If you’ve ever run out of cleaning products all at once, you’ve probably noticed they can be seriously expensive. A recent trip to the shops for glass cleaner, mop refills, all-purpose spray, sink scrub and microfibre clothes quickly revealed a total that as a whole would have, I might add, been more pleasurably applied to a dinner out.

But cleaning products are a necessity if you don’t want to live in squalor, even if they are insultingly expensive and are very often no fun to buy. There are several reasons- saving money, wanting to avoid strong chemicals or just not feeling like a run to the shops- that you might want to try common-kitchen alternatives when you’ve run out of some household standards in the middle of getting your clean on. And if you think about it, a lot of the things we consider indispensable for cleaning today were not even on the market just a decade ago- such as the aforementioned mop refills.

Luckily, not only can some standard household and pantry goods stand in for pricey cleaners, they often do an excellent job, too. Here are a few of the stealth housecleaning products you may already have on hand.

Bicarbonate of soda

Really, what can’t this stuff do? It’s useful as a facial scrub and baking ingredient, but outside the food and face categories, it has a ton of other applications. As you probably know, it can hang around in the fridge and consume potential unpleasant odors before they take hold. And its gritty, scrubby texture makes it an excellent stand-in scrub for grimy tiles and countertops as well doubling as a dip to remove tarnish from silver.

Got some left over? Sprinkle it down and let it sit for 15 to 60 minutes before vacuuming to remove grime and pet, smoke or cooking odors from carpeted areas.

Vinegar

In addition to its magical, volcano-making properties when paired with bicarbonate of soda, the dynamic du0 work well in many cleaning applications together. Although you can’t often see down them, a drain sprinkled with a good amount of bicarb of soda and then a few ounces of vinegar will be cleaner after- just wait half an hour to an hour and follow with hot water to rinse it down.

Of course, vinegar is a popular cleaning product all on its own. It’s long been used with newspaper to stand in as a glass cleaner, and is often used to polish up sinks and toilets. (The smell of vinegar evaporates relatively quickly.) Vinegar added to a cycle of brightly hued clothing prevents dye-seepage, and running a cup of vinegar through an empty dishwasher monthly keeps it running more cleanly.

Lemon

Like vinegar, lemon is a popular alternative to caustic cleansers and naturally acidic. Unlike vinegar, lemons and lemon juice generally make things smell really fresh immediately when you use them. Lemons can be used in a pinch to freshen taps and shower areas, and can be microwaved with water to clean the appliance’s interior. (This is hands down the best microwave cleaning method there is and it doesn’t leave lingering chemicals to leach into foods.)

Lemon can also clean and shine brass or copper, and is an excellent way to handle grubby chopping boards. And if you prefer the smell of lemon but the cost of vinegar, lemon juice can be added to a vinegar cleaning solution for a greater volume of product with a more pleasant smell.

Salt

Although it’s not too powerful on its own, salt can stand in for bicarbonate of soda as a scrubbing agent and mixes well with vinegar or lemon for surface cleaning. Salt is also a good stain remover due to its absorbency- while you may associate it with stray red wine spills in restaurants, the same grease-eating abilities can remedy a stain situation at home.

Have you seen success with homemade cleaning products? What are your favorite natural cleaning product recipes?