Jill Cataldo


Nationally-syndicated money-saving columnist
Blogger, workshop instructor & savings enthusiast
Read by more than 20 million people each week

Smart ways to save on shopping, home, travel and living well!

Jill’s shared her savings methods with:

Kitchen and bathroom cleaning with Mean Green

By:

Disclosure: I am participating in a marketing campaign as a Mean Green ambassador, and Mean Green has supplied me with cleaning products as part of this campaign. I have been compensated for this post. Read full Disclosure Policy.

meangreenbottle

Over the summer, the kids and I have been testing out Mean Green cleaners around the house, and I’ve been pretty impressed with the strength of the bargain-priced cleaning products in this line. 

Earlier this summer, one of my readers asked me to tackle “a dirty microwave” and see what Mean Green could do. In preparation for this post, I stopped wiping down the inside of our microwave for (yuck!) two months. All in the name of research, I assure you.

Around the time that I wasn’t cleaning our microwave, our daughter was getting ready to move to college too. We have had an old microwave in our basement for years that she planned to take to college with her. We moved the microwave from our old house, and as the house we moved into has a built-in over-the-range microwave, we put the old microwave on a shelf in the basement where it sat collecting dust for over a decade. 

Last month, I brought the old microwave upstairs, and the yuck factor set in again when I realized that we hadn’t cleaned that microwave before storing it away. Nope. Not at all. 

dirtymicrowave01

Yes, that is twelve-year-old food splatter. 

My only excuse for not cleaning this before putting it in storage: I was seven months pregnant with our oldest son during our move to this house, and once we moved in, I was far more focused on setting up a nursery than cleaning a microwave we had no plans to use again anytime soon. Whoops. 

Well, what better surface to try a cleaning product on, right? No one could argue that these were recent stains that really hadn’t set in!

dirtymicrowave02

My dog looked on as I sprayed the old microwave down with Mean Green Super Strength Cleaner and Degreaser. His big brown eyes seemed to say, “Really? You’re finally cleaning that thing now?”

dirtymicrowave03

I sprayed the microwave door with Mean Green, and cleaner and grease immediately started cascading down the glass door. My dog and his short attention span didn’t stick around to see the results, but you can:

dirtymicrowave04

I was really impressed how easily the grime wiped off the microwave door. On to the microwave interior! I removed the tray and sprayed all of the surfaces with Mean Green. This microwave has a porcelain enamel interior, and the baked-on food did not wipe off this surface quite as easily with a paper towel as it did off the glass.

dirtymicrowave05

As the paper towels weren’t quite as effective on the interior surface, I switched to this scrubbing pad with a metal mesh surface. I sprayed some Mean Green on the pad too and got to work. 

dirtymicrowave06

Now I was getting somewhere! The combination of the scrubbing pad and the Mean Green worked really well to clean the rest of the baked-on-grossness off the top, bottom and walls of the microwave. 

dirtymicrowave07

So much better! My daughter only saw the microwave in this “after” state and remarked that it still looked great for an appliance that’s more than 20 years old. (That’s because I didn’t let her see what it looked like before I cleaned it up.)

Now, I still had another microwave to tackle — our over-the-range unit with two months’ worth of bacon grease, splattered sauces and who-knows-what else on its walls. Again, I usually grab a paper towel and wipe it down if I notice something has made a mess inside, but I deliberately let it get nasty for this cleaning experiment:

nastymicrowave01

Yes, that’s a mess. Just as before, I removed the tray and sprayed the door, walls, top and bottom with Mean Green.

nastymicrowave02

The bacon grease on the door (I’m assuming it’s bacon, as we make a lot of bacon in this thing) easily wiped off with a paper towel. 

nastymicrowave03

When it came to the interior, I found that it took a lot more effort to scrub these stainless steel walls down than it did with the porcelain walls of our old microwave. The Mean Green did a good job of dissolving a lot of the grease, but I did not want to scratch the stainless steel by using the metal mesh pad. So, I just kept scrubbing it with paper towels. Here, I’m about halfway done — what a difference between the clean side and the unscrubbed side!
 

nastymicrowave04

Here’s the finished product! With both microwaves clean, I found myself looking around the kitchen to see what else I could blast with Mean Green.  I noticed that something had cooked over in the oven and dripped out the door: 

 

I thought this would be an interesting test as whatever was baked on did not scratch off easily. I blasted it with Mean Green, and it immediately began to dissolve and run down the broiler door. 

broilerdoor01

 

Once the cooked-over food began to dissolve and drip down the door, I tried to wipe it off with a paper towel, but it wasn’t budging — the dripping-down Mean Green would wipe off, but the original food drips would not. So, I just kept spraying until the entire thing dissolved:
 

broilerdoor02

After cleaning up all the kitchen messes that I could find, I decided to try Mean Green in one more place: A fiberglass shower stall in the bathroom.

We have a lot of iron in our water, and after a while, orange streaks tend to build up on the shower walls. I had read that Mean Green was a good product to use to dissolve this kind of mineral build-up, so I wanted to try it on this too.
 

showerstall1

 
Now, we’ve been using Mean Green products around the house all summer long, as the brand sent a box of products over at the beginning of the summer for me to try out as an ambassador. Based on our earlier experiences, I was already aware that Mean Green packs a lot of power, especially considering its $2-$2.50 per-bottle price. However, this is the task that impressed me the most. Not having to scrub this shower!  

I’ve used other products in the past which required a lot of scrubbing to remove this mineral film (even though they have “scrubbing” in their name. You know who you are, scrubbing products that don’t scrub this well!) By saturating the wall with Mean Green, this orange-ish iron mineral film just poured off the wall. 
 

showerstall2

Initially, I was also using paper towels to wipe the Mean Green and film off the wall. However, I found that by keeping the wall wet with spray, the film just dissolved and ran to the shower floor on its own.  Yes, you’ll use more Mean Green this way, but it’s a fine trade-off that beats having to scrub.
 

showerstall3

It’s been fun trying out a product I was unfamiliar with prior to this campaign. 32-ounce bottles of Mean Green sell for $2 at Dollar General, and 40-ounce bottles are under $2.50 at Walmart and Lowe’s. Menards also has the gallon jugs on sale for $3.99 at times. It’s really reasonably-priced considering how well it works.

Learn more about Mean Green cleaning products at www.meangreendegreaser.com.

meangreenambassador

Now, one of you will get to put Mean Green to the test in your own home, because I’ve got a one-year supply to give away to a lucky reader! 

Leave a comment below to enter for a chance to win: This Mean Green giveaway begins today, September 8, 2016, and runs for one week. The giveaway will end on September 14, 2016 at 11:59pm CST, and on September 15th, one winner will be chosen via a random number generator!

UPDATE: Giveaway has ended. The winner is Amy G!

Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Mean Green. Responding to this post with a comment qualifies readers to enter. Duplicate posts do not increase chances of winning. The contest began at midnight CST on September 8, 2016 and will end at 11:59pm CST on September 14, 2016. One winner will be chosen via random-number generator on September 15, 2016 and announced the same day. Winner will receive a one-year supply of Mean Green cleaners. Prize, information, and giveaway have been provided by Mean Green. I have received information to help promote the product as part of this giveaway. I have been compensated for this giveaway. Winner will be contacted via the Private Messaging feature of JillCataldo.com and via email. If a winner does not reply to the message within 48 hours of notification, that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be chosen. Fulfillment will be handled by Mean Green. Odds of winning are determined by number of eligible entries received. I am participating in a marketing campaign as a Mean Green ambassador, and Mean Green has supplied me with cleaning products as part of this campaign. I have been compensated for this post. Good luck to everyone!

Comments

  1. Would love to try on my bathtub, as a handicapped individual need a product that does most of the work.

    • I was VERY impressed with what I saw in the photos, especially with the shower. We have tile, and I would LOVE to see how this product stacks up against the so-called shower cleaners

  3. I have tried MeanGreen before and recently bought a different product. I have to say I agree meanGreen is a great product so after I run out I will be switching back…..thanks for the chance to win this…good luck everyone

  5. i have that same orange film in my shower and i can’t get it off! i have to try this! it looks so cool and very affordable!

  10. Product sound really good. My microwave needs a good cleaning and nothing really seems to work.

  12. I would love to let my kids try this stuff out. Anything to get them to clean their bathroom more often!

  18. Sounds like a great product! I am always looking for products that work well and don’t mind paying a little more for a quality product! I would love to give it a try!!

  19. I am super impressed with what I saw in the photos! I can think of many things to start cleaning around my house with this stuff! Thank you for the giveaway opportunity!

  20. Ooh, this would be nice to have in the house for various cleaning missions. Thanks for a chance at the giveaway, Jill! :)

  25. So that’s what that orange film is in the shower….and I completely agree with the “scrubbing” cleaner not living up to it’s name! Thanks for the giveaway!

  27. I would love to try this on my shower doors! They really need it. Hate cleaning them and need something that cuts the soap scum. Thanks! Hope I win!

  32. Another give-a-way! Awesome!

    If I don’t win, can you come over & clean my house with what’s left in your bottle?

    We gots the yuckies on the front of our oven too!

    -Mark

  38. Mean Green, almost as strong as ‘MEAN JOE GREEN’! I bet the cleaner smells better than Joe did after a game though!

  40. Would Love to try it out and find out of I can cut my Cleaning time in half .Around the Kitchen and Baths .Looks like it worked really well for you and your family. Love the price sounds like it is something that works and does not coast an arm and a leg.

  41. Can not wait to try it . looks like it would cut my cleaning time in half. Price sounds good to. I am all about a good Bargain , if it works well.

  44. I love would love to try these products on my oven and microwave specifically and other items needing a deep cleaning. I have medical challenges and need cleaning products that do the job the first time.

  45. I tried this cleaner on blinds and it cleaned grease and smoke stains off as easy as it went on. Great product

  55. I have tried lots of different products and none of them have really gotten the job done. I would be very excited to try this product.

  56. Wow! What a great post Jill. I follow Mean Green on FB and I have to say this is the best blog post I’ve seen. Awesome job and I love the details/photos you used. Mean Green is the best product- I use it everywhere. I’d love to win a year supply!

jillcataldoheadshotI'm Jill Cataldo, founder of Super-Couponing® workshops and author of the nationally-syndicated newspaper column and video series "Super-Couponing Tips" enjoyed by over 20 million people each week.

Want to live well on less? Read full bio

Blogger Badges

JillCataldo.com contains affiliate marketing links and promotional offers. Read full Privacy and Disclosure Statement for details, blogger network affiliations and advertising/PR information.