Cost-Free Cleaning Tools and Tricks

The Value of Vinegar

Use this pantry product to wash windows, sanitize cutting boards, and clean toilets.
-Fill a spray bottle with equal parts water and vinegar, and a splash of lemon juice to create a quick window washing solution.
-Use a few splashes of full-strength vinegar to sanitize wooden cutting boards.
-One cup of white vinegar with a few sprinkles of baking soda makes for an eco-friendly and totally cheap toilet bowl cleaner.

Baking Soda Basics

There are a myriad of uses for this magical product—from keeping the foods in your fridge fresh, to helping chocolate chip cookies rise.
-Use baking soda as a gentle scouring agent to scrub sinks, bathtubs, and tile.
-Just as it absorbs odors from food in the refrigerator, baking soda deodorizes garbage cans, litter boxes, and diaper pails.

Salt Sense

Use simple table salt—super cheap and widely available—to clean all sorts of surfaces in your home.
-Create a paste using salt and lemon juice to remove rust spots from clothing.
-Sprinkle salt onto half of a lemon (with the juice already squeezed out), to shine up tarnished brass and pewter. Rinse thoroughly, otherwise your precious metals could turn green. 

For the Love of Lemons

This sweet citrus fruit adds subtle flavor to meals, is a great cleaning agent, and leaves a fresh scent in its path.
-Rub half of a lemon over a wooden cutting board to remove odors.
-Toss lemon peels and a few ice cubes down the garbage disposal to deodorize and sharpen its blades.  

Trusted and Traditional

Traditional Corn Broom
Use this sturdy-bristled broom when sweeping up your porch or deck.

Tough and Tender

Push Broom
The oversized head with stiff inner fibers and soft outer fibers makes easy work of sweeping leaves, pine needles, and dirt off of sidewalks, driveways, or patio floors. 

Inside Angles

Angled Broom
An angled broom with soft, synthetic bristles picks up more than traditional corn brooms, and its angled design gets into tight corners inside the house.

Degrease the Disposal

Greasy garbage disposal? “Turn on the hot water and then the disposal,” says Mary Thompson, president of the Mr. Rooter plumbing company. Squeeze a tablespoon of dishwashing liquid into the disposal and run it for 15 to 30 seconds with the hot water still flowing. Turn off the disposal, and leave the hot water on until all of the soap suds are gone.

Save Your Sponges

-Clean and disinfect sponges in the dishwasher by placing them in the utensil compartment.
-Launder sponges in hot water with the rest of your clothes, and then toss them in the dryer.
-Place DAMP sponges in the microwave on high for one minute. A dry sponge will catch on fire.
-Soak sponges in a solution of a cup of chlorine bleach and a gallon of water. Then rinse.
-When sponges start to fall apart or they develop a strong odor, it’s time to throw them out.  http://www.myhomeideas.com/healthy-home/organizing-cleaning/cost-free-cleaning-tools-tricks-00415000067585/save-your-sponges-00415000067584/