Hello all!! Again, I apologize for basically taking a week off. Things are coming around and I’m starting to breathe again thankfully. Thank you for the all the sweet messages and kind wishes. Sometimes life just gets you down – but we’re pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps!
For today’s episode of Housework Tuesday I wanted to get your opinion on name brand cleaners verses store brand. As many of you know, I am a HUGE fan of saving money. I just don’t like to pay more for a name brand product when I can purchase a store brand product of the same quality for a cheaper price.
This tends to cause some tension around my house. Hubby is a
Now I’m completely and hopelessly cheap to the point where I buy 1-ply toilet paper. Steven is slowly chipping away at my cheap exterior because I found myself pay a whole $2 more for the Cascade brand detergent last week. But I hate throwing money at expensive cleaners when they really don’t clean any better than store brand. As I learned during our poop fiasco, Bounty paper towels are worth the money. Clorox wipes really do clean better. But what about dishwashing detergent or air fresheners? Toilet bowl cleaners & soap scum removers?
Have any of you found really great “cheap” products that you swear work just as good as name brand? Anyone out there who agrees with my husband and think I should just come off my wallet?? Thoughts??
12 comments:
Some things are okay to skim on. I've learned that when it comes to cleaning stuff, you get what you pay for, and usually when it's cheap, it doesn't clean well.
Fabuloso does a good job and it's pretty cheap. You can get a big bottle of it for $5 at wal-mart. It's made by the Colgate company.
I use purex laundry detergent. It works just as well as Gain or Tide, but it's way cheaper and it has a built-in bleach for colors. It's also made by the Dial company.
Sometimes those "off brands" aren't really off brands. They're just a cheaper version of the more expensive thing that the same company makes, that is probably the same exact soap or cleaner with a different name and cheaper price tag. Next time, flip the container over and see who makes the "off brand" and it's probably a big name corporation.
My husband is also a brand name snob most of the time and I'm the cheap one, but we find a good balance! I think there are certain things that you can be willing to compromise with, and certain things that you shouldn't be.
For me, having the nice toilet paper is a must have, along with my Clorox wipes, detergent and fabric softener. For me I have to have the perfect smell, be it Bounce, or Snuggle. I don't think things like bleach, windex, AJax, things like that have to be name brand. They do the same job no matter what, so I always save there and get the off brands.
Air fresheners we don't use much. I am a BIG fan of Bath and Bodywords wall plug ins. They smell SO good, and last a long time. We don't use air fresheners, so I don't buy them.
My theory is use what works best. If that's the brand name dish washing detergent, get it. But save money on the off brand of windex. Just find your balance and compromise! :)
P.S. I can verify with christopherscocco about Fabuloso. I love it! It's great, cheap, and smells good when you mop!
now that target has their own brand (up and up) and it keeps on growing, i buy almost any and everything in their brand!
including dishwasher gel. it does the job! ;)
there are some cleaning products i don't buy cheap only because target doesn't have a product for them yet.
i'm a target snob, i only shop there, for everything including groceries.
I am totally with Annie I am a Target snob too! If they don't have it, I don't buy it! I am the opposite of you though, I am a name brand snob and my Fiance is more into saving money (I am trying to work on that!)
Matt and I are both snobs on some household items. We have to have Cottonelle two-ply toilet paper and Tide detergent with Bounce dryer sheets. The Harris Teeter dishwasher powder works just the same as Cascade and I too use the off-brand window/mirror cleaner. I also buy Target's brand of swiffers, but I HAVE to have Kleenex tissues! I also buy generic plastic wrap (for food), tin foil, and plastic baggies for food.
It varies for the most part I do buy the knock off version like some of you mentioned up and up is fantastic! Again there's certain things that cannot be messed with ex. feminine hygiene products, toilet paper. I've also learned that lots of the big name companies also produce the knock offs themselves. The same factory will produce the same things. Other times you just have to read the ingredients to find that it's basically the same thing with a different label. I'm glad you're back and feeling like your usual self. We've missed you.
I've left a little something for you over at my blog!!
xoxo
While I prefer name brands in food (for the most part, not always though), I buy generic of almost every cleaning product.
The one thing I've found that I think you get your money's worth if you get the name brand is toilet cleaner. I swear the cheapo stuff just doesn't do it right.
Also, I even prefer generic toilet paper and paper towels. I think Target generic paper towels are the best buy for the money. I don't like getting the expensive towels because then I don't feel like using them and throwing them away. I need them to feel like they're disposable.
Another generic thing I save on is generic "Magic Erasers". They're not that expensive to begin with but the generic is literally the exact same thing, so I never buy the name brand.
My husband and I have the same problem, but not so much b/c he's a name brand snob, it's because he's not quite aware of how much things cost, so he just grabs the name brand first. He sometimes glares at me when I get generic, but he knows better than to pick a fight over something as trivial as dish detergent.
Normally I buy everything offbrand but now that you mention it, we're kind of cleaning brand snobs. We bought Target brand-Pledge wipes and they left disguisting streaks on our furniture, which Pledge brand didn't. I never skimp on Windex because I remember the streaks from my bachelorette days. Commet and 409 are my other go-tos. I think I told you about this before - but you absolutely must try Nature's Miracle for pet accidents. LIFE SAVER!
Ummm I am a total brand snob. On pretty much everything from groceries to cleaning supplies.
I am usually the same way about name brands...most of the time, I think the store brand is just as good. But Cascade is the best dish detergent. I swear nothing else works!
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