No-cost cleaning with traditional remedies

Cut cleaning costs with store-cupboard standbys

There's no need to spend a fortune on cleaning products when traditional remedies and a bit of elbow grease can leave your home sparkling.

 
In the kitchen
Soda crystals make a multi-surface miracle cleaner for greasy hobs, sinks, worktops and drains.

 

Wipe the fridge or microwave with bicarbonate of soda on a damp cloth - it's a natural deodoriser.  

 

Dispel microwave odours and loosen dried-on food by boiling a bowl of water with a wedge of lemon in it.

 

 

 

 
In the bathroom
White vinegar can make tiles and shower screens dazzlingly clean. For really stubborn areas on baths and showers, use a paste of two parts bicarbonate of soda to one part vinegar. 

 

To deodorise a toilet bowl, sprinkle a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda around the bowl then leave overnight. When you flush next morning, you'll have a fresh-smelling toilet.

 

For a sparkling toilet bowl, mix 1 cup of borax with half a cup of lemon juice or white spirit vinegar into a paste. Spread over the bowl and leave for a few hours, then sponge away and flush.

 

Use borax and white vinegar to tackle mould in the bath or shower. Fill a spray bottle with 55g/2oz  borax and a cup of white vinegar, spray it on, leave it to work for 30-60 minutes and then wipe off.

 

To unclog your showerhead (unless it's gold-plated), place it face down in an inch of white vinegar in a bowl and leave for at least an hour. Remove and rinse thoroughly.

 

 
General household cleaning
Brighten paintwork and upVC window frames by wiping with liquid soda crystals or a solution of soda crystals in warm water.

 

Dust furniture with a just-damp microfibre cloth - dampening it stops you spreading dust around.

 

Deodorise carpets by sprinkling bicarbonate of soda over, leaving it overnight to work, then vacuuming it up. 

    

Add essential oils to homemade cleaners for their disinfecting ability, as well as their scent. 

 
Clean windows with white vinegar and scrunched newspaper.

 

 
Laundry ideas
Use white vinegar instead of fabric conditioner in the dispenser.

 

For lovely lavender-scented laundry, mix 20 drops of lavender essential oil with one part white vinegar to three parts water in a spray bottle and spritz before ironing. The vinegar eliminates wrinkles!

 

 
Quick reference store-cupboard standbys
Pick up these essential items for next to nothing in your weekly shop. All products are widely available at leading supermarkets.

 

Washing soda/soda crystals, 84p for 1kg

Bicarbonate of soda, 99p for 500g

White vinegar, 99p for 500ml

Dri-Pak Borax Substitute, around 99p for 400g

Lemon juice or Dri-Pak citric acid crystals, £1.99 for 25g

 

For more cleaning know-how, see our favourite low-cost cleaning tips and the top 10 ways to clean up in the kitchen. 

 

Subscribe - SAVE over 25%