I Use This $10 Find to Clean All Over My Home (It’s Replaced Almost All My Cleaners!)

One of the most difficult aspects of whole-home cleaning is keeping track of all the different products that need to be used. It’s not only a total headache to drag everything from room to room, but it’s also expensive to purchase all of those single-use bottles — and if you live in a small apartment with limited storage space, you’d have to dedicate an entire cabinet to cleaning supplies and sacrifice space for other items. 

That is, unless you use an effective multi-purpose cleaner. I’ve been using Dr. Bronner’s castile soap as my go-to body soap for about five years, but I’d never tried their product Sal Suds until about six months ago. Sal Suds is an ultra-concentrated hard-surface multi-purpose cleaner with a subtle pine scent that has replaced almost all of my single-function cleaning products. It’s gentle on the skin, but powerful enough to tackle messes.

I use Sal Suds to clean all over my house. I dilute one-and-a-half teaspoons of the concentrate with water in a spray bottle for most uses, and for others I just use a drop of the good stuff directly where I want to clean. Sal Suds settles at the bottom of a spray bottle, so you will need to shake it before each use. 

In the kitchen, I use the two-ingredient spray on countertops (safe on all stone types), stainless steel appliances, the cooktop and backsplash, cabinets, and for spot cleaning. Sal Suds can also be used to hand-wash dishes. To mop, I use the same solution but at a higher quantity. I fill the mop bucket with hot water, add in a couple of drops of Sal Suds, and get to mopping. 

I also use Sal Suds for windows and mirrors, around the toilet, the bathtub, and shower tile. To clean inside the toilet I add a couple of drops into the bowl, let it sit for a few minutes, and then scrub. I’ve noticed that as long as there isn’t too much concentrate in my solution and I don’t use too much product, Sal Suds does not leave behind any streaks or residue.

For particularly difficult cleaning tasks, I make a “soft scrub.” This includes adding Sal Suds, baking soda, water, and vinegar to create a slightly abrasive scrub that is great for eating through baked-on food, dried messes, and grimy bathtubs. I use it once a week on my stainless steel kitchen sink in between regular cleans. 

One thing to keep in mind before using Sal Suds is that the product is aptly named: It produces a lot of suds. For this reason, be sure to err on the side of caution and use just a little bit at a time. You can always add more if you find you didn’t use enough. 

I love how economical this product is; a 16-ounce bottle costs $10, and in the past six months I haven’t even gone through half of it. This powerful product has replaced almost all of my single-function cleaning products, which has saved me money and freed up a lot of space under my kitchen sink.

Buy: Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner, $9.99