Looking for frugal ways to clean and maintain your home? Check out these clever Household Tips from the Depression Era!
I love that being frugal is something that many people are taking back into their lives. Some people do it out of necessity and others do it to be less wasteful. Whatever your reason for doing it, we can all agree that the Great Depression was a time when frugal living was just a way of life for most people.
Out of this era of time came a lot of really great ways to save money, use less, and get the most bang for your buck. What is even more amazing about this time of frugality is that a lot of it can still be used today to save you time and money. Here are some Household Tips from the Depression Era that can help you stretch your budget and waste less.
Household Tips from the Depression Era
Use the cheapest means of cleaning. You probably already know by now that using things like vinegar and baking soda are excellent low-cost cleaners. In case you aren’t using them, you really should be as they are safe for your home, pets, and kids and really are very effective. Here are 21 ways to clean your home with vinegar and 15 Ways to Clean Your Home with Baking Soda.
Don’t waste water, use it! Instead of throwing the cooking water you use down the drain, why not save it and use it for your garden? As long as it was just used to boil something like corn on the cob, all you need to do is strain it through a colander and let it cool and it can be used for your garden with an extra dose of vitamins.
Reuse aluminum foil. We get so wasteful anymore with things like aluminum foil. It really can be reused! Just wash it off and restore it. You can also use it to clean your baking dishes. If they are glass, I like to use them for a little abrasive scrub for baked-on food. Here are 10 frugal uses for aluminum foil.
Clean your toilet the non-toxic way. Toilet cleaners can be so harsh. Instead, use a sprinkle of borax around the bowl and a dash of vinegar. If you leave it to sit overnight, it will remove hard water spots as well. Here are 20 more frugal ways to use Borax around your home.
Try toothpaste around the house. Toothpaste is inexpensive and has so many uses at home. I like to use it to clean white sneakers, polish rings, shine chrome and even get smells like onions off my hands. Here are 10 frugal uses for toothpaste.
Prevent rust on your tools with a homemade coating. Just use 1/4 cup lanolin with 1 cup of Vaseline and warm it over the stove in an old pot, stirring gently. Allow it to cool (but stay warm), and coat your tools with a light coating of it. Just leave them to dry and you shouldn’t have to do this more than once a year to prevent rust.
Clean your copper with ketchup. Copper reacts to the acids in ketchup so it can be used to shine up copper very easily. Just rub it in with a cloth and rinse off.
Skip disposable things. Disposable things like paper towels can easily be replaced with rags. We barely use paper towels in my home since I made the switch. Not only is this a frugal way to be, it will save you lots of money ion the long run. Here are 5 easy ways to use cloth instead of paper products.
Wet dust and dry as you go. There are all kinds of dusting products out there, but all you really need is a cloth dampened with plain water. It is the most effective way to get rid of dust and not just spread it in the air and if you will be dusting wood, you just need to dry it as you go along as well.
Use cornmeal to get rid of grease on fabric. Have you ever spilled grease or oil somewhere you thought you would never get it out of? Just sprinkle on some cornmeal and vacuum it up a couple of hours later! The cornmeal will have absorbed most of the grease.
Reuse pillowcases to keep special kids outfits looking nice. I have quite a few pillowcases that do double duty. When a pillowcase gets too worn or stained, I like to cut a hole in the bottom of it and slip it over sentimental kids outfits to keep them clean and dust free for storage. You can also use them for laundry bags for kids at sleep away camps.
More Depression Era Tips:
Depression Era Jobs to Make Extra Money
How to Build a Depression Era Pantry
Frugal Depression Era Gardening Tips
Depression Era Tips to Stretch Your Food Budget
Money Saving Tips from the Depression Era
8 Depression Era Money Saving Tips
Depression Era Health and Beauty Tips You Can Still Use Today
Lindsey says
These are great tips! I didn’t know aluminum foil had so many uses.
MPaula says
I didn’t know about using aluminum foil to clean baking dishes. I will be using that tip a lot in the next little while. I seldom use my oven, preferring my toaster oven. I usually bake on foil – over and over – until I throw it out or recycle it.. It would still be good enough to clean baking dishes.
I highly recommend Doris Jansen Longacre’s books More-with-Less Cookbook and all its sequels from the Mennonite community. My copy is copyrighted from 1976 to 1985. This is my second copy; my first copy never came back. Recipes come from contributors throughout the world, although much are from USA and Canada. There are not only recipes, but tips and quotes. The books are mot likely available through free trade sources.