Our favourite low-cost cleaning tips

Scrub swanky cleaners from your trolley, we've found the best low-cost versions that will do the job and save you money!

In the kitchen
For washing up, look to Lidl. Their own brand W5 Original Washing Up Liquid costs 59p, compared with 90p for the best branded version, and Lidl W5 dishwasher tablets work out at 9p per wash - well under half the cost of big-brand tablets.

Reduce your running costs by keeping kettles and irons limescale free. Dri-Pak Limescale Remover With Lime Juice costs £1.99 - £2.40 is average for brands.

Astonish (£1.47 for 500g from Lakeland) is a tub of cleaning paste that seems to last for ever! Use it around the kitchen on hobs and stainless-steel sinks.

Swap costly antibacterial products for microfibre cloths with antibacterial silver woven in. Clever Cloths cost £4.99 for three from JML.

Sainsbury's Trigger Spray Kitchen Cleaner costs 96p compared with £1.58 for the leading branded product.

In the bathroom
Reach for bleach when you want to disinfect and whiten (bleach isn't a cleaner). Natural products aren't as strong, though borax is the best substitute if you want a natural option. Bleach isn't expensive - basic own-brand thin bleach can be as little as 20p for 1 litre compared with £1.16 for a branded variety. Aldi sells thick bleach at 47p for 750ml.

Aldi is your ally all round for general cleaning, in fact. It aims to sell its products for around 30 per cent less than branded equivalents, achieving this by stocking just one option for each kind of product. Seek out the excellent Power Force cleaning range: the Toilet Cleaner sells at 79p for 1 litre, the Kitchen and Bathroom Cleaner at 75p for 750ml, and the Anti Bacterial Multi Action Cleaner at £1.25 for 1 litre.

General household cleaning
You can't beat Poundland's Zam cleaning range at £1 for 750ml, compared with the usual 500ml most brands offer, in kitchen, bathroom, floor, glass and carpet versions. The stores also often sell Cif and Domestos for £1, though stock varies.

Flash All Purpose Cleaner, £1.99 for 1 litre, is a good stalwart for surfaces and floors.

For a deodorising fragrance, Ambi-Pur 3volution plug-in air fresheners last for 90 days, releasing a fresh puff of scent every 45 minutes so you don't reach for an aerosol.

Laundry ideas
Netto is your new best friend if you want large family packs, competitively priced. Its own-brand Delta washing powder costs £1.99 for 3kg. With a free-flowing powder, rather than a tablet, it's easier to adjust the dosage to suit the dirtiness of the wash.

Ariel Excel Gel (£3.99 for 18 washes) cleans impressively, even at 30˚C rather than the more usual 40˚C. So it saves you money on energy bills as well.

Money-saving tip
Visit www.supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk and click the green ‘Today's deals' button in the top bar for offers and latest deals. Sometimes a leading-brand product has a half-price offer that brings it below the price of a supermarket own-brand counterpart.