Category: cleaning

Got a Problem? Try WD-40

The year is 1953. Rocket Chemical, a struggling company in San Diego, sets out to create a rust-preventive solvent that can displace water. On the 40th attempt (note: 39 failures), they nailed it. Thus, WD-40 was born. While the ingredients remain a well-guarded secret more than 50 years later (the company insists there’s nothing in…


7 Reasons You Would Be Smart to Add Borax to Every Wash Load

Borax, a combination of sodium, boron, and oxygen, is a natural substance mined from the earth in its crude form, found in abundance in the deserts of California and Nevada. Powdered borax is white, consisting of soft, colorless crystals that dissolve in water. Borax is an ingredient in many detergents, cosmetics, and enamel glazes. The…


How to Make Cheap and Effective Homemade Stainless Steel Cleaner

Fed up with all the greasy smudges and fingerprints on your stainless steel appliances but also tired of spending $10 or more on stainless steel cleaners? Good news! You can skip the expensive store-bought commercial stainless steel cleaners and make your own highly effective cleaner for just pennies. Stainless steel has become a popular choice…


Homemade Stain Remover for Laundry and Carpet

I’m excited to tell you how to make a fabulous, if not magical, homemade stain remover. This stain remover recipe is so easy and cheap to make. And, wow, does it perform! Unlike some other homemade laundry stain and detergent products you’ll find here at Everyday Cheapskate, this one is also a homemade stain remover…


This Organizing Trick Is the Quickest Way to Get Your Home Ready for Guests

Once you’ve lived in your home for a while, you start to not really see it anymore. The art on your walls, the pillows on your couch, and the clutter on your countertop become such fixtures in your space that you simply stop noticing them. But when guests come over, they’re sure to see it…


10 Tips for Organizing Your Home Before the Holiday Season

You have just over two weeks to spiff up the house for Thanksgiving—and the December holidays (and fun) can overload anyone. So get going now and have a more relaxing season the next month and a half! If my family was ever expecting company while I was growing up, my mom insisted that the house…


Get Organized to Put Money in Your Pocket and a Smile on Your Face

Has this ever happened to you? While searching for the Valentine’s Day centerpiece, you stumble across the Christmas wrap you bought at the half-off-after-holiday sale two years ago. You still don’t know where the centerpiece is. Or you discover six partially full peanut butter jars in the pantry while putting away the new one you…


Frugal Laundry Tips That Will Save You a Fortune

If you’ve ever suffered the heartbreak of stains or other kinds of annoying laundry issues, you’re going to love this! These laundry hacks will elevate you to laundry genius in no time. Dried-On Latex Paint Getting any kind of paint on clothes or other items you care about is awful. Even if latex paint is…


6 Clever Kitchen Storage Ideas to Steal From Restaurants

By nature, home kitchens have always been a more casual and more intimate version of a restaurant—but that doesn’t have to mean that they can’t be as efficient as a bustling restaurant kitchen. To make your kitchen as efficient as you are, it’s a good idea to look to the pros for ideas. Between prep,…


Another Brilliant Way to Use WD-40 Around the House

I had to laugh when I opened my mail to read how one reader was able to get his glass shower doors so clean and sparkly that they looked like new. I had a can of his remedy sitting right there next to my computer. Hold on! That can of WD-40 was not there to…