Budget Cleaning: Skip the Products

If you focus on the tools you’re cleaning with rather than the products you’re cleaning with you’ll find a lot more flexibility in price and environmental friendliness.

Here are my cleaning tool essentials:

• vacuum cleaner
• broom
• sponge head mop
• wash cloths (old ones that I no longer deem suitable for my body go in the cleaning pile)
• old toothbrushes (for small or tight spaces)

If you want to go beyond the absolute basics, some additional tools you might consider are:

• scrub brush
• spray bottles
• rubber gloves
• sponges
• bucket or dishpan (you can just put the stopper in the sink and not need one of these)
• scourer like Scotch Brite pads or steel wool
• toilet brush
• caddy to carry everything around from room to room

I use these few tools in combination with some good old fashioned soap and water or some Simple Green and I can get any area of my house clean with low impact on my budget and on the environment.

What are your cleaning essentials? Do you think the tools or the products are more important in achieving a clean house?

Photo Credit: garlandcannon (via Flickr)

Featured in All Things Eco.

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