Sunday, March 7, 2010

A New Way to Save on Name Brand Green Cleaners

How do you get around the budget vs. green clash?

One way is to use what I call the Sliding Budget. I buy an inexpensive green cleaner that I can use for a lot of cleaning chores like vinegar and put the difference towards buying another green cleaner that I can’t make, doesn’t go on sale, or offers a coupon.

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However, it would be nice to use a coupon or discount on those green products I like when I like. Seventh Generation is good about having printable coupons on their website. Sometimes Method does too but I’m not very good about remembering to look for printable coupons before I shop for cleaners, my bad.

I found another way to save on name brand cleaners that works for me. One day husband and I were in Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy a steam floor cleaner. I dutifully grabbed a couple of the BB and B coupons I got in the mail to use for the purchase. I love their couponing frequency because Bed, Bath, and Beyond  sends out $5 and 20% off coupons so often it’s like feeding stray cats.

We get to the store and see that the steam cleaner I picked out on line wasn’t available in the store. We decide to browse around for the sake of browsing around. I notice that Bed,  Bath, and Beyond sells laundry detergent, and other household cleaners. We were almost out of the Vaska liquid nonchlorine bleach I ordered from Alice and I took a look to see what BB and B had.

Well lookie here! My Bed,Bath, and Beyond carries products from Method, Seventh Generation, and Mrs. Meyers among others. I only thought the big BB andB store in New York did that. Granted my store’s selection is much smaller, but there were green products sharing the same shelf space as the conventional cleaning products but I bypassed a thousand times before.

Duh moment.

I like and use products from Method and Seventh Generation. I’ve heard good things about Mrs. Meyers but when I compare the price to the other green cleaners on the store shelf, my internal Cheapo Meter goes off, and I end up buying a less expensive green cleaner or detergent, which more often than not isn’t all that less expensive.

In this case, I grabbed a bottle of Seventh Generation liquid nonchlorine bleach. I like how the liquid nonchlorine bleach works just as well with my homemade HE laundry detergent  as powdered oxygen bleach. However, the liquid gives me the option of using liquid HE laundry detergent in my machine if I want because I have to put the detergent and bleach in the same dispensing compartment.

Now I use that endless stream of Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupons to buy my green cleaning products. A small bottle of a green cleaning product that normally sells for $14.99 isn’t so much of a financial hit when I buy it with a $5.00 or 20% off coupon. Plus I can be as brand loyal or try out something new or discounted was much as I want.

Do you have any tips on how to buy the green products you love and save money doing it? Share you secrets!

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FTC pain in the rear disclosure notice: The companies in this post didn’t pay me to blog about them. However, they did cheerfully accept my money when I wanted to shop in at store or buy their products because they are businesses that like to sell things to the public.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm having a huge a-duh moment after reading your blog. I use vinegar to clean the kitchen but I never thought about putting a spray nozzle on it to make the process easier. That's just GENIUS!!

Yet another thing I learned from your blog :) Thanks CB!

Pop and Ice said...

My hubby wants to know (a) does the bare floor steam cleaner really work and (b) does it really get used? I really want one because my Swiffer Wet Jet sometimes can't clean as well as I need it to and I'm not a get-on-your-knees-to-clean-the-floor sort of gal.

Pop and Ice said...

Yes, the spray nozzle on the vinegar bottle was an ah-ha moment for me as well. Will be trying that out as well!

Shannon said...

I have used a solution of vinegar, water and a squirt of Dawn. It cleans EVERYTHING. I mix it in a generic spray bottle I bought. That way, I can buy bigger bottles of vinegar and save some $. It is really nice to use in the shower/tub.
I also use it when I mop. I bought a mop with a terry cloth (removable) cover. I spray on my solution and mop it up. Mopping with vinegar does leave a haze, so I just rinse the terry cloth out and mop over it again with straight water.

We REALLY want a steam cleaner too!

breanna said...

about that brilliant spray nozzle vinegar thingy....is it a specific spray nozzle that fits...? how do i make that happen at MY house?!?!

(p.s. just found your blog tonight and have been obsessively pouring over every post for hours now. LOVE IT!!!)

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