Old Style Book - Top Five Cleaners

Queenie

16011996 wrote:

value diet coke is mine, brings up toilets and sinks sparkling. pour some in the loo at night in the morning its lovely and clean, i also put some on an old flannel and wipe the sink/bath with it (both pot/porcellain/whatever you call them). also great on stainless steel sink in kitchen for a quick sparkle, think it was 18p in sainsburys for 2litre bottle.

Please be aware that over use of *any* cola/coke in a toilet MAY cause marks!! (Cola/Coke has added colourants that will eventually cause staining! It's ok for a quick fix, but not as a long-term-only-product-used. Be especially cautious if used on plastic baths/sinks!)

My top 5 (sorry, no recs. on where to buy or cheapest ... I shop around )

White Vinegar (best bought in quantity from Ethnic Supermarkets - failing that: "a little goes a long way" so buy some from the main stream Supermarkets as a stand-by)
Soda Crystals (Dri-pak seem to be the biggest/only(?) producer )
"Star Drops" (brand-named product)
Bio-soap powder
Bicarb of Soda

HTH

Ticklemouse

Although I do have ethnic supermarkets near me, none sell white vinegar I have to pay £3.65 (or thereabouts) for a 5L container from Makro, which still works out cheaper than Asda.That's for white vinegar (Sarsons too, they don't sell generic stuff) although you can pick up el-cheapo malt for less than £2 per 5L

I use microfibre cloths, water and elbow grease for most cleaning, a drop of washing up liquid or bleach when required.

If I want to scrub the bath or the shower tray, I usually use Astonish paste (bath) which can be found in the £ shops, for a large tub or scouring powder (shower tray) which is about 65p from Tesco. Toilet gets a squoosh of bleach.

Also, value bio washing powder for those 'need to soak' jobs. Don't use it for my clothes so a cheap box last ages.

Washing soda crystals - always use in my wash, so only need a small amount of washing liquid.

I always have in bicarb, lemons, salt, jeyes fluid, sugar soap, in case I need them.

Lendusapund

Hmm, Id have to say - my mam. Shes getting on a bit and one heck of a cleaner! (Just dont tell her I said this).

RichT :rudolf:

THIRZAH

I've seen bicarb in a chinese supermarket- I think it was about £2.50 for a 3 kilo bag- much cheaper than those little plastic pots

Rebob

cheapo baby oil on stainless steel. I found this gave the best finish compared to the "proper" cleaners. cheap vinegar and bicarb down the drains, does the mr muscles foaming thing. Budget washing up liquid for cleaning most things.

onthegin

Find out from your local fish & chip shop owner where they buy their vinegar. Non-brewed condiment, which is what you often get on the chippy counter, has the same ph as vinegar but can be bought from the catering wholesaler 12 or 14 times stronger. Beware when diluting, this stuff makes your eyes water at the very least and burns like h**l if splashed on skin and not rinsed immediately. Saves dragging home the huge bottles from the supermarket every week.
Vinegar is great for getting rid of the smell from the incontinent puppy. House will smell like a chip supper for a little while but it's way better than the alternative and when the vinegar has evaporated there'll be no trace of the other smell.

Daisy

The money saving cleaning product which has totally changed the way I clean is a simple microfibre cleaning cloth. They are dirt cheap (around 70p) and you just spray with water and wipe. It's as simple as that and they really do work. I clean my whole house with them including the windows so I don't need to use polish or windowlene anymore.

The other cleaners I use are Soda Crystals (for washing up and the laundry) and bleach.

I did use white vinegar to begin with for cleaning but now I just use it as a fabric conditioner.

Mrs_Excellent_Example

I have to nominate myself, and me Vim.

shetitasatic

I too am a great fan of micro fibre cloths - I get them 2 for a £ in our local cut price shop. You don't need any chemicals with them just use dry or with water. I dry/polish the shower screen, bath and tiles with one every day and even though we are in a fairly hard water area everything is spotless and grout and sealant stays white.
I also cut a micro fibre cloth in four and use damp as a washcloth to remove cleanser, which exfoliates at the same time.

They are great for drying/polishing the ss draining board and for polishing the chrome kettle.

The chemicals I do use are : Bio washing powder ( great for cleaning an acrylic bath - use dry on a damp cloth and rinse) washing up liquid, d'washer tabs, bleach, washing soda and jeyes fluid in garden/greenhouse

squeaky

Vinegar

Soda crystals

Bio powder

Washing up liquid

and...

Elbow grease