I’ve posted before about saving money (and the environment) by making household cleaners out of inexpensive kitchen ingredients. But I know that mixing up potions to clean the house may not be everyone’s cup of tea – plus, one of the nice things about commercial cleaning products is often their fresh smell.

So here’s another way to save on household cleaners: use less. Sound silly? Not if it keeps the bankruptcy lawyers away. Read on.

Laundry Detergent

A post on the blog WiseBread.com discusses how much detergent we really need to get our laundry clean. Consider this:

• Manufacturers make money when people buy their product, so it’s in their interest to encourage us to use more.
• In an experiment, many people who washed their clothes with no soap at all for a few cycles found their clothes still got clean – because of excess soap in their garments from previous washes.
• Most of us don’t exactly need heavy-duty cleaning products – after all, how dirty can a person get from sitting in front of a computer all day?

The writer suggests cutting your normal detergent use in half and, if your clothes are still getting clean, cut the amount in half again. I’ve found that this is extremely effective – my clothes are still perfectly clean, they just have a slightly less overwhelming spring-fresh aroma.

Use Halves

I’ll admit it: I’m a double-squirter. I suspect this is a genetically programmed trait, because whenever I have a spray bottle in my hands, I find it very difficult to pull the nozzle only once. But, I discovered single squirts use much less product, and work just as well!

Some other things you can use by halves:

• Paper towels: Tear them down the middle and use half at a time. You’ll end up with less clean surface area when you toss them out.
• Disposable wipes: These are popular because they’re more convenient than rags, but I find I end up with only a half-dirty wipe. Working with half at a time lets you waste less.
• Liquid shower soap: If you haven’t already invested in a loofah scrub for your shower, consider doing so. They make liquid soaps much sudsier than washcloths, which means you can use less.
• Shampoo: The every-other-day shampoo movement has a substantial following, and with good reason. Think of this one as a double saver: days you don’t wash your hair, you can sleep in a few extra minutes.

The real lesson here is that you can always add more cleaning solution – so why not start out with less? And maybe you’ll find that you can save enough money on household cleaning products to buy something that you actually want!

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