Cleaning With Baking Soda

Watch as you are shown ten ways that baking soda can be used to clean your home.   I do tip #1 every time I do a load of laundry.  

I found the video and information for this post on this site

1. Boost Your Laundry
2. Make Your Carpets Smell Great
3. Detox Your Hair
4. Clean Your Oven
5. Make Kitty Litter Smell Better
6. Enhance Any Cleaning Solution
7. Cleaning Grout
8. Unclog the Sink
9. Underarm Deodorant
10. Scrub Away Marks on Your Walls

I buy this 13.5 lb. bag from Costco for $5.79.  

Last time I picked up a bag it was on sale for $4.39

The bag lasts me several months.  

The Ultimate Stain Remover

The ultimate stain remover that actually works on a seriously set in stain! Never buy oxyclean again!

The mixture is:
1 tsp. Dawn dishwashing detergent...
3-4 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide
couple tablespoons of baking soda.
Scrub on with a scrubbing brush.

Works on every stain I've tried it on !!!

I saw this "recipe" on Julie Steinbrink's Facebook page.  

You might want to look her up. She has a lot of ideas.

Window and Glass Cleaner, All-purpose Cleaner, and Laundry Bleach Alternative

Mary Hunt, you've done it again.  I love reading her cleaning recipes from her column in our paper.  You can access her site at:   everydaycheapskate.com

This is what Mary has to say about homemade cleaning recipes:

Just imagine you could actually make all kinds of household products equal to the window cleaner, chlorine bleach and all-purpose cleaner you're buying now--and make them for pennies, not dollars.  You can if you have the right recipes.

Click on article to enlarge

Window and Glass Cleaner

Ingredients
1/2  cup non-sudsing household ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 drops blue food coloring (optional)
warm water

Directions
Pour ingredients into a gallon-size container that has a tight-fitting lid.   Fill with warm water.  Shake to incorporate.  The food coloring, while not necessary, will alert you that the contents are not water.  Label and keep out or the reach or children  

All Purpose Cleaner

Ingredients
2 cups rubbing alcohol
1 tablespoon Blue Dawn dishwashing soap
1 tablespoon non-sudsing household ammonia
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Directions
Mix in a gallon container that has a tight-fitting lid.  Fill container with warm water, and shake to mix.  You can put this in a spray bottle and use as you would any other household  cleaner.  Great for cleaning chrome, countertops and bath fixtures

Laundry Bleach Alternative

Ingredients
12 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup hydrogen peroxide

Directions
Mix, label, and store in a container with a tight-fitting lid.  Add 2 cups per load of whited to keep them bright.  

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Mary Hunt published a recipe for laundry detergent in our local paper.  I gave it a try and really like the end results.  (Especially the cost...she claims it is 3 to 5 cents per load.)

click on article to read

 Quick and Easy Homemade Laundry Detergent

3 tablespoons borax
3 tablespoons washing soda
2 tablespoons Original Blue Dawn dishwashing liquid.

Find a one-gallon container with a tight -fitting lid.  Pour in the borax, washing soda and liquid Dawn.  Add two cups of very hot water.  Apply the lid and shake until the soda and borax have dissolved.  Now fill the container with cold water.  reapply the lid, label and you're done.  To use:  Add 1 to 2 cups to each load of laundry depending on the size and soil levels.

Note:  Unlike commercial detergents, this is very thin - like water.  That's the way it's supposed to be.  Even though this is not a thick liquid, it works just as well, so don't let that concern you.  Instead start thinking of how you'll use the money you're go longer spending on pricey commercial laundry detergent!

Note #2:  Mary later wrote another column with a concentrated version.  The ingredients are still the same.

Concentrated version:

3/4 cup washing soda
3/4 cup borax
1/2 cup Blue Dawn dishwashing liquid
1 gallon hot water.

Use 1/4 cup of the concentrate per load of laundry.  (You can experiment until you discover the least you can use in your washer.  If you use too much detergent you'll have trouble getting it all out in the rinse.  Hint:  If your laundry comes out of the dryer stiff and scratchy, that's a sure sign that the detergent did not rinse out properly.)  



Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com, a personal finance member website.  

I bought my ingredients at Walmart.  For my one-gallon container with a tight fitting lid, I used an old 1 gallon water container from Costco.  I'll have to be sure to label it as laundry detergent so no one will think it is blue Kool-Aid and try to drink it. I also noticed that it was hard to dissolve the powders just by shaking it in the hot water.  I put the powders and hot water in a pot and heated and stirred until it was dissolved.  I put in the Dawn dishsoap last so it wouldn't suds up when I added the last of the water.    

Why Eat Together?

When we were in Utah last week for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Deseret News had an excellent article entitled: It's Time for Dinner (with family) by Carolyn Campbell . I would suggest that you click onto the link and read the whole article.

Here is a little section of the article that I thought was interesting:

So why eat together?

Family bonding

Eating a family meal creates an environment that fosters conversation. During dinner, the family has the opportunity to spend time together, author Janet Peterson says.

"Because they are sitting down together at the table, looking across at each other, it is a level playing field, with the parents not standing taller than the children, which creates a more relaxed atmosphere," she says.

Saving money

"Restaurants are in the business to make money," Peterson said. "Their labors, real estate and profit margin all cost. If they don't make money, they don't stay in business." She says if you multiply the average of $812 spent annually per person on eating out, it doesn't take a CPA to tell you that it's costly, especially for a family with children.

"Restaurant prices in recent years have risen slightly faster than inflation, making it even more expensive to eat away from home," Peterson says.

Healthier meals

A study published in the British Archives of Family Medicine found that having a family dinner was not only associated with a healthier way of eating, but also had a positive effect on the family's physical and emotional health.

The study reported that those who ate dinner with their families were more likely to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables daily. The home-cooked meal is more likely to contain a variety of food groups. Milk or water is more likely to be served, and less soda pop or high fat foods are typically offered.

Commercially prepared foods are notoriously high in sugar, starch and fat, although some restaurants do list low-fat items on their menus, says Peterson. She adds that home cooking allows a family to select healthful ingredients, tailor meals to suit their own particular nutritional needs and tastes, serve portions appropriate to age and activity level, and monitor methods of preparation.

We also eat more when we eat out.

"Everything is super-sized," Peterson says. "Restaurant portions continue to increase. The usual restaurant plate used to be 10 inches in diameter and now it is 12 inches."

Learning

Preschool children who eat with the family have better language skills, according to the Rockford Clinic. Dinner-time conversation exposes them to a broader vocabulary, especially as they listen to adults and older children. Eating together as a family can teach good communications skills, such as listening patiently and expressing one's opinion in a respectful manner.

According to researchers at the University of Illinois, children age 7-11 who did well on school achievement tests ate the majority of their meals and snacks with their families.

One study points out how family dinners are strong preventative medicine. Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, reported: "Intensive research and teen surveys have consistently revealed that the more often children eat dinner with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs."

Family tradition

Food served at the family table helps shape and give lasting meaning to our cultural heritage, says Katherine Carson, associate professor of food science at Pennsylvania State College.

"Positive food memories created during childhood are cherished for life," she says.

Peterson adds that food provides a connection among families.

Homemade Eye Glass Cleaning Spray

1 cup of water

1/4 cup vinegar

1/8 cup rubbing alcohol

2 drops of dish soap

Combine above ingredients and fill into a spray bottle.

To clean glasses:

Spray both sides of each lens and rub clean with a soft cloth. Never use paper towels, toilet paper or kleenex as they contain harsh abrasives that will scratch your lenses.

Scott cleans his glasses every day, sometimes twice, so he asked if I could find a recipe for a cleaning solution for his glasses.

The above recipe is a combination of two recipes that I got off the Internet. It takes pennies to make this compared to the cost of picking up something from the store.

7 Things You Should Always Buy Generic

I read this post this morning about a money saving tip and was excited to share it here.
Be sure to click onto the video.


Have fun saving money.

Tub and Shower Spray

I saw this in the paper from Mary Hunt's column entitled: Ordinary Ingredients Can Produce Magic Results .
debtproofliving.com

If you haven't experienced the power of original blue Dawn plus white vinegar, you are in for a treat. Remove the top of a plastic spray bottle, and fill half of it with white vinegar. Carefully heat it in the microwave until the vinegar is hot, taking care not to melt the bottle.

Fill the rest of the bottle with blue Dawn liquid dishwashing soap. Apply the top tightly. Gently shake the bottle to mix. That's it. You now have a powerful cleaning product that will melt soap scum and tub and shower buildup and clean sinks, appliances, and just about anything else. Just spray it on, scrub, rinse and be amazed. For tough soap scum buildup, spray the mixture on and allow it to sit as long as overnight. The scrub and rinse.

9/17/10 I made this and used it to clean my tub and stovetop. I thought that 50/50 ratio of Dawn to white vinegar is too strong on the Dawn. I since have tried a 5% Dawn to 95% vinegar ratio and it worked a lot better. The other way was just too soapy.

Weed Killer

I saw this in the paper from Mary Hunt's column entitled: Ordinary Ingredients Can Produce Magic Results .
debtproofliving.com

Here's a recipe for weed-killer that has the power of Roundup for a fraction of the price. Mix 2 cups of ordinary table salt into 1 gallon of white vinegar that has 5 percent acidity. Add 8 drops of liquid dish washing soap.

Label it, and keep it out of the reach of children. This is not toxic, but it will kill any and all vegetation, even the good stuff, so be careful where you spray it.

Another caution: Spraying this multiple times in the same area will sterilize the soil so that nothing will grow there for a long time. It is ideal for killing weeds that grow between cracks in your sidewalk and other areas where you don't want vegetation.

I think I'll whip me up a batch and spray the brick path in my front yard!

How to Freeze Tomatoes

What do you do when your tomato crop explodes ?

1. Give some to your friends and neighbors who would like some fresh garden tomatoes.

2. Freeze the rest to use later when you make a pot spaghetti or chili on a winter's night.

This post will tell you how to get from this....



....to this.


I found a web site that explains how to freeze tomatoes much better than I could. You can get to the site by clicking here or you can read how to do it below.

Freezing is the easiest and safest way to preserve tomatoes from your garden or the farmers market. Freezing locks in summer fresh flavor and nutrients so you can enjoy delicious tomatoes in soups and sauces all winter long!

Things You'll Need:

• Fresh tomatoes
• Serrated paring knife
• Stockpot
• Boiling water
• Large bowl of ice water
• Zip closure freezer bags

Step 1

Vine ripened tomatoes taste best fresh or frozen. If you didn't grow your own tomatoes, pay a visit to your local farmer's market for a wide selection of ripe tomatoes. Pick tomatoes that are fully colored and tender, but not mushy or soft.

Step 2

Clean the tomatoes by rinsing them individually under a stream of running water. Gently rub the surface of the fruit to remove any soil. If you aren't sure if the tomatoes are organic, wash them with a mild fruit and vegetable cleaner to help remove pesticide and herbicide residues, then rinse well.

Step 3

Pop the stem off the tomatoes. If it is stubborn, use a knife to carefully remove the stem.

Step 4

Fill a stockpot with water and bring it to a rapid boil. Dip 2 to 3 tomatoes at a time into the water. Remove the tomatoes from the pot with a slotted spoon when the skins begin to loosen (after about 30 seconds).

Step 5

Plunge the tomatoes immediately into an ice water bath. This stops the tomatoes from cooking and further loosens the skins.

Step 6

Slide the skins off the tomatoes and compost them. Use a serrated knife to remove any stubborn bits of peel and cut out the core of the tomato. At this point you can freeze the tomatoes whole or cut them into halves or quarters.

Step 7

Pack the tomatoes into freezer bags, leaving one inch of headroom at the top of the bag. Freezer bags that have a zipper seal work best. Squeeze the air of the bag and zip the top close.

Step 8

Save room in your freezer by laying the bags of tomatoes flat on a freezer shelf. Once frozen, stack the bags wherever you would like in the freezer. Frozen tomatoes stay fresh for up to one year and taste best cooked into soups, stews, and sauces.

When I do step 6, I take it one step further and after I quarter the tomatoes and put them in a big bowl. Then I take my clean hands and squish them all up. (who likes big chunks of tomatoes in your spaghetti sauce? Not my kids!) Then I ladle them into a quart ziploc bag. Walmart brand are a cheaper price. (Be sure you squeeze the air out of the bag.)

Enjoy!

Table Center Piece

We had a work party at our house this this past week. I used these flower blooms from our yard as table center pieces. I was happy with the way they turned out and you can't beat the price....free! (You could also use canning jars with raffia bows to put the flowers in.)

Does any one know the name of the flowers? They are always in bloom around the 4th of July and make great center pieces this time of year.

Julie Cole let me know that this type of flower is called, agapantha. She said, "They come in purple and white....once you grow them, the 'bulbs' multiply. They are easy to separate and then you have more. Very easy to grow." Thanks, Julie for the information!

Lunches

Click on the above newspaper and read the letter to the editor: Lunches by Mom

In case you can't read the article, this is what it says:

Lunches by Mom

The Guest View article by Trulie Ankerbery about school lunches caught my eye. (May 5) She said, “Millions of families do not have the funds to send their children to school with nutritious homemade lunches.”

I disagree with that statement.

It is possible to make nutritious homemade lunches for a minimal cost with a little time, effort, and planning. My six children are living proof of that. We don’t need another government program feeding our children their school lunches.

What we need is mothers and fathers taking care of their families.

Added Aug, 2023

In 2014 my daughter wrote an essay about, "The Power of Lunches".  Click here to go to our family blog where I posted her essay.  It was a payday for me. 

How to Prepare for Financial Emergencies

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a great web page on providentliving.org about how to handle handle family finances. This web page has many links that will take you to topics on:

• Paying Tithes and Offerings
  
• Avoiding Debt
• Using a Budget
• Building a Reserve
• Teaching Family Members

I like what our First Presidency has to say on the topic:

"We encourage you wherever you may live in the world to prepare for adversity by looking to the condition of your finances. We urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt. . . . If you have paid your debts and have a financial reserve, even though it be small, you and your family will feel more secure and enjoy greater peace in your hearts."
—The First Presidency

Click here to go to that web page.

Here's another post on how to handling financial emergencies from:

www.LivingOnADime.com

Click here for the link that was posted on March 9, 2010 on how to be financially prepared. Below is a cut and past of the article.

How to Prepare For Financial Emergencies

The best way to survive unemployment or any financial challenge is to be prepared ahead of time. Many of us prepare for all kinds of emergencies -- keeping an emergency supply of food, first aid kits and other emergency supplies. Here in Kansas, we keep one room prepared where we can go in case a tornado hits. But few of us prepare for something that is almost guaranteed to hit every one of us at some time-- unemployment.

I hope that today's ideas will inspire you to prepare for a financial emergency that is sure to happen at some point in your life in the same way you prepare for other emergencies.

As hard as it was at the time, I can honestly say that I'm glad I had the various experiences that I had with unemployment. I really wouldn't be the person I am now if I hadn't. At the time, you wonder why God is allowing these things to happen in your life and think it is so unfair but, years later, you find out many of these things taught you something that really helped you in the long run.

If my husband hadn't been laid off the first time, we wouldn't had started a business he loved. That business enabled him to be at home with the kids and me. I restarted that same business years later, which helped me save my home and helped us avoid living out on the streets. In fact, this web site wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for the job losses I experienced in my life and the things I learned from them.

The best way to rid yourself of fear and panic is to be prepared for a situation. I love the story of Joseph in the Bible (Gen. 41) where God told Joseph that there was a famine coming. What did Joseph do? Well, he didn't pay any attention to the news of the day, nor did he worry about what others were saying. He also didn't just sit there knowing that tough times were coming and say, "Que Sera Sera, what will be, will be".

He started preparing-- preparing in a big way. Maybe we don't have grain elevators to fill like he did (Well, on second thought lots of people in Kansas do :) ), but we can take practical steps now to prepare in case a "famine" should come in our lives.

I am so tired of listening to people moaning and groaning about what is going to happen to the world financially. Stop complaining about it! Take the time and energy you are wasting pointing out how awful things are and do something constructive about it in your life.

Here are a few things you can do to insulate yourself against potential financial emergencies:

• Get rid of credit card debt. I know I sound like a broken record, but credit card debt is something that can make or break you when money is tight. Once we had a gas card and furniture card, both of which were maxed out for a total of $500. The thing that hurt us the most when we had a job layoff was that credit card debt. We could have paid most of our bills with a part time job, but each month we had to make that credit card payment. It almost broke us-- and our debt was nothing compared to some others.
  
  Don't take this lightly. You can lose everything just because of that debt. I don't care what you need to do. Get serious and aggressive about paying if off. Visit our web site and refer to our books where we give you thousands of ideas about how to do it.
  


• It may seem impossible but stop buying on credit now. Lots and lots of people don't buy on credit and do just fine. You can too. If you don't have cash to pay for something, live without it until you can save enough for it. We can live without most things that we think we can't live without. My daughter and I have each gone through a winter without a refrigerator until we had the money to buy one. It was a pain keeping the frozen stuff in the cold garage, but we survived.
  


• Pay off your mortgage. If you are barely making your house payment, you may have to consider buying a less expensive house in order to accomplish that goal. The thing that saved me more than once was never buying a house I couldn't reasonably afford. Also, except for a couple of years after losing a lot of money on one house sale, I have had my house paid off since I was in my middle 30's. You can usually make enough money for minimal food and utilities in tough times, but it is the house payment that can make or break you. Pay it off and you won't have to worry about that anymore.
  
  During the depression, the people who survived the best were the ones who had their homes paid for and had no debt.
  


• Save. It's a toss up when it comes to deciding whether to save first and then pay your mortgage or visa versa. For me, having my mortgage paid lifted more of a burden from me. Additionally, the interest I made on my savings was so much less than the interest I paid on my mortgage that I was better off getting rid of my house payment.
  
  Different people feel differently about their situations so do what is most comfortable for you. The most ideal thing, of course, is to pay your house off and have a small nest egg.
  
  Don't panic when you hear the word "savings". It is so easy to think "there is no way I can save" but even if you save only $5 a week, that is something. Most people waste significantly more than that each day. I found out that having even an extra $25 helped because it could buy an awful lot of bread and bologna to feed us.
  


• Stop worrying about things like college funds until you can get your finances under control. Those are nice to have but they aren't as big a necessity as most people think, especially when you're trying not to lose your home. If your child wants to go to college, he can go to a community college, get a scholarship or even work to pay his own way (What a concept).
  


• Learn useful skills. Learn how to do basic sewing, home repair, car repair, cooking and yard work. Learn to grow a garden. You may not have a need to do these things now, but someday you could find yourself thinking "I wish I knew how to ____, because it would save me so much money." Teach your children life skills as well.
  


• This last suggestion may seem a little odd but install a wood burning stove in your home if you don't have one. For those of you in colder climates, this can save significant money on your heating bill.
  
  When we were in our toughest times, I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had a wood burning stove to heat my home (or at least part of my home). The heating bill would have eaten me alive, but I could always find free wood. Even when I had to have the heater on to keep the pipes from freezing, I could keep it low enough to save me huge amounts of money.
  
  

There are so many things in our lives that we have no control over. Life happens, but there are some things we can prepare for and unemployment is one of them.

Get serious with your money and stop being foolish with it. God didn't give us prosperity solely to satisfy our "wants". It is important to use it wisely, to provide for your needs in good times and bad. Use the money you have to build a strong foundation for you family so, when the storms come, your family will be safe and can ride it out better.

Don't be selfish, spending too much of your money on things that give you instant gratifications and pleasure for the moment. Yes, you do enjoy that big screen TV, that golf game or those expensive shoes and purses, but what will you feel like further down the road when you have lost your job and have no clue on how you are going to save your home or feed your kids?

People who aren't prepared react very badly to losing their jobs. They play the blame game. It's the fault of the boss, the company, the government, the bank or these hard economic times. We play the blame game when we are caught doing something foolish or wrong. You may say, "but I did nothing wrong by losing my job." No but did you do something foolish by failing to prepare in case you did lose it?

I'm not saying any of this to judge or condemn anyone. You know your own circumstances. I'm just telling you this to try and open your eyes to the importance of being prepared, and not just because of what is going on now. Unexpected things happen all the time, but the more prepared we are, the better equipped we are to handle any financial challenge that presents itself.

Lunch Sack Ideas

• Buy paper sacks and baggies for sack lunches at Walmart or Smart and Final. It’s cheaper.
• Look for good deals on boxed drinks and stock up.
• Buy reusable box drink containers (Rubbermaid makes one) and fill with Koolaid or Crystal Light.
• Make your own fruit cup: Buy 5 ½ oz disposable container with lid from Smart and Final. Put in fruit from #10 can, available at Costco, Sam’s Club, or Smart and Final. Our favorites are applesauce or pineapple. Put in freezer. When ready to use, put in zip sandwich bag (in case it leaks in lunch bag). Don’t forget the plastic spoon. Smart and Final has small cheaper plastic ware.

• Fold corner of napkin and cut heart shape to let your kids/husband know you love them.
• Include a note in lunch sack to brighten someone’s day.
• Use large heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out brownies or rice krispy treats
• Make “carrot coins” by cutting carrots circles for a lunch treat.
• Make ‘orange smiles” by cutting oranges in circles and then in half.
• Roll up ham slices with grated cheese in a flour tortilla
• If a microwave is available put leftovers from the night before in a container to be heated up for lunch the next day.

My daughter, Janelle, wrote a college essay about the power of lunches.

“This I Believe”

I believe in the power of lunches.

My mom has six children and a husband, all of who needed a lunch for school and work. And so mom made seven lunches every day for twenty five years. That’s over 63,000 lunches.

Love seems to be expressed in two ways: word and action. Over the years, I began to realize that mom’s lunches were full of love. Every day, my brown paper bag held basically the same thing: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, apple, tortilla chips, and water bottle. But it also held something more.

Each and every lunch held time. Mom’s day began earlier than mine. She would be up early in the kitchen, spreading peanut butter and washing apples while in her pink robe. Making lunches only took a few minutes, but those were precious minutes that I could use putting on makeup instead of bagging my own sandwich. Mom never called attention to this time she spent serving. She just did it because she loved me.

Each and every lunch held acknowledgment. Mom wrote our individual names on all the paper lunch sacks. Kind of elementary, I know. But mom liked writing our names. She would say them out loud as she wrote, writing them phonetically: “Janelllllllllllllllllle” for Janelle. “Li-a-sa” for Lisa. There is love in a name spoken and heard—something so personable and individual. Sometimes kids at school called us names, or made us feel as if we did not have one. But at lunch time, there was our name in front of us. It was a mother’s acknowledgment of who we were. And we knew that it was spoken and written with love; because of that, nothing else mattered.

I think I first began to realize what lunches meant to me in elementary school. Some kids brought things like “lunchables,” which was the unspoken “cool” lunch to bring. These included yummy treats like candy and mini pizzas, and they didn’t come in brown paper bags. I remember sometimes wishing I could walk into the cafeteria with a “cool lunch.” But then, my brown paper bag occasionally held homemade cookies or rice krispy treats. All of a sudden, I was the spoken of bringer of a cool lunch! My friends would “ooo” and “ahh” over my good fortune of a mom who would actually make treats for me. And then my cookie would get split into eight different shares and passed around the cafeteria table.

Love is spoken through acts of service, and my mom served me every day of my school career. Not only did her lunches fill me nutritionally, but I was also daily filled with reminders of her love. Now I live away from home, and so I make my own lunch every day. What do I make? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Though they aren’t spread with a mother’s love, I don’t think I will ever eat a sandwich again without thinking of my mom.

Grout Cleaner

By Linda Cobb, queenofclean.com

Make a paste of 2 parts baking soda, 1 part borax and 1 part hot water. Add the water as necessary to form a thick paste. Apply this paste to the grout, and scrub with a scrub brush. To make the job easier, use a scrub brush on a handle. Then rinse well.

For cleaning the tile, you should remember that ceramic tile is to porous. You can clean it effectively with warm water. Many commercial cleaners leave a residue on the tile surface that looks like a smeary coating. A good, neutral cleaner for tile is a solution of 1 gallon of warm water, 2 tablespoons of ammonia, and 1 tablespoon of borax. Never use vinegar. It is an acid and will eventually etch the grout. You should never use a sponge mop on ceramic title, either. It works like a squeegee, depositing the dirty water into the grout tracks. Sweep or vacuum the floor prior to washing. A micro fiber mop works wonders on tile. Check out the Act Natural Mop at www.euronetusa.com. I have been using one for four years and love it. And you don’t need anything except water. When both your tile and grout are clean, you can seal the grout.

I got this out of the paper a few years back. Scott cleaned my entryway today with this grout cleaner and it looks great!