You'd be surprised how many stores sell bleach, soda, baking soda and citrus acid. It's cheap, very low in waste, and less to carry from the store.
The ones I have even describe how to use them for different use cases. Basically you just put it in some water. A package costs like a euro and lasts you a year if not years.
Edit: Here's the list:.
- Water: Helps you mix and rinse; cleans almost everything. :)
- Washing Soda: Great for tough stains on clothes and hard surfaces.
- Baking Soda: Sprinkle on carpets or scrub sinks; it's a gentle cleaner.
- Bleach: Need to kill germs or whiten whites? Use bleach, but carefully!
- Citrus Acid: Makes your kettle or showerhead shine by removing scale.
- Rubbing Alcohol: Perfect for glass and wiping down surfaces; dries fast.
- White Vinegar: Mix with water for an all-purpose cleaner; good on glass too.
- Borax: Boosts your laundry detergent; helps keep bugs away.
- Sea Salt: Scrubbing a pan? Sea salt helps scrape away the tough bits.
- Castille Soap: Wash floors, dishes, or even pets; it's mild and versatile.
Absolutely! Other useful and cheap cleaning things are rubbing alcohol, white vinegar (great for floors), "washing soda", borax, and seconding @JacobCoffinWrites@slrpnk.net about the castille soap, too. I also find sea salt a useful-everywhere ingredient in both household and personal-care cleaning -- it dissolves dirt, scrubs and disinfects. I'm a pretty picky cleaner, but with those things and a good microfiber cloth, no dirt stands a chance.
I got into making all my own cleaning stuff thanks to a sensitivity to chemical fragrances, but it's saved so much money and prevented so much waste compared to buying branded products, I'd never go back. Thanks for the great topic \o/
Thanks for expanding the list, it's in the post now.