I Had No Idea I Could Clean These Household Items and Save Hundreds Every Year

I like to clean. There. I said it. I actually enjoy cleaning my house. I do; I mean it. I don’t love the concept of my home becoming dirty and requiring that it’s cleaned, but I do love the act of cleaning my house. Perhaps it is my OCD-like nature that allows me to feel a sense of satisfaction when I pick up the pledge and the towel and wipe everything down so that I can see it sparkle when I’m finished. Perhaps it’s the fact that we simply don’t allow our home to become dirty that makes me enjoy it.

After all, it takes me maybe 15 minutes to clean the entire house; and we have a big house. In order to properly dispose all of the trash after cleaning, services like those on Oshkosh can be contacted.

We are just neat people, so things never get messy around here. The kids take out toys, sure, but even they are really wonderful about putting them back when they are done with them. When we eat, we put our dishes in the dishwasher. We do a load of laundry every single day to keep the baskets empty and to prevent backup since we do have a family of six and missing a day of laundry can mean laundry everywhere. We cook, we wipe down the counters and the table when we finish. We vacuum the carpets and clean the floors every night very quickly after the kids go to bed.

We wipe down the bathroom counters every morning after we are done getting ready. We are just neat people so cleaning our house is usually just a quick vacuum/mop, dust and put laundry away effort. We don’t have to do serious cleaning around here, and that is how we like it. I know, though, that I’m mostly alone in my thoughts. Other people don’t like to clean. Most people hate the act of cleaning. Perhaps if I were not such a clean and organized person by nature, I’d hate to clean, too.

On that note, there are some things that we all have to clean on a regular basis that we don’t even think to clean. I know that I’m neat and clean and you will never find my house in a state of disarray, but even my anal-retentive cleanliness has its boundaries. It took my mother asking me a simple question at one point not too long ago to make me realize that by not realizing certain things around the house need to be cleaned from time to time, I’m wasting a significant amount of money.

That’s right, homeowners; we forget that some things need to be cleaned and we actually spend far more money that we need to. Here’s what we need to clean more often to prevent spending money replacing items that are perfectly cleanable.

Shower Curtains

We don’t have shower curtains in the master bedroom, but the other two bathrooms in our house do have them. I would always just throw the curtain liner away every other week or so as it began to look dirty and replace it. At $5 each, it didn’t seem like much. If you add that up to consider I was buying 2 new shower curtain liners for $10 every two weeks, it was more like $260 per year I was spending. That is a lot; and it’s a huge waste. You can take the liner down with the curtain and shove it in the washing machine (don’t dry it!) and save yourself a bundle, but still have a clean liner. It’s genius, really.

Door Handles

To be completely honest, it was not until we had children that we began washing our door handles. It simply never occurred to me that by doing something so simple, we could save a lot of money over the course of the year. When our oldest daughter was big enough to reach door handles, we began to realize that they were sticky and nasty from her little hands, and that’s when we began cleaning them regularly. It’s a great way to get rid of germs that not only you and your family bring into the house, but anyone who touches your handles while visiting. Door knobs carry a boatload of germs, and you’re saving yourself doctor visit copays, prescriptions and time off work being sick when you keep them clean.

Makeup Brushes

If you’re anything like me, you spend a lot of money on your makeup and your brushes. That’s what goes on your face, and it’s important for it to not only work well, but also leave you feeling clean and pretty. Makeup brushes are not cheap; my foundation brush alone is over $40. I used to replace it every few months until I realized I could actually clean the brushes by washing them with gentle soap and water, allowing them to dry for a few hours and then using them again like new. What a huge savings this is.

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