I. LOVE. PINTEREST!!!!!! If you have not gone over to the “other side” you do not know what you are missing!!! For serious! It is a gold mine of crafting ideas and recipes, and the like. If you don’t know what Pinterest is… (what? are you living under a rock?? JK! JK!!! :D) it is a website that lets you “pin” fun websites that you come across, to your virtual pin board. You can pin anything you like… recipes, quotes, articles, crafts, or anything that you want to bookmark to remember for later.
If you have a specific interest in something, let’s say, “crafts”, you can go to the “everything-DIY/crafts” page and it will show you everything that other crafters are pinning on their pin boards, AND… you can re-pin their pins. How cool is that???
I will caution you to beware of the “everything-everything” page, it has… well… everything that everyone is pinning and it is not categorized, so you might come across some that you are not prepared to see…
Oh, wait… That last one was mine! 😀 Yummy Oreo Pops!!! (Seriously though, the “everything” page has everything, so I just stick to the categories, it’s safer that way! ;))
You can also “follow” people if you like their style of crafts, or fashion, or recipes, or whatever… *ahemm* Or, just because you like that person. *wink*wink* For an example, you can follow me, if you like, here. 😉
So, anyhoo… I found the coolest thing on Pinterest the other day.
DIY Clorox Clean-Up!!!
Well, I thought it was the coolest thing, any way. 🙂 I have a house with 2 boys (3 if you count hubby), and one of them is still trying to figure out how to get it in the bowl, without getting it on the walls… the floor… and shower curtain before he hits the mark. (He’s 3…) I use A LOT of Clorox Clean-up!!! When I saw this pin for DIY Clorox Clean-Up from Fake-It Frugal, I was a little bit excited. 😀
DIY Clorox Clean-up
1 Empty Bottle of Clorox Cleanup or an empty (1 quart size) Plastic Spray Bottle
¼ Cup Bleach
1 Teaspoon Laundry Detergent
Fill the rest of the bottle with Water and Shake!
Can you say, “super easy”??? I don’t know why I haven’t thought of doing this before!!! It’s so much cheaper. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper!
I love this stuff. I actually like the smell of the DIY stuff better than the real stuff. The DIY stuff smells cleaner and fresher to me. (Did I say “stuff” enough for you?)
Heather at Fake-It Frugal did a cost analysis and the savings is amazing!
Bleach is really cheap, around $1 per gallon. You can make 64 bottles of DIY Clorox Clean-Up, from 1 gallon of bleach. That comes to about $0.02 per bottle.
Real Clorox Clean-Up is about $4.99 a bottle. That’s a savings of $4.97 per bottle! Wowzers!!! I don’t know how companies can sleep at night, knowing they mark their stuff up like that!!!
I did read some comments at Fake-It Frugal that I should mention. A couple of ladies said that they worked at daycare, and they used bleach water to sanitize toilets and diaper areas. The Health Department required them to replace the bleach water everyday, because bleach will lose it’s effectiveness over time.
My thought is… either increase the amount of bleach you use (maybe use ½ cup instead?), or just make a half batch and only make it when you need it. I mean, I realize times are tough, but I think that at $0.02 a bottle, I can afford to throw out half a bottle. Right???
What do you smarties think??? If you increase the bleach to ½ cup do you think it would lose its effectiveness? Do you think ½ cup is too strong?
I don’t know about you, but even if I have to make a new batch every time I clean… Totally worth it!!! Don’t you think??? 😀
Linked to these parties.
Lady with the Red Rocker 
I say… come clean my house each day so you can use up your bottle! I will even make it for you!! 🙂
Seriously, I understand that the daycare would have guidelines to follow… but we are not a daycare (it just looks like it!) Anyway, couldn’t find my bottle to look at ingredients… but wondering if they use distilled water… what do they do to keep it from losing its effectiveness?
As for the real stuff.. I have never paid full price (coupons and sales are my friends!) But I am sure they are not losing any sleep over the price! After all they have all our money… they probaly have the bestest, most comfortable mattresses!!! And no one is forcing anyone to buy it….
I will be making this!! Thanks!! Did you pin it? 🙂
Lol! Funny woman!!! I didn’t think of using distilled water! Good tip!
PS. Yes, I pinned this. 😀
Hey, Thanks for the shout-out!
I’ve been using this cleaner for a while now and I haven’t noticed any change in it’s effectiveness. It cuts through grease just like always, smells the same and gets those grape juice stains out of my white counter tops. I can understand the caution if you were using this for decontamination purposes only, but for regular kitchen use it’s working for me!
Cheers!
Thanks Heather! It’s great to know that you still love it! I use Clorox Clean-up a lot, so I was thrilled with your post! You are the best!!! I do use it for decontamination sometimes, so maybe for that purpose I would make a new batch, but for general use I could continue with what I had. Great info!!! Thanks so much for stopping by! 😀
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the clean up tip. I’ll definitely be trying this.
Thanks for sharing this! I haven’t made my own cleaners, but I think I need to! Thanks for linking to Things I’ve Done Thursday.
Melanie
http://www.bearrabbitbear.com
Great idea 🙂 I love pinterest! In fact I love it so much that I’ve started a pinterest inspired link party, and I would Love it if you’d link up 🙂
Happy to be your newest follower too!
I have been making my own cleaner for about a year but I just use vinegar and water. I will have to try this “recipe soon”. Thanks so much for linking to Fabulous Friday!
love it love it so very fun
Thank you so much for the recipe! I am always looking for DIY cleaners and methods. I also cannot believe how much cleaners cost in the store when you can make your own for sooooooo much less. And most of the time they are more user friendly and work better! 🙂
I totally agree, Jen! Thanks for visiting! 😀
I am going to have to make some DIY clorox! I already have a slight issue with wanting to spray it on everything dirty! Thanks for DIY!
Wow!! I have to do this! Thanks for sharing and inspiring at Shine on Friday. Can’t wait to see what you share next:)
Love this post!!! So cute!!! I’m having a linky party again, and would love it if you joined! Here is the link! http://www.thesouthernproductqueen.com/one-stop-shoppe-linky-party-3 Thanks for sharing!
This is the kind of thing I love about bloggers! We can learn about fantastic recipes, crafts, techniques and so on from each other! I am going to try this out!
whispers…. your version of your “clean up” will need to be made up fresh daily because of the bleach added. If it’s not, the bleach turns to salt and you remove the benefits of the added bleach. I did day care years ago and that is what the state told me to do, and worked in a group home for the disabled and that’s what we did there as well. Now I make my own cosmetics from scratch (soap, lotion, bath bombs, etc) so this information is just as important now because I depend on bleach to sanitize my equipment and work area.
I did find this link to prove my point.
http://cysticfibrosis.about.com/od/livingwithcysticfibrosis/ht/bleach.htm
[quote]
Discard Unused Solution
Chlorine bleach solution begins to lose its disinfectant power quickly when exposed to heat, sunlight, and evaporation. In order to be sure your solution is still strong enough to kill germs, you should mix a fresh batch each day and discard whatever amount you don’t use at the end of the day.[/quote]
Good luck,
Thanks Kris! I’ve been wondering about that. So, I wonder what that says about the real Clorox Clean-Up that sits on the shelf for who knows how long before we buy it?
Same!
That will happen to a container of bleach, too … if you leave the cap off, because chlorine is a gas. I would think that the spray bottle would be pretty well as airproof as a jug of bleach.
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Thank you so much for sharing last week! Your post was featured at this week’s party. Hope to see you again this week!
Alida
radcrafter.com
I make something like this for cleaning the toilets and bathroom floors, but I use one of those tiny spray bottles (travel size that you get in the cosmetics area of the store), and just make up a fresh batch each week.
I use a vinegar/water solution for everything else – vinegar stinks, but it sanitizes too! 😀
Great tip, Eve! Thanks for sharing. 😀
I plan on making this soon. Thanks.
I use bleach and water (just good ‘ole tap water) to spray around my tub when cleaning to prevent mold and mildew. One bottle lasts me for months (very good savings!), and it is no less effective at the last spray than at the first spray. I’m definitely making this!
For what it’s worth, (which could be nothing because I don’t have a scientific degree nor do I work with chemicals to know for certain, but….) I think the reason why the bleach water looses its effectiveness is because it’s in an open bucket. If bleach and bleach cleaners lost their effectiveness it wouldn’t be sold in gallon jugs or large spray bottles. It would be sold in tiny milk carton size containers. But if you keep a lid on the concoction the air can’t get to it and it doesn’t oxidize or break down. Since your bleach cleaner, and those sold by the big companies, are sold in air tight containers I think you’re safe. The other reason why bleach water most likely needs to be replaced….. might also have to do with the fact that you dip a rag into the bleach water which introduces additional contaminants to it. Since you’re spraying what you’re going to use out of the bottle onto a surface and not putting any excess back into the bottle, i think you’re safe.
Thanks Jen! This is excellent! I think you are right. I could not figure out why the health department would say bleach loses it’s effectiveness when Clorox Clean-Up is the same thing and it is sold in large bottles and sits on the shelf for who knows how long before even reaching the consumer. It has to be because of the open bucket and the rag. I’m going with your theory! Thanks for sharing this! 😀
I know this is an older post but beware of spraying bleach! It’s harmful to your lungs and your kids lungs. Spraying products stays airborne for twenty minutes! All the time you are inhaling it.
I’m definitely trying this. Do you use liquid or powdered laundry detergent? Or maybe it doesn’t matter? Thanks!
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