How to Make Your Cleaning Supplies Last Longer

Prices are on the rise everywhere, including household products. It’s important to save where you can and when you can – even when it comes to buying soaps and detergents. Let’s talk about how to get the most life out of your cleaning products by stretching their use, wasting less, and using re-usable products whenever possible.

Confine Your Prep Spaces

The more counter space you use while cooking, the more counter space needs to be cleaned up when you’re done. Confining the work space to a small area of the counter means that you’ll have fewer surfaces to clean later. This applies not just to the kitchen counters but also to surfaces used for crafts and other messy projects.

Plan Your Cleaning

Plan what you’ll need before you start to use it, to ensure that you’ll make the best use of all your products. For example, if you’re planning to dust, think in advance about all the areas you plan to dust. Plan to use one or two microfiber cloths for all your dusting needs, rather than several paper towels.

If you’re planning to clean the kitchen, including dirty dishes, fill a sink with water and use the clean water to wet a rag and clean down surfaces. Next, use the sink water to clean the dishes. You’ve now used the same soapy water for more than one purpose.

Use Only What You Need

Many people use more products than they need when soaping surfaces and filling basins with soapy water. Read manufacturer instructions when using soaps and detergents like laundry detergent, dishwashing liquids and others. Find out how much soap is actually required to do the job, then only use that much.

Let It Soak

Dried on foods and other sources of contamination often don’t need extra soap to be removed, they just need time to soak. When trying to remove a difficult stain or a crust of something stuck to a surface, soak it and then come back later before applying more soap or detergent.

Buy Multipurpose Products

Use a multipurpose cleaning product to clean your home’s surfaces, so you can use the same rag for different areas of your home. You’ll be able to make the cleaning product go farther, and you can re-use your rags as well.