Tip #1 on how to save money.

DId you know that the average household spends $600 per year on household cleaning supplies? Would you like to know how to save that $600, or at least most of it?

Just like cloth diapers vs disposable diapers to be able to save money in the long run over time you have to put out a little money at the start.

So what is this great breakthrough? Norwex. (No I am not a distributor, so this is an unbiased opinion).

Norwex is a microfiber speciality company that has designed the most amazing microfiber cloths on the market (at least in my opinion). Even better is in a number of their cloths they have added silver to it. Silver is a natural antibacterial agent that is activated by simple water. It is extremely effective, so much that it is used in the wound dressings for burn patients to help prevent infections.

Studies have found that Norwex kills the following things:
E.Coli (Escherichia coli)
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Proteus vulgaris
Salmonella typhi
Staphylococcus aureus
Stretococcus faecalis
Stretococcus pygogenes
Candidua albicans
MRSA
SARS coronavurus

I have talked to a number of people who have simply used the microfiber cloths with the silver in them and noticed a dramatic reduction in the number of colds etc people in the house have suffered from. Also I have a couple of friends whose daughters were constantly getting UTIs. They bought the baby cloth size microfiber cloths and hand their daughters use a wet one to clean themselves after going to the bathroom and their UTIs disappeared. People who have bad acne claim that using just the microfiber cloths (without any additonal cleansers) resulted in their acne clearing up. All because of silver.

Not sold on the silver? Ever heard of the term "Born with a silver spoon?" Babies in high income homes in older times often were fed with silver spoons. These children had lesser infection and thus often lesser infant mortality rates.

All the good stuff being said, the initial cost of buying it all can be a fair chunk of cash. And let's face it, that sucks when one is trying to be money savvy. So I suggest buying in it "bits and pieces" and seeing how you like it. If it like/love it then you can slowly buy more.

So the first purchase would be the microfiber cloths and a window cleaning cloth. Almost all your cleaning needs are fixed right there. The microfiber cloths come in 4 different colors. This is so you can color code them for your house - example: kitchen is blue, bathroom is yellow, regular dusting is green, etc. These clothes have the silver embedded in them and so disinfect while cleaning. Cost of 4 is about $60.00. The window cleaning cloth is a damn near miracle cloth. Wet, wring till damp, wipe the window or mirror and it dries streak free. I hate the smell of window cleaner and I found I could not breathe around it so this for me was a near godsend of a product.

The next thing I would buy would be the mop system with the rubber brush. The mop system consists of the mop handle ($31) and base ($25-33 depending on the size) and then a variety of mop heads. For dry cleaning go with the dry superior mop head. run from ( $25-$35 depending on the size of mop head you buy) for this head you will also want the Rubber Brush ($16) which is makes cleaning the dry mop head a breeze, it is also amazing for getting animal hair off your couch! For wet cleaning you want the wet mop head ($25-34 again dependent on the size, this one has the solver in it so you disinfect your floors as you wash). Now if you use a steam mop already you can probably skip this mop head.

If you have allergy sufferers in your house or are just plain paranoid of dust mites living in your beds, bedding, carpets etc (yuck!) they have a "Mattress Cleaner". It is a living enzyme that eats the dust mites and their waste, eggs etc. Our one dog has severe allergies to dust mites to the point she needs allergy shots. Since we started using this her symptoms have gone down by a good 90%. Our toddler who has had a runny nose sine the day he was born also stopped having a runny nose 24/7. You can use it on your couches, carpet, bedding (yours and any animals you may have), pretty anything that is fabric.

They also have a laundry detergent which is amazing for those that have sensitivities to detergents. It is the only detergent my youngest can use anymore. Everything else triggers a horrible eczema outbreak over his entire body.

So those are the must have basics. They have a catalouge full of great products and you could easily spend hundred of dollars buying everything. The above are what I see as the "must haves" the rest is just great "extras", but you have to start somewhere.

I hope that you have found this useful and informative. As always please post your feedback, stories, etc below.