DIY Swiffer Reusable Dusters and Refills

Ever since “becoming frugal” have disliked anything marketed as being disposable. It just seems so wasteful to purchase something knowing that I am going to throw it out. I use cloth napkins. We use washcloths instead of paper towel. I admit to purchasing plastic zippered baggies, but I wash them out and use them several times before they are thrown out. So the idea of buying a Swiffer and committing to a “lifetime” of disposable pads really irks me. Enough that I hit the internet to see what other solutions I could find. Green Mountain Mama has a knit Swiffer pattern that uses buttons to attach. Hakucho created a knit ball band style Swiffer pattern that uses a drawstring to stay on. Candian Crafter even has a pattern that you can make on the Knifty Knitter Loom!
Are you a crocheter? I’ve got some patterns for you too! Gerhkins bucket created a “Biffer Shrug” as well as a cover for the hand held duster. Or there is this cool reversible crochet pattern at Craftstylish.
Don’t play with sticks or hooks? How about sewing your own out of fleece (or maybe microfiber cloth?) Although she doesn’t give directions, for anyone who can sew this picture by Merwing tells all the tale you need to make your own fleece swiffer cover. She’s also got some pictoral directions for making a fleece swiffer duster.

Then again, if you really, really want to do the cheap charlie, no crafting involved version, you could just wrap a microfiber cloth around the thing and secure it with some rubber bands. Viola-it’s the ghetto version.

And if you don't like buying refills for cleaning solution, there is a way to get that refill container open so that you can put whatever solution in it that you want for your hard-wood or vinyl floors.  All you have to do is boil some water and then put the container lid down in the boiling water to cover the entire lid and then just twist it off.  It's that easy!  

The solution I use for my laminate floors in just diluted vinegar.  I use 2 parts water to 1 part vinegar when I refill the container for my Swiffer.  It works great. 

DIY Dishwasher Detergent

 

Here is another one of my "sick of spending so much money on soap?", "tired of loading the dishwasher after dinner and finding you are out of dishwasher soap, again?". Save money and grocery store trips and make your own. It's really easy and last's forever!

Here is what you need.

 Dishwasher Detergent ingredients:
1 box Borax (4lbs 12 oz or 76 oz ) (2.15 kg) found in the detergent isle
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (55 oz or 3 lbs 7 oz) found in the detergent isle
24 packages of unsweetened lemonade drink mix, like kool-aid. (**Note: lemonade will stain soap dispenser yellow, another option would be to use citric acid instead of lemonade. You can usually find citric acid in the canning isle )
3 cups Epsom Salt
Lemi Shine rinse aid (this recipe does not work very well without it) You can find Lemi Shine in the dishwasher detergent isle at just about any store. You can also use vinegar as a rinse aid. If your dishes are coming out with spots on them that means you do need a rinse aid.



Use Lemi Shine as a rinse aid. It works wonders. Just sprinkle about a tablespoon in the bottom of your dishwasher before you start it. This stuff is awesome!!

If you want you could cut this recipe in half or even smaller to just try it out. You will still have to buy large boxes of Borax and Washing Soda which you can store for later use.
Mix Borax, washing soda, salt and lemonade together in a large, very large, bowl. When ingredients are mixed together well put soap in a container of your choice. I picked up a container at Walmart in the kitchen center with a pouring spout for $5.00 and it is big enough to hold an entire batch of dishwasher soap. The soap does get hard spots in it after a while so do be prepared for some hardening, I have not been able to get around that no matter what I do.

 

It even has a pouring spout to make things easy.

 

Use 1 tablespoon per wash cycle. It has no fillers so you do not have to use nearly as much to get the job done! This recipe is for hard water users, if you have soft water you may want to browse the internet for a better recipe for soft water.

Are you ready for the breakdown??
1 box of borax $4.69
1 box A & H washing soda $3.19
24 packages of lemonade $2.80
3 cups of salt $2.00, this one is a guess because I already had salt in my storage and who knows how much I payed for it.

Total= $12.68

1 tablespoon at a time........you tell me how long that's going to last.



To top off my project I cut out letters from vinyl to label the container. Yes I know they are a little crooked but I am to cheap to buy transfer paper for all my vinyl needs, besides I am storing it in the cupboard under my sink. I tried my first load yesterday and was quiet impressed with how clean my dishes were. I hope it works well for you too!

Homemade Air Freshener

Baking soda naturally absorbs odors, so why not take advantage of that to create simple, inexpensive air fresheners?

Here's how:

Use a hammer and and a nail to poke holes in the lid of a small canning jar. (The heart is a nice touch, but clearly not necessary)

Fill the jar about 1/4 full with baking soda
Add 6-8 drops of lavender essential oil

Put lid on and place in any spot that could use some freshening.  Every once in a while, give the jar a gentle shake to boost it's air freshening power.

I've made several, and I use them in my linen closet, under my kitchen sink (which is where the stinky garbage can is) and in the bathroom.

This powder is also useful for removing odors from carpets and upholstery.  And it's already in a handy shaker!  Just sprinkle on your sofa or a spot on your carpet that needs to be deodorized, let sit for a little while, and then vacuum it up.

You could, of course, substitute your favorite essential oil for the lavender.  And you crafty ladies could certainly pretty up the jar a little bit too!

NOTE: As with any cleaning product (even the reasonably safe and friendly ones), keep out of reach of children and pets. 

DIY Bubble Solution Refills

 

This bubble recipe is so super easy to make and so frugal!

 Items Used:

Refill container $6.00 at Wal-Mart

2 1/2  cups water and 1/2 cup light corn syrup

mix in a bowl together and microwave four minutes

Gently mix 1/2 cup dish liquid
(I was told Dawn is the best)

I made the letters myself with my Cricut and used Mod Podge to adhere them.

And that is it and it works!

I made four batches to go in this container.

Reused Items:

I saved bubble wands from old bubble containers

Saved yogurt cups to reuse for something     

Everything else was already on hand except the container!           

Yay! for recycling and saving money!

 And what kid does not like bubbles?!

Happy Bubble Blowing!

Miracle Laundry Whitening Solution

I found this cleaning solution for laundry whitening on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.  My husband's white button up shirt that he wears to church every Sunday and his under garments have been off-white for a while now.  Whenever I clean them, they just don't come out white anymore and are a bit dingy.  So I tried this trick earlier this week and soaked all of our white clothing together with this solution to see how it would work.  And it actually works!  I left out the borax because I don't have any, but it still worked pretty good anyways.  I'm sure it would've worked even better with the borax, though.

It's just four simple ingredients!

HOT HOT HOT water
1 cup of laundry detergent
1 cup powdered dish washer detergent
1 cup bleach
1/2 cup borax

One thing to remember is to add the above ingredients to as small a load size as possible. You are looking for CONCENTRATED cleaning power, and the more water you have in the tub, the less concentrated it will be. Shoot for BARELY enough water to cover the article.
Let soak for as long as you can stand it! :-)  I managed to stay away from it for a couple of hours. Overnight would work too.

Miracle Bathtub and Shower Cleaner

Did you know that you can spray on a solution of one part vinegar and one part dish soap, leave it for an hour, then wipe your tub clean, and it will actually whiten your tub?  I've got to try this.  Check out this picture that someone posted on Pinterest:





  Amazing, right?  That's what I'm thinking.  No more buying shower and tub cleaner at the store! This'll save money and actually get my bathtubs clean.  And you don't even need to scrub at all to get these results; just wipe it off! Amazing!

How to Remove Hard Water Stains

 When we moved into our house in January of this year and in the bathrooms it has always had hard water stains around the sink faucets....until now! I never knew that getting rid of those stains could be so easy.  Nothing I ever tried in that past has worked.  But I found this miracle solution to the problem through Pinterest and I decided to give it a try.  I was a little skeptical about it at first, but boy does it work!

Here is a before picture:
 

 How do you get rid of it?  It's simple....just use vinegar.  For spots like in the picture above, soak a paper towel in vinegar and wrap around the faucet.  Leave on the faucets for 20 minutes and it will scrub right off.

Then your faucets will look like the picture below, unless you have really thick hard water, in which case you just soak again for 1 hour until it comes right off:
 

Ta Da! Doesn't it look pretty compared to the before picture? You can use this method on more than just sinks.  Use it in the shower and tub and in the fridge or wherever you have hard water stains.  Trust me, it works like magic.