Friday, August 12, 2011

Idea!

I love cleaning with non toxic products. Once the boys came along, I really started looking around my house to see what things they could get their mitts on and shove into their mouths and I was a little horrified about the possibilities.

I used to buy cleaning products with the same interest with which I bought new makeup or skincare products. I loved to try new things but, half way through, I got tired of it and longed for the new formula or new brand which was supposed to be better, faster, easier. There was even a brand that is supposed to have cartoon scrubbers doing all the work for me!

But I realized that all that wasn't going to work well for my family....or, well, the environment I guess. And having half full bottles of this or that under the sink just wasn't a good idea.

So, I started doing things like cleaning with white vinegar (which repels ants, too!) and doing away with those swiffer pads that you just toss. I found the idea of microfiber cloths to be interesting and they turned out to be quite effective.

So now, I have many of these cloths. I have some in the wash all the time and some ready to use and some that are sort of "half used" before I dust one more time and throw them in the wash. But, WOW- they can be very expensive. I've seen ONE cloth for $5. Sure, it was pink and pretty but, ONE?

I found myself rather disgusted while shopping in Target one day because I had another microfiber cloth on my list and I saw that $5 one in the cleaning section. I had to put it back on the shelf because, well, are you kidding me? As I was shopping, I saw a bag of microfiber cloths- 10 of them!- for $8 in the automotive section.

Wait. Less than a buck a piece? Surely these couldn't be the same thing as the cute pink $5 one. So, I stuck my finger in the bag and felt them. Sure, they felt the same. They weren't cute. 5 white and 5 blue but, who cares? I got them and they work and they are the same as the "special" designated for housecleaning types.

Just a tiny bit of dampening and they take fingerprints off anything, dust anything, remove crayon marks from the floor.....pretty much anything that needs elbow grease needs less elbow grease when done with a microfiber cloth.

So, that's my Modern Housewife tip. Check the automotive section for great cheap microfiber do-it-all cloths. And then thumb your nose toward the housecleaning aisle as you leave the store $42 richer by my calculations of the difference in cost for 10 cloths.

For the online shopper, give these a try:


1 comment:

  1. Wow, I never even knew about microfiber cleaning cloths before! And now I know how to get them for a reasonable price, thanks to you!

    Also, I LOVE using white vinegar to clean. Did you know that white vinegar also prevents mildew? (The acid is unfriendly to mildew.) It also shines up nickel fixtures, breaking up the soap scum and water spots. And it disinfects, too, of course.

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