have to sweep first because it isn't designed to pick up stuff, but makes your wood floors shiny and clean. It's amazing how nasty the cleaning pad gets after one use!
2. Homemade Tea Tree Oil Cleaner
This was so easy to make and I love this cleaner. This can be used for almost all of your cleaning. I use it on counter tops, the toilets, mirrors, etc. I want to add an essential oil like lavender or something to it to give it a better smell as I am not a huge fan of the tea tree oil smell. This is a great disinfectant and I feel good about using it because it is all-natural.
3. Pledge Multi Surface cleaner
I love the way this smells too and it makes dusting so easy. It doesn't smear the dust around like some products I've used do. It's not "natural", but ya win some you lose some I suppose.
4. Green Works All Purpose Cleaner
This is great for most anything. I use it for the showers, counters, toilets, and I spray it on the floor in the bathrooms/kitchen and wipe with a wet towel when I am really wanting to give them a good scrubbing. It is also natural so I feel good about using it on the floor.

I am by no means a connoisseur when it comes to cleaning products, but these are some that I have used and think that they do a great job.

What cleaning products do you like to use and see work best?

Tea Tree Oil Cleaner

Lately, Erik and I have been thinking of little ways that we can save money. We decided that we can do a better job at being resourceful and saving a buck or two. So we canceled our cable...eek! I do miss it sometimes, but I really like putting that $70 a month towards something else. I decided to start dyeing my hair myself. Instead of $100 plus, I just paid $6 and got my hair almost to my natural hair color. I have started couponing as well...I am not that great at this because I can't find coupons for things that we normally buy. Since it is just Erik and I, we really don't buy that much processed snack foods which is what most of the coupons are for. We buy organic meats and dairy and so coupons for that are hard to come by. There definitely are some things we buy that we can get coupons for (toiletries mostly), so we try to utilize them as much as possible.

Another way I thought we could save some money are on our cleaning products. We have Windex, Scrubbing Bubbles, Green Works all purpose cleaner, Pledge, and the list goes on. All of those cost at least $3 each, especially since I try to buy the natural stuff when possible. I have done a lot of research and realized that cleaning products do not have to be complicated and do not have to contain tons of chemicals like store bought stuff. I found that mostly what my grandparents used was a vinegar based product. Vinegar is so cheap and so I thought that would be an easy way to save some green while being green :)
So I found that by mixing water, vinegar, and tea tree oil, I would get a great cleaning product that doesn't contain harsh chemicals. We don't have any kiddos around here yet, but this product could be swallowed (shouldn't be of course) and no one would be harmed.

The only thing I had to buy was tea tree oil (Trader Joes had it) and a spray bottle ($.97 at Wal-Mart) since I had vinegar already. So for $6, I made a great cleaning product! The tea tree oil is pricey for just 1 oz, but a little goes a long long way so it really is cheaper than buying cleaning products at the store.
I plan on buying some lavender oil too to add to it to give it a nice scent.
Plus, this can be used on pretty much anything. Counters, floors, windows, toilets, sinks, shower, etc.


I got really fancy with the label huh?

Anyways, I think you should try it out and see if you think it works. I used it to clean the dining room table and coffee table and so far so good!
Next on the list: homemade laundry detergent...we'll see :)