Even though the economy is on its way to recovering from a recession, Families are still pinching pennies and watching their budgets. In the spring, this frugal mindset is no different. How can we save money on spring-cleaning when cleaning supplies are so expensive? Read on to see tips and ideas on how to do just this.

1.      Instead of buying new, more expensive cleaners, go all natural. This first step will save you bundles. Make a trip to the local Dollar Store or Dollar Tree (even your Dollar General store) and pick up these cheap, nontoxic supplies:
a.       Baking soda
b.      White vinegar
c.       Lemons or lemon-juice
d.      Sponges
e.       Bleach
f.        Gel cleaner w/bleach (generic of Soft Scrub)
g.       Paper towels or dish-clothes
h.       Generic Febreze (or make your own, instructions are below)
i.         Generic dusting spray
2.      If you have cleaning supplies already on-hand, this will save you even more money, since you won’t have to purchase any extras. By using what you have in your own home, you won’t have to spend any money at all.
3.      Swap more expensive supplies with friends. If your best friend has a Swiffer, for example, offer to clean her floors if you can use it for your spring-cleaning.

Now that you have your cleaning supplies on hand, it’s time to get started. We’ll begin in the kitchen, since this area is usually the busiest room of the house, other than the living-room/den, which we will get to later on.

The best cleaning products to use in your kitchen is baking soda and water mixed with fresh lemon-juice. Lemons aren’t usually too expensive and works wonder on stainless steel sinks, faucets, counter-tops and any other surface. For the floors, use a Swiffer, Clorox mop or other floor cleaner that you have on hand or have bought previously. If you have a plain sponge-mop, fill your sink with a solution of hot tap water and bleach (use the ratio stated on the bleach bottle). This will disinfect and clean your floors, but be careful of harming your floors if they are wood, laminate or tile. Always check to see if the bleach solution will harm or mar your floors. If you don’t wish to use bleach in your cleaning water, Pine-Sol or the generic equivalent, is a good (and good smelling) alternative.

Your microwave is a grimy place that probably sees a lot of use during a typical day. One of the best, and cheap, ways to clean this device is to place a microwave-safe bowl of hot water inside and set on high for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Doing this is frugal, safe and effectively softens the gunk and other bits that accumulate on the inside of the microwave enough for you to wipe it down.

Another idea is to make your own disinfectant wipes. Take a roll of paper towels (cheap ones are okay, but they won’t hold up as well when wiping) and cut it in half. Take out the cardboard center. In a container (you can re-use a namebrand container, or recycle a baby wipe container), place the following solution: 1 cup water, 2 tbsp. Regular bleach, OR, 1 cup water and a few drops of gentle dishwashing liquid (such as Ivory). Place the paper-towels in the solution, pressing down gently so they soak up the cleaning solution. Since most commercial wipes are so expensive, you save a ton by making your own.

Next up is the dreaded bathroom cleaning. Again, your best solutions are baking soda, water, lemon juice and bleach. There are other, more surprising, cleaning tools to utilize in the bathroom, such as mouthwash, cola and Alka-Seltzer. But we’ll get to those later.

If you have hard-water, or iron deposits, in your water, it might take a while to clean your bathtub, especially if it’s been a while since your last cleaning. In a spray-bottle, combine water (hot is best), with baking soda and lemon juice. Once the foaming goes down, spray your bathtub thoroughly and let it stand for about fifteen minutes. If you find it’s still hard to scrub, spray again and let stand for another 10 minutes or so. Wipe down with a sponge and rinse. Follow the same procedure with your shower walls and shower door. If you have a shower curtain, take them down every three months or so and place in your washing-machine with an old towel and wash. Hang up to dry.

The toilet is always a dreaded chore to do. Make it easier on yourself by pouring in about ½ cup of mouthwash or cola. This however is a last resort for when you don’t have any store-bought toilet cleaner or have no more bleach on hand. Another excellent idea is to use the generic gel bleach cleaner. This works just as well as commercial cleaners such as Lysol Toilet Bowl cleaner. Just pour the gel bleach around the bowl, let sit for a while, then use your toilet scrub brush to clean the bowl. For the rest of the toilet, spray with your solution of water, baking soda and lemon juice and wipe down with a cloth or sponge.

Now we come to the living-room/den area. Again, baking soda is an invaluable tool in this room as it was in the other areas. For a natural carpet deoderizer, sprinkle baking soda over your carpet, let stand for an hour, then vacuum as usual. This will not only deoderize, but deep-clean your carpt. If you have wood floors or laminate, follow the same steps as the kitchen floor instructions.

For dusting, you can either use a dry cloth or the generic dusting spray from the Dollar Store. Both work quite well, so the choice is yours.

Follow these simple ideas or search your own on the internet for a budget-friendly spring-cleaning routine that won’t break the bank.