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12 Homemade Cleaning Product Recipes for Every Area of Your House

February 25, 2019 By Jennifer Derrick 38 Comments

With the prices of everything skyrocketing, making your own cleaning products can be an easy way to save money. In addition to saving money, most are homemade cleaners are non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and safe for use around pets and children. They take very little time to make, so they don’t add to the workload. Friends and family members frequently ask for my homemade cleaning products recipes, so I’m sharing 12 of my favorites. I’ve tried all of these and found them to be at least as effective, if not more so than commercially prepared products.

Getting Started

Before you get started mixing things up, you’ll need a couple of spray bottles to hold your homemade cleaning products. You can get inexpensive bottles in the travel section of stores like Wal-Mart or Target, or you can use glass spray bottles like these on Amazon, which are reusable and come with labels.

You can also reuse spray bottles from commercial cleaners as long as you thoroughly clean them out to prevent unwanted chemical reactions. Be sure to label your bottles to prevent accidents.

You’ll also need some old rags, sponges, or cloths for scrubbing purposes. I use an old fashioned sponge for the heavy scouring work and microfiber cloths for cleaning surfaces like countertops. Microfiber cloths can be rinsed/washed and reused over and over, making them an inexpensive choice if you don’t like rags or old washcloths.

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12 Homemade Cleaning Products Recipes

Now that you’ve got your basic supplies, on to the recipes!

1. Window/Glass cleaner: Mix equal parts water and distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle. You can use a rag to wipe the glass, but a sheet of newspaper does even better.

2. Floor cleaner: Pour 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar into one gallon of water. Mop the floors as usual.

3. Countertops: Mix equal parts distilled white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Spray and wipe down countertops with a sponge or cloth. For stubborn stains, scrub with baking soda.

4. Tubs/sinks: Straight baking soda works well for scouring away soap scum and mildew. Sprinkle it into the tub and add just enough water to make a paste. Then scour away. Spray the chrome with the countertop mixture (above) of vinegar and water then wipe down to make it shine. If you have heavy mold or mildew, straight vinegar sprayed directly on the affected area works well for loosening it.

5. Toilets: Sprinkle straight baking soda into the toilet and swish around with a brush. Let it stand for a few minutes, swish a final time, and flush.

6. Fabric softener: Pour 1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar into the fabric softener dispenser or add manually during the rinse cycle. This softens clothes, removes excess detergent and does not leave a smell behind.

7. Carpet deodorizer: Sprinkle straight baking soda on the carpet, using more in heavily trafficked areas or where pets stay. Vacuum after 20-30 minutes.

8. Powdered laundry detergent: Mix 5 cups soap flakes and 7 cups of Borax and shake well to mix the flakes and Borax. Store in plastic container or old laundry detergent box. Use 1/2 cup per load.

9. Exterior house wash: If you have vinyl siding, this cleanser will get rid of mold and mildew. Mix one quart of bleach per gallon of water in a hand sprayer. Add 1/4 cup of dishwashing liquid (hand washing liquid such as Dawn or Ivory, not dishwasher liquid). The dishwashing soap just makes the mixture “sticky” so it will adhere to the wall long enough for the bleach to do the work. Spray on the walls and then rinse with a garden hose or light pressure wash.

10. Drain Cleaner: Pour 1/4 cup baking soda down the drain. Follow with 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar and plug the drain until the fizzing stops. Pour one gallon of boiling water down the drain to flush out the clog. Prevent clogs by pouring a pot of boiling water down the drain once per week.

11. Dishwasher Rinse Aid: Pour distilled white vinegar into the rinse agent compartment and wash as usual.

12. Furniture Polish: Mix 1/4 cup olive oil or mineral oil with 4 tablespoons distilled white vinegar and 20-30 drops of lemon essential oil. Pour into a spray bottle and shake well before using.

Homemade Cleaning Product Concerns

One of the concerns I often hear about the recipes that use vinegar is that the vinegar will leave a smell behind. Let me assure you that once it dries or runs through the rinse cycle in the washer, it no longer smells. One of the benefits of homemade cleansers is that most leave no scent whatsoever behind, so your home does not smell like a hospital. If you want to add some scent, you can experiment with essential oils such as peppermint or lemon. You can find these at health food stores, or places like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.

Another concern is that these cleansers don’t kill bacteria. Research has shown that vinegar does kill certain household pathogens, so if you want to disinfect without using harmful antibacterial chemicals, vinegar is a great choice. Tea tree oil is another great disinfectant and can be mixed with water and used on countertops and in sinks, tubs, and toilets to disinfect.

Helpful Tips and Warnings

As with any sort of cleanser, test your creations on inconspicuous areas to make sure there’s no discoloration, scratching, or other adverse effects. And two final words of warning: First, never use vinegar on natural stone such as granite or marble because it will scratch and pit the stone. Second, never mix bleach with vinegar because it will give off a toxic gas.

Using homemade cleansers is just as effective and much less expensive than using commercial cleansers. Once you’ve mastered the basics, don’t hesitate to experiment with the concentrations and added scents you use to find what works best for you. Just remember to always test anything new before using it widely.

Do you make your own household cleaners? Share your tips in the comments below!

4 Factors to Consider When Doing Home Improvements

January 20, 2018 By Susan Paige Leave a Comment

Doing home improvements can add a great deal of value. You can increase the value of your home, sure, but you can also improve how your home feels, make it a more livable space, and fix problems costing you money in the long run.

Small home improvements can seem pretty simple, but sometimes that small project turns into something much larger as you discover more work that needs to be done. On the other hand, your idea may start small, but you may discover other renovations you want to do that are related or inspired by your project. Top General Contractors Queens can help by giving you ideas for your next home improvement project and point you in the right directions when it comes to picking colors and materials.

Either way, before you embark on huge home improvement projects, there are a few factors you should consider.

Budget

Of course, this sounds basic, but often the thing that disrupts a home improvement project is budget. It is easy to get a distracted and off track and spend more on one area than originally planned. This leaves you with little to no money to complete the other parts of the project.

There are a few ways to prevent this:

Plan Carefully, and Decide What You Will and Won’t Do: Determine what you need and want to do as separate parts of your project, and stick to your list. Need then want.
Get Solid Estimates: Get more than one estimate, and understand what is and is not included in the estimate.
Plan for Extra Expenses: Add between 10 and 20 percent to the project total to cover unexpected expenses.
Avoid Side Projects: Don’t get distracted. Avoid side projects and extra work that could be done at the same time. Stick to both your plan and your budget.

Once you have set your budget, get the money ahead of time. You can get home improvement loans even if you don’t have equity in your home, or you can use a home equity line of credit, savings, or even credit cards. Just be sure to stick closely to what you said you would spend, and keep track of even small expenses.

Time

You will need to set aside time for your home improvement project, and knowing how long it will take for the project to be complete gives you a good idea of when to start it. For instance, you may not want your interior remodel going on during the winter when it is cold outside and your space inside will be limited. Not to mention the snow and mud that might get tracked in when contractors are working.

You may also not want your home torn up for Christmas or other holidays when you have family visiting, or spring break when the kids are out of school. You want to consider what is going on with your life, and how the time when your home is being remodeled or improvements are being done.

While no time may be ideal, depending on how long home improvements will be happening, you will want to schedule around important life events as much as possible. Knowing the timeline is the key to being successful at this.

Lifestyle Interruptions

Before you start home improvement projects, you need to think about how they will interfere with your lifestyle. No matter what, your life will be interrupted in a number of ways.

For instance, if you are renovating and updating your kitchen, you need to plan where and how you will eat until the kitchen is usable again. This means you have to meal plan, move appliances into other rooms, or plan to eat out during that time, which adds expenses into the budget.

If you are remodeling your bathrooms, you need to do one at a time and determine what bathing and other bathroom activities will look like. Laundry rooms are much the same: you still need to use the bathroom, wash clothes, and eat. You will still want to watch television and sit and relax.

Whatever room you are working in, you need to determine how that will affect your lifestyle, and make plans accordingly in the meantime.

Energy

Because of the lifestyle interruptions, the time the project will take, and the money it will cost, home improvements can be exhausting. The process will have an impact on your energy even if you are not actually doing the work yourself.

Stress and lack of energy can have a real impact on your life, so you need to plan accordingly for times when you are less stressed at work and in other areas of your life. You don’t want to plan for home improvements when you have a big project due, or trips or family visits that can require more of your energy as well.

Home improvements are great, but you need to plan properly and take a number of things into consideration when preparing. Your time, energy, and lifestyle will be taxed along with your budget, and keeping those things in mind will help you be successful in your project.

Home Improvement Spending On The Rise

May 29, 2017 By Alexa Mason Leave a Comment

There may be economic uncertainty and turmoil these days, but apparently, we Americans will not let that get in the way of our home improvement projects. According to the recently released HomeAdvisor 2017 True Cost Report, homeowners are spending approximately 60% more on home improvement projects as compared to a year ago.

HomeAdvisor cites an increase in home equity over the past five years as a confidence booster that provides America’s homeowners with more money and the comfort level to spend – regardless of overall economic concerns. Study respondents spent an average of $5,157 on home projects between February 2016 and February 2017. Almost two-thirds (63%) intend to spend an equal or greater amount between February 2017 and February 2018.

Homeowners are also willing to take on larger projects, with such ambitious jobs as building an addition (average cost of $40,825), building a garage (average cost of $25,008), and remodeling a basement (average costs of $18,807) listed among the top ten improvement tasks by HomeAdvisor.

How will these projects be funded? The vast majority of homeowners plan to do so with cash. The study found that just less than 1 in 5 home improvement projects require alternate financing.

A surprising 45% of homeowners who will finance plan to use credit cards – a risky proposition given the relatively high interest rates and increased chances of racking up interest charges. If you can afford to put a small project on your card and pay it off at the end of the month to maximize rewards points, that’s reasonable – otherwise, there are plenty of options that may be preferable for your situation.

Jordan Goodman, a Personal Finance Expert and Author known as “America’s Money Answers Man”, suggests that while mortgages should target the maximum needed to buy a home, “if you need to do home improvements later, do that through a home equity line of credit (HELOC).” A HELOC is well suited for home improvement projects because of its relative flexibility and generally lower interest rate. HELOCs were the choice of 22% of study participants planning to finance their projects. For more information, read the entire HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Report.

If your mortgage terms are poor compared to currently available rates, or you planned to refinance anyway, you can simply fold the increased borrowing for home improvement plans into a standard mortgage refinancing. MoneyTips is happy to help you get free refinance quotesfrom top lenders. Otherwise, a HELOC may be preferable. As Goodman puts it, “You don’t want to be paying for thirty years on home improvements.”

Home equity loans offer another path for home improvement financing. They are similar to HELOCs in that you are borrowing against the equity in your home, but a home equity loan has a fixed borrowing amount and payment schedule just as your mortgage does. You may prefer a home equity loan for simplicity in budgeting.

Traditional bank loans and construction loans are reasonable alternative options for larger projects that will cost more than the equity you have in your home. You will have to evaluate your loan offers to see how the interest rates and terms compare with the refinancing path, since HELOCs and home equity loans would not apply here.

In some cases, a contractor will arrange financing for you if they already have a standing relationship with a finance company – but these are usually done for convenience and not for economics. Inserting a middleman into any process rarely produces lower cost.

Your ability to borrow is based on your credit score. You can check your credit score and read your credit report for free within minutes using Credit Manager by MoneyTips.

If you plan to join the home improvement trend, we wish you well regardless of how you plan to finance your project. Verify that your project is well planned and outlined before you begin, make sure that you find the financing that works best for your situation, and avoid changing your mind halfway through the project.

If you are interested in refinancing your home loan, MoneyTips is happy to help you get free refinance quotes from top lenders.

This article was provided by our partners at moneytips.com. You may also like:

Photo: Julien Dumont

Save Money on House Repairs With This DIY Air Conditioning Repair

April 27, 2017 By Amanda Blankenship Leave a Comment

Warmer weather is on its way which means people will start to turn on their air conditioning systems. After having the AC turned off all winter, however, some individuals will turn their cooling system on to find that it needs to be repaired.

Air conditioning repairs can get pricey, especially if you don’t have a reliable handyman. Some AC companies will attempt to sell you an entirely new unit even if you don’t need one. Before you call your local heating and air company, why not try a DIY air conditioning repair?

DIY Air Conditioning Repairs

DIY (or do-it-yourself) projects can seem a bit daunting. The internet has made it easy to create, fix, repair just about anything, including your AC. If you are comfortable working with electricity and can spend about $50 on parts there’s a good chance you can fix your air conditioning yourself. Whether you have low cooling or no cooling at all you can probably perform your very own DIY air conditioning repair. Here’s how:

Check the Furnace

Before trying any DIY air conditioning repair you should first make sure that the furnace isn’t the problem. To check your furnace set the temperature on your AC low. If you hear the furnace (or fan) kick on you can proceed with attempting to fix your AC yourself. If the furnace does not kick on you will likely need a professional to fix your problem.

Start With the Easy Stuff

Once you’ve checked that the furnace is still working, move on to the easy stuff (the air conditioning repairs you can do yourself). First, be sure you shut off the power before starting any work on your air conditioning unit. Once you’ve powered down you can clean the condenser coils. (If you’re unsure of where these are or what they look like there are great Youtube videos explaining it.)

After cleaning the condenser coils and before you start your repairs, check the fuses. A blown fuse could be the bulk of your issue (if there is one) and it is also a sign of a larger component, such as a relay or capacitor gone bad. Don’t simply replace the fuse without making the other proper replacements.

Make Replacements

If you see a blown fuse (and even if you don’t) the contactor and the start/run capacitors are the parts of an AC unit that fail the most often. Since these parts need replaced every once in a while you’ll need a little information.

Find the nameplate on the condensing unit and snap a photo (or write down) of the make, model and serial number of the unit. You can get the parts at your local hardware store, AC/heating dealer or online (if you can wait for delivery). Thankfully these parts are fairly inexpensive, making your DIY air conditioning repair about $225 (on average) less than calling in a handyman.

Once you’ve got the parts you can check out some step-by-step written instructions on how to replace the parts for your specific model or find a video on Youtube.

Test Out Your Repairs

Complete the repairs as instructed (most forums and sites suggest the entire process will take a couple hours from cleaning the condenser on). Then test out your repairs by turning the power back on and trying out the AC. Give it about 10 minutes or so to fully kick on (since the power was off).

If your DIY air conditioning repair failed, don’t worry you still may be able to get away fairly cheap by checking the condenser fan motor ($150 or so). However, don’t assume that this is the next logical step.

If All Else Fails…

If you don’t think that your condenser fan motor needs repaired and your DIY fixes didn’t do the job it is probably time to call the heating and air company. Although it can be costly, having a working air conditioning system in the summer is a must for many people (especially in the South where there are weather restrictions from the heat). If you’re worried about the overall cost, be sure to compare prices around town or attempt to find a private party to do the work for less and, if all else fails, you can probably ask about financing options through the AC company.

Having appliance trouble is no fun but if you can manage a DIY air conditioning repair you can save a ton of money. For more ways to save money, check out these articles:

Photo: Department of Energy

Can DIY Soap Save You Money?

March 2, 2017 By Amanda Blankenship Leave a Comment

The do-it-yourself trend has been growing in popularity in recent years. Sites like Pinterest made crafting and DIY projects popular. One of the more surprising trends that has come along with Pinterest is DIY soap and detergents.

Making your own soap isn’t that difficult but is it cost effective? Can DIY soap save you money?

The DIY Soap Trend

People have been making their own soap and performing DIY projects for hundreds of years. Think about it, people sewed their own clothing, made household items and their own cleaning agents for years. When Pinterest blew up a few years ago DIY projects made a huge comeback.

Pinterest was started in 2010 and has become a place people turn to for unique ideas. You can find anything from DIY gift baskets to saving advice to fitness tips on the site (or app). One of the most popular Pinterest searches regards DIY soap and how to make it.

How to Make DIY Soap

There are a number of different DIY soap recipes available on the internet. Some are less expensive than others, however, the majority of soap recipes include oils, water and lye crystals. Below is an ingredient list for Lemon Lavender Oatmeal soap.

Lemon Lavender Oatmeal DIY Soap

What you need:

28 ounces cold water
12 ounces lye crystals
48 ounces Crisco
21 ounces Olive oil
18 ounces coconut oil
1 cup pulverized oats
1 cup dried lavender
1 small bottle lavender essential oil
1 small bottle lemon essential oil

You don’t have to have a scented DIY soap recipe though. You can choose one of the simpler DIY soap recipes. Here are the ingredients from a more simple soap recipe:

Homemade Herb Soap

What you need:

4.5 cups of Whole Goat Milk
70 oz. Olive Oil
1 lb. Lard
14 oz. Coconut oil
Beeswax (one votive candle)
398 g Lye
Vitamin E oil (small bottle)
Oatmeal (handful)
Almonds (handful)
Basil Flowers (handful)
Rosemary (handful)
1 Tbsp Thyme
Lavender/Hops oil (small bottle)

Now that you know what you’ll need to make DIY soap, how effective is it in helping you to save money?

DIY Soap VS Store-Bought

DIY soap can be great if you’re looking to use all-organic products but it isn’t the cheapest thing in the world to make (especially if you have to buy all of the products). The ingredients for the Lavender DIY soap recipe above will cost you about $30 for 12 bars of soap. Depending on what kind of soap you normally buy, this could be a steal at $2.50 a bar.

The second soap recipe is a bit cheaper though at $0.70 per bar. All of the ingredients cost you about $45. It makes 65 bars of soap and, if you choose to go with that recipe, it could really save you quite a bit of money!

There are other DIY projects and soap recipes you can try out as well. There are many people who make their own cleaning agents, laundry detergents and other household items. Although it will cost a bit of money up front (if you don’t have all the ingredients), these DIY soap and cleaning recipes can save you money over time.

Will you try a DIY soap recipe?

Photo: Top Inspired and Craft Hubs

Financial Lessons We Can Learn From the Duggars

February 2, 2016 By Alexa Mason 1 Comment

When you hear the name “Duggar” there are usually strong opinions and feelings that come to the surface. The family, which starred in the reality television show “19 Kids and Counting,” has been in the spotlight for a variety of reasons (not all of them good). However, whatever your feelings about the family and their children may be, there may be some valuable lessons you can learn from Duggar family.

Buy Used

The Duggars often recite the line, “Buy used and save the difference.” This is a good note to take from the family. Thrift stores, secondhand stores, garage sales and even free hand-me-downs are all ways to save money. Even Facebook and other social media can help with saving money in this way. Many areas have “Facebook Yard Sales” where people post items for sale. You can get anything from clothing to furniture and appliances used “and save the difference.”

Pay Cash

When you can, you should pay cash. This doesn’t mean you have to take physical cash out of the bank. It simply means that you should only pay for items that you have the money for in your checking account and not on credit cards. Even though the credit card point accrual may be tempting, it usually isn’t worth the debt that will likely ensue.

Avoid Debt

This was kind of touched on in the last point, but avoiding debt at all costs should be a priority if you are looking to be financially free. Even though they have 19 children, the Duggars can claim to be “debt free.” How? Well, when they bought their house, they paid for it in full. They also stick to their “buy used and save the difference” mantra as well as paying cash for all of their purchases which definitely cuts down on debt.

DIY

When you can do it yourself, you should. The Duggars are huge do-it-yourselfers. They have been able to cut down on costs in their home as well as avoid debt by figuring out how to build things for themselves. They also take on different projects around the house. Every once and a while, they will hire someone else to do the work, but it will be so that they can look on and learn how to do it themselves for the next time. Of course, if they have to hire someone, they pay in cash.

Help Others

When you help others, other are more likely to help you when you need it. On the show “19 Kids and Counting,” the Duggars could usually be seen helping a fellow large family, the Bates. By helping the Bates, the Duggars knew they always had someone to rely on if they ever needed help. This way of thinking and doing keeps the Duggars from having to pay for workers.

Tell the Kids No

Don’t be afraid to tell your kids no. If it isn’t in the budget and there is no wiggle room, you just have to say no. Michelle Duggar, the mother of the 19 kids, said there was a time she had to tell her daughter that she could not buy her a pink blanket simply because they didn’t have a lot of money coming in and it just wasn’t in the budget.

Delayed Gratification

Plenty of successful people say that delayed gratification is a huge part of securing a stable financial future. Sometimes, you may really want something, but you have to wait for it. For instance, the Duggars were living in a small, cramped home and wanted to move into their large, spacious home. However, they knew they wanted to have it paid in full before they could move in. The house took quite a few years to finish, but it was worth the gratification of the home and the financial security having it paid in full provided.

Photo: Wikipedia

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