What do you do to cut expenses down?

[Lazy Gardener]

I'll leave it up to you. I'm brain fried. Perhaps, kitchen, bath, and other??? You've got some good ideas, so just run with it.

 

[Mini Horses]

Will 3% peroxide lift the hard water stain?

I find Awesome, a product I buy @ $3 gallon at Dollar General does my work for me in the bathrooms. Yes, not home made but, sure great for many things.

I've used vinegar for smoke & soot on the fireplace brick.

 

[Marianne]

Will 3% peroxide lift the hard water stain?

It's not stain, it's lime scale/calcium build up, hard water deposits. We have hard well water so bought a good water softener system. It's helped a lot, but through the years, there's just been a gradual build up. It's my own fault, I was using a 'daily shower spray' and not actually cleaning the shower for months. It looked clean, but just not shiny clean. I was the only one using this shower. In the last year, my husband has been using it...and always acts surprised when I bitch about him not using the shower spray. Erg. Standard excuse is that he just didn't think he had to use it after every shower.
Housework is increasingly difficult for me to do, plus there is no fart fan in that bathroom. (Whazz up with that??) So using nasty chemicals will require someone else's assistance. Vinegar doesn't budge it. The last thing I tried was vinegar plus cream of tartar which is supposed to make it more acidic. I poured it on an old towel that was on the shower pan. Two days later, it might have done a little. Baking soda and a scrub brush didn't touch it. My bad.

 

[Marianne]

I'll leave it up to you. I'm brain fried. Perhaps, kitchen, bath, and other??? You've got some good ideas, so just run with it.

Maybe kitchen, laundry and general? Do you use a standard cleaner in the bathroom and elsewhere?
Let's give it a couple days and see if someone else has some ideas/opinions.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I use liquid dawn and a tiny splash of bleach to clean toilets. I use liq. dawn and rarely a tiny splash of bleach to clean bathroom and kitchen floors. I still have a lot of Melaleuca products left so use those also. I like the alcohol/water/dawn in a spray bottle for counters. Also great for windows. I use Simple Green also. That's great for a quick floor spritz followed by a terry mop if the floors are not very dirty. As I use up the bought stuff I have, I will be looking to make more of my own cleaners.

 

[Hinotori]

I have high iron water. Bleach is pretty much useless here as it can actually make rust stains worse. I use vinegar in the toilet for regular cleaning, but I use a lye based cleaner to take care of the rust stains once a month.

I had family going on "oh use CLR". Fft. Water itself is more effective than that waste of money.

I do use fine steel wool and elbow grease where it's safe.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Miracle sponges are great for lifting stains off my cream colored countertop. that top is about 20 years old... if not older... so, it's lost a lot of it's shine, and stains very easily.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I was told to revive the shine on a laminate counter-top with car wax. I don't know how food-safe that would be, but I never looked at the ingredient list to know. I almost always use a cutting board anyway and never put food on a countertop. I have had house cats for almost 20 years and I am never comfortable with assuming they were not on the counter top while I was away. Poor Boots will be 20 in 1 month and can barely jump up onto the couch anymore...

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Trouble with putting any product like that on a kitchen surface: It just might back fire, and end up being a gummy mess... Or discolor over time... I'd rather have naked and dull counter, than shiny that just might bite me in the end. I had a friend years ago who would shine the stainless steel stove top with baby oil on a daily basis. Sure, it looked good... but... I just couldn't wrap my head around that one!!!

 

[baymule]

Most cleaners I can't use due to chemical issues. Dawn is the Devil-I react to it. The only liquid dish washing soap I can use is Palmolive original. I can use Dove original and Ivory soap. I buy a unscented liquid laundry soap. use no dryer sheets, I use wool balls in the dryer. Vinegar and water is my go to for almost everything. I do use bleach, especially when slaughtering and cutting up meat, but I react to it.