How to Clean Your Kitchen on a Small Budget

Companies want you to think that you need to buy their expensive cleaning products to keep your kitchen sparkling clean. This isn't the case. You can do a wonderful job keeping your whole home sparkling clean with a few very cheap products.

Essential #1 - Vinegar

White vinegar is dirt cheap and it is one of the best cleaners you can find. The secret in vinegar is its acidity. It has just enough strength to get through dirt and grease, but it will not damage the surfaces in your kitchen. Vinegar is the homeowner's best friend because it can be used for so many things. Some of these include cleaning windows, getting smells and spots out of furniture and carpet, as an air freshener and just general effective cleaning through built up grime and grease. This can apply to your counter applicances such as coffee makers, blenders and toasters.

You should make sure to use white vinegar because apple cider vinegar will stain anything you attempt to clean.

Essential #2 - Baking Soda

A small box of baking soda packs a lot of cleaning punch, and it does it for less than a dollar. Baking soda is great for cleaning because it is an abrasive but not TOO abrasive. And, it cuts through grime so you can use it for your counters, pans, fixtures and pots. Baking soda also does great for deodorizing your carpets, fridge, and even your shoes. Baking soda is fantastic for getting rid of foul odors. It does not merely cover them up; it will actually neutralize them. You can put a small box of baking soda in your fridge to get rid of the bad odors that tend to come from there. Use it there for about three months. Then, you can pour it down your kitchen drain and make it smell fresh, too. You can also use baking powder to help clean you slow cooker and remove odors from your last holiday meal.

Essential #3 - Ammonia

Ammonia for the house is only 10% or so ammonia. The rest of it is actually water. But, you should not think that this makes it weak. It is actually very strong and will do great for most of your kitchen and home cleaning work. The ammonia you buy may be either clear or cloudy. We have found that if ammonia is a bit cloudy, it has detergent in it that will make it an even better cleaner. The strong smell of ammonia is sometimes diluted by adding a pine or lemon scent. You should see that noted on the label if a scent has been added. Ammonia does great for window cleaning, slicing through grime and grease, taking wax off your floor, and really cleaning out your oven (without those nasty corrosive spray cleaners).

Tip - Make Your Dish Soap Last Longer

If you clean dishes in your sink, you can reduce the cost of your dish soap by diluting it with water. Just keep an old empty bottle for dish soap, and pour half the new bottle in there and half water. You will have double the amount of detergent. It will not bubble as much, but the bubbles do not do your cleaning. The bubbles are added to make you THINK the detergent is cleaning. You can make your soap more powerful for heavy cleaning by adding ½ a cup of white vinegar to your dishwater.

Tip - Clean Your Microwave with Vinegar

A great way to clean your microwave and get rid of bad odor is to use your white vinegar. Take ¼ a cup of white vinegar and a cup of water and put it in a glass bowl. Microwave it for five minutes on high. The vinegar mixture will steam and will eliminate any bad smells and also will soften up any food splatters. After your vinegar water cools, you can put a sponge in it and use it to wipe down the microwave.


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Written by Lawrence Reaves for http://www.ProctorSilex.com, a kitchen appliances company, providing quality slow cookers and coffee makers.