Comments on: Spring Cleaning the Frugal and Green Way

By: Lindsay in PA

Lindsay in PA — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:36:23 +0000

Thanks Beth! :) Sounds easy enough to try!

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:34:17 +0000

Oops! I almost forgot, you mix the baking soda and dish liquid into a frosting-like thickness.

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:33:09 +0000

Homemade soft-scrub is just baking soda and dish liquid. It works amazingly well and rinses very clean. My stainless steel and bath fixtures sparkle. Most washing and drying completely will kill most household germs and bacteria, but sometimes I spray the surface with my home made all-purpose cleaner first, which is vinegar, a few drops of dish liquid, and water.

By: Lacey

Lacey — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 03:50:07 +0000

I made this switch a year ago. My family had a hard time with the concept, but their over it now. So glad I don't have to watch for sales on paper napkins.

By: Lisa W.

Lisa W. — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 04:11:29 +0000

I purchase my microfiber cloths at Sams, I believe they come in a 24 pck and they are wonderful. I have owned a commercial cleaning company for 5 years now and that is all my employees and I use other than on toilets etc. DO NOT use fabric softener on the towels, I have noticed that if you do and then try to clean your windows with them later, it leaves smears, etc. They are very durable and last forever!

By: Lindsay-PA

Lindsay-PA — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:55:57 +0000

@ Beth - what is your recipe for your homemade soft scrub?

By: lisa

lisa — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 02:23:35 +0000

I keep an eye out at the local goodwill store and yardsales for cloth napkins. Just picked up some nice ones for 25c each! No more napkins at dinner for us!

By: Anne

Anne — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:19:07 +0000

Because my hands are really sensitive to most dusting sprays I have dusted my furnishings (and before that my parents furnishings) with a damp wash cloth...it won't harm wood or electronics and it gets the job done. If you have never tried this you will be surprised at how well it works.

By: Anne

Anne — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:11:58 +0000

meredith, I also wanted to get away from paper towels. We purchased a bundle of washcloths( thick ones that were on sale at Kohls) that we keep by the kitchen sink. If we dry our hands we just hang it on the towel rack to dry, If we clean the counters or something messy the cloth goes in the bathroom to dry and then it goes into the hamper. I was using a roll of towel in a couple days...now we buy one a week or less. Remember that fabric softener will make them less absorbent so you should add very little or none when washing them.

By: Tara Kuczykowski

Tara Kuczykowski — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:31:28 +0000

Good tips -- thanks, Karli!

By: Tara Kuczykowski

Tara Kuczykowski — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:31:05 +0000

Yes, we typically use a designated dish towel for drying our hands, and we'd use a regular dishcloth for nasty messes -- albeit one of the older ones. We picked up a package of bar mop towels and a pack of dishcloths at Sam's Club awhile back that we use along with the microfiber cloths. We use the microfiber cloths more for cleaning and for messy spills on the floor -- milk, juice, etc.

By: Karli Weese

Karli Weese — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:15:22 +0000

I clean houses 3 days/wk with microfiber cloths that I buy at Sam's Club. A few tips I've learned over the years:
- Microfiber scratches surfaces very easy! It's designed to absorb dirt so do not push on the microfiber cloths hard when cleaning! The particles will end up scratching a surface. In fact, I give the towel a shake after I make a pass across a surface just so nothing gets trapped in the cloth!
- don't dry microfiber cloths with dryer sheets... They will end up absorbing the dryer sheet fibers & scratching your surfaces.

Happy cleaning :)

By: meredith

meredith — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:14:10 +0000

Do you just use dish cloths when you wash your hands in the kitchen and what about if you are cleaning up a nasty (like blood/juice from raw meat)mess? I would like to cut down on how much paper towels we use but not sure if I would like to use a dish cloth instead of paper towels.

By: Shatner's Hairpiece

Shatner's Hairpiece — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:09:33 +0000

Every once in a while, Amazon will put the Zwipes Microfiber 36-Pack of Cleaning Cloths on sale as a B1G1. Last January, the B1G1 price was $22.75. Don't know when it'll come around as a B1G1 but I've been using the Zwipes brand for a couple of months now and it works great.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:54:28 +0000

Me too! I use these with my swiffer also. Haven't used disposables in years. No garbage to throw away and feel guilty about!

By: Nilufer

Nilufer — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:23:30 +0000

They also work well with my shark steam mop!!

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 21:34:52 +0000

I went paper free and switched to microfiber cloths quite some time ago and I love it! I use a homemade all purpose cleaner and a homemade soft scrub, (that is WONDERFUL), and I also have a Wagner power steamer. My home is clean and shiny and disinfected! In addition to my microfiber cloths I also have some inexpensive washcloths, this makes things MUCH easier. I can scrub away with the washcloths if I have something particularly grubby.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 21:19:56 +0000

They also make great swiffer cloths. I have these very ones.