Save Money When Spring Cleaning

Thanks to do-it-yourself websites and blogs flooding the internet, it is easy to find tips and tricks that may make life easier. However, not all of these are tried and true. This spring cleaning season, consider changing these popular habits that may be costing you more than you think.

Vinegar shouldn’t be used on everything.

While many people swear by vinegar as the be-all for everything in the home, it has the potential to cause damage to certain surfaces. If you have granite or marble countertops, use warm water and a mild soap to clean as the acid from vinegar can damage stone. It can harm wood too, so use made-for-wood cleaning solutions on hardwood floors and wooden furniture.

Keep lemons out of the garbage disposal.

Homeowners claim that running a lemon through the garbage disposal will clean the blades and freshen up the sink, but the citric acid could cause the metal inside of the disposal to corrode. The peel from the lemon can also be damaging to the grinders and clog pipes. For a loud but effective alternative, dump ice cubes down the disposal with water running. This will clean the blades without damaging anything.

Wash laundry without hot water.

Since laundry detergent formulas have evolved greatly over the years, they will clean more efficiently in cold water. Even your thickest linens will wash just as well on the cold water setting, plus you’ll save on the water bill. Crank the hot water back up when washing anything with bleach that needs to kill bacteria.

Follow these 3 tips during your spring cleaning time and notice the difference in your home and utility bills! When trying any new cleaning solution, test out a small patch of the surface to see how it will affect that particular area.