RSS Feed 
Enter the Holiday Hair Bows giveaway.
Lexie (#10) is the winner of the Breastfeeding Set!
Wait - That Bottle of Cleaner Isn’t Really Empty!
Friday August 8, 2008 by Danelle Ice
Frugal homemaking causes us to find ways to eliminate wasting supplies and, in turn, wasting our hard earned money. Commercial cleaners which come in spray bottles can be pricey and seem to stop spraying before the cleaner is used up. Don’t toss that spray bottle of cleaner when it stops spraying, though. It’s not really empty yet!
Many people think that when a bottle stops spraying, it is empty enough to throw away. That couldn’t be further from the truth! The Homemaker Barbi team decided to find out just how much liquid is left inside a spray bottle of cleaner once pulling the trigger no longer makes liquid spray out. We tested a popular kitchen cleaning brand’s spray bottle of kitchen cleaner (brand to remain nameless). Measuring the liquid that remained in the bottle allowed us to get a rough estimate of what percentage of cleaner would be wasted if you threw away the remainder.
- Starting contents of bottle: 32 fluid ounces
- Cleaner left inside after bottle stopped spraying: 5 fluid ounces
- According to these measurements, 15.6% of the cleaner is still in the bottle when you can no longer spray it out.
- If your cleaner cost $5, that 15% is worth 75 cents!
- Multiply this by one bottle of cleaner a month, and you could possible be throwing away $9 per year.
Don’t waste 15% of your cleaning spray! The remaining cleaner can still be used in buckets of cleaning water or in mopping water. Here’s how:
1. Unscrew the sprayer from the bottle and discard.
2. Use a plastic zipper bag or plastic wrap and rubber band to cover the top of the bottle.
3. Put the bottle with your cleaning supplies.
4. When mopping or cleaning, add the remaining cleaner to a bucket of warm water. This mixture will clean and disinfect using a sponge, scrub brush or mop just as well as if you were spraying it out of a bottle.
Never waste cleaning liquid again! Cut your family’s household expenses by getting the most out of what you’ve already bought. What other products can you apply this principle to?
Check out Frugal Friday for more great tips. Photo courtesy of stock.xchng.
You Might Like These Similar Articles:
Related Articles:
Comments RSS feed | Trackback URI
11 Comments:
Kim said on August 9th, 2008 @ 4:27 am:
Great tip. I did this recently with the Bath and Body Works Anti-bacterial hand soaps. It was “empty”, so I filled it 3/4’s of the way with water and shook it up and I was able to make it last for a couple of more weeks.
Angie said on August 9th, 2008 @ 6:36 am:
I have always poured the rest out into the next (new) bottle. 
The Chatty Housewife said on August 9th, 2008 @ 5:02 pm:
Another great tip is that if you turn the nozzle around to face the opposite direction (opposite direction than the photo above) so that the finger grips aren’t being used properly, the angle of the bottle as you are spraying makes it so much easier to use up those last little bits. I always use my bottles this way because it makes for easier handle pumping too- none of those pumps that just get air!
admin said on August 11th, 2008 @ 2:48 pm:
@Angie:
I never buy the same brand twice in a row since I get whatever has the best price when I’m shopping. I don’t pour my leftovers into the next bottle because they are different cleaners and/or brands. Please be advised that you should never mix cleaners in the bottle, even different brands. The chemicals, both active and inactive, can be different (or even the same in different percentage) and can have adverse reactions when combined!
Homemaker Barbi
Kaye said on August 12th, 2008 @ 9:19 am:
Great tip! In fact….
CONGRATULATIONS! You have won the Mrs Nespy’s Frugal World Bronze Medal for August 8th. Go to http://mrsnespy.googlepages.com/grabyourmedalhere to get the code to post your medal if you’d like. Thanks for the great writing!
admin said on August 12th, 2008 @ 10:08 am:
@Kaye:
Thank you so much! I’ll proudly display the award!
Homemaker Barbi
Kaye said on August 12th, 2008 @ 12:46 pm:
Okay, so I’m not trying to award stalk you or bombard you, but I’m trying to catch up with my posting and reading. Although this post in particular won the Bronze Award for the 8th, your entire post is worthy of another award that I have nominated you for…
http://mrsnespysworld.blogspot.com/2008/08/you-like-meyou-really-like-me.html
Thanks again!
admin said on August 12th, 2008 @ 1:40 pm:
@Kaye:
Thank you again! You may have noticed that the site’s awards are proudly displayed on the right hand sidebar.
Homemaker Barbi (Danelle Ice)
Chrysa said on August 13th, 2008 @ 10:05 pm:
Great info. I usually end up opening the spray bottle and pouring out some of the last bits to clean, but it really doesn’t work that great! Please come on over to Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty Jinxy and post a link to your post. I’m sure my readers would enjoy it! http://thriftyjinxy.blogspot.com/2008/08/thrifty-thursday-living-on-cheap.html
Leave a Comment
Homemaker Barbi would love to hear from you!
Please feel free to leave a comment.
The Diaper Diaries said on August 8th, 2008 @ 9:13 am:
This is a great tip. I throw those out without even thinking about what I am doing. Thanks!!