DIY Cleaning Products: Do's & Don'ts | Save Money While Staying Clean (& Safe!)

Simple, DIY, Low-cost - these words are music to our frugal ears! We're excited to talk about how frugality can intersect with all aspects our lifestyles, including the way we clean! There's more to know about cleaning products than we ever thought - but have no fear - we've got all the do's and don'ts of DIY cleaning products you need to know! Whether you clean often or you can't remember the last time you swept your floors, there's some good stuff in this episode!

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Science: The internet is glorious and dark place with many great revelations that have eased the pain of living. But it’s also filled with people looking to be heard even if what they’re saying has no merit. Thankfully we have science. It creates hypotheses, verifies claims, debunks myths, and kills unsubstantiated claims. Science, seek it out before you believe everything you read on the internet.

Notable Notes:

• This article from Good Housekeeping gives us the low down on how to use cleaning products and which ones NOT to mix. Yes that's a thing.

What Jen and Jill have to say:

• People often think that if one product works, mixing it with another one will make it even better," but us frugal folk KNOW that more is usually not better :)

• Here's the ones you shouldn't mix:

-Bleach and amonnia

-Drain cleaner and drain cleaner - THEY CAN EXPLODE?!?

-Baking soda and vinegar (just turns it into diluted salt water)

-Hydrogen peroxide and vinegar

-Bleach and vinegar

-Bleach and rubbing alcohol - makes chloroform!

just don’t mix bleach with stuff!

-As a general rule, don't mix acids and bases - Here's a great article from The Wirecutter explaining more of the science behind what happens when these products are mixed

More from the Internet:

• This article from Wonder Mom Wannabe gives us a full run down of the essential ingredients for homemade cleaners. These items are low-cost, simple, and work to clean pretty much anything!

More from Jen and Jill:

• DIY essentials:

-Baking soda

-Coarse salt

-Distilled white vinegar (works on grease, soap residue, stains)

-Hydrogen peroxide (kills bacteria) - also makes Jill pass out ;)

**BILL OF THE WEEK - Thanks for sharing your bill about the mixer you attended for the chamber of congress - Meeting Bill's at networking events sounds fantastic!

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Lightning Round
We wanted to share a few good cleaning supply recipes we like:

• Non-Vinegar All-Purpose Cleaner from keeperofthehome.org
  1 tablespoon baking soda,
  1 teaspoon castile soap,
  3-5 drops tea tree oil,
  Fill spray bottle with water
• Vinegar Surface cleaner from livesimply.me
  1 cup distilled water,
  1 cup white vinegar,
  1/2 lemon juiced (optional),
  15 drops essential oil,
  Or lemon rind & rosemary sprigs

Frugal Friends Book Club
It’s February and we’re reading Meet The Frugalwoods by Elizabeth Willard Thames

-If you want a free copy, leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher, screenshot the review and send it to frugalfriendspodcast@gmail.com. We’ll select the winners at the end of the month.

• AND join us in talking about the book (and other things) throughout the week at our Facebook Community

Thanks for hanging with us!