Five cleaning habits that waste your money

*Grace* · 03-20-2010, 05:34 AM

Eliminating the costs of routine overuse in cleaning could save you money.

Five cleaning habits that waste your money / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

If you go to the comments page, you'll see what I'm about to talk about. Showering once a week is not being frugal. It's being nasty. If I were stuck in a crowded elevator, I sure hope it's with those "wasteful" daily showering, deodorant wearing, hair washing, teeth brushing people instead of some of these "frugal" types.

**Elaine** · 03-20-2010, 07:05 AM

Yuck.

I've been trying to tell Haley that she uses way too much conditioner for the past year or so though ... probably 4 times as much as she needs. She'll claim she NEEDS so much because her hair is dry and damaged from dying ... I told her to use half as much as she does and leave it on her hair longer ... we're still going through a bottle a week. *sigh*

*Grace* · 03-20-2010, 07:12 AM

Wow, I go through a bottle about every six weeks or so and I am "wasteful" compared to some of these folks. I don't know if she showers or not, but i wash my hair and face first, then condition my hair. Since I have already washed that part of my body, I keep my head out of the water and rinse when I am finished washing the rest of me.

**Spaggie** · 03-23-2010, 04:59 AM

I already use about half of the recommended amounts of laundry detergent and dishwasher soap. Been doing it for quite a few years now and it works just fine.

I don't really worry about how much shampoo and conditioner I use since I only wash my hair twice a week (its very dry to start with and washing more often makes it more so). I do use ALOT of conditioner, but not as much as it sounds like Haley uses. Elaine, my hair is so dry it frizzes. Tell her to do this twice a week: after washing twice (50 cent size squirts each time), then use a palm FULL of conditioner. Leave it on her hair while she washes her body, face and shaves, etc. This should give her anywhere from 2-5 minutes with the conditioner just sitting on her hair, which gives it a deep condition. When she is ready to rinse, rinse with warm water (rinse body, too), then give a quick rinse with COLD water on the hair. This really helps with shine, too. Been doing it for years and it works great. The problem with using too much conditioner is that it weighs your hair down (even after you have rinsed it) and makes it attract more dirt.

My dentist told me as a kid that you only need a pea sized dollop. I use a touch more than that so I can get my tongue clean too (which is extra important for me since the surgery so I don't get a yeast infection in my mouth). I use an old medicine cup for mouthwash and use 1tbsp. Works just fine for me, but I also do it at least twice a day (again because of the surgery). I'm still using way less than I used to.