The Daily Green does the Math

Save $28 on Green Cleaning Products

Article by Leslie Reichert

Recently, Johnson and Johnson was asked to remove two ingredients in their baby shampoo. If baby shampoo has nasty stuff in it, what do you think is in your cleaning products? Along with knowing what's in your cleaners, you can save money by making your own.

Let's compare the cost of making our own all-purpose cleaner with a gallon of cleaner purchased from the grocery aisle. Here's the math: a gallon of white vinegar will be $3, and if we are being fancy, we'll use distilled water, which will cost us another dollar for a gallon. Combine those two ingredients. Pick up a bottle of essential oil for $4, which will give you enough fresh scent to last a year or more, since you only need to add a few drops to each batch of cleaner you make. All told, we've spent just over $4 to make two gallons of cleaner, or about $2 per gallon.

Now let's go to the cleaning aisle and buy a name brand pine cleaner. We will be paying around $3 for a 12-ounce bottle. There are 128 ounces in a gallon, so we will have to multiply the cost by 10 to get a gallon. So, if we've done our math correctly, we would save just shy of $28 by making our own (the difference between $30 and almost $2).

And the best part is that we KNOW what is in our homemade cleaner. If you can't give up the smell you're used to, trick your nose and use a pine essential oil. You'll still get great quality of cleaning, along with a fresh scent.

This example is just some of the money you can save by making your own cleaners. The underlying advantage is that you won't be surprised someday when a manufacturer is asked to remove a chemical ingredient from the cleaner you've been using around your children and pets. Play it safe and try using a green homemade cleaner. Everyone will be glad you did.
For more green cleaning recipes download the e-book "The Joy of Green Cleaning" or purchase the spiral-bound recipe book from Amazon. (Put in coupon code DG09 for the e-book and get 10% off.)