If you have a home to clean, you likely already have your favorite brands. Maybe it’s Shout to pre-treat your laundry, Pine Sol for the kitchen and Bon Ami in the bathroom; after all, it’s what your parents used. But there’s a brand you’re likely unaware of that’s highly rated, yet insanely cheap. The brand is LA’s Totally Awesome, and despite the goofy name, it has legions of die-hard fans. Sold at dollar stores such as Dollar Tree and Dollar General, the products retail for a single dollar and are pretty much the bargain of the century.
I’ve been using their knock-off Oxyclean for years, and speak from experience when I write that this product is every bit as good as its name brand competitor. I use it in my laundry, I use it to pre-treat stains and I dilute it for my rug shampooer. Officially called “LA’s Totally Awesome Power Oxygen Base Cleaner,” this small container packs a wallop. The directions suggest that you “Use in the bathroom and kitchen to remove scummy residue from tubs, tile, floors, sinks, shower doors and curtains. Use outdoors to clean decks, garbage cans, lawn furniture and more.” Not too shabby for a one dollar product!
You may shy away from cheap cleaners due to environmental or health concerns, but LA’s Totally Awesome oxygen cleaner received an “A” from the Environmental Working Group. (Considered the standard for rating the toxicity of personal care products.)
I figured that this product was an anomaly, but I recently joined the 144,000+ member Laundry Love & Cleaning Science Facebook group and learned that I was not alone in my adoration for this line of cleaners. The LA’s Totally Awesome All Purpose Concentrated Cleaner/Degreaser Spot Remover has its own legions of loyal fans. Almost every “how do I remove this stain?” question is answered with “Have you tried LA’s Totally Awesome?” I knew I needed to give it a try. A quick trip to The Dollar Tree secured my own bottle, and I came home ready to scrub down my home.
A quick read through the label taught me that the concentrated cleaner/degreaser is formulated to work on a multitude of surfaces, from air conditioners to rust stains, chrome to driveways. In all, the bottle includes directions for 43 different types of surfaces.
First up? My stovetop. It had been a couple of days since I’d given the stove a good cleaning, so it was the perfect opportunity to test out the degreaser’s efficacy. (I normally procrastinate this job, as I hate the inevitable scrubbing.) I read the instructions and diluted the liquid 5:1. I got out an empty bottle, mixed up some solution and then gave the surface a thorough spraying. I set an alarm for 15 minutes and walked away. I came back and miraculously was able to wipe off the baked on splatters with nothing more than a soft sponge. No scrubbing!
I then put the LA’s Awesome cleaner/degreaser to the test on my bathroom tiles. I live in moisture plagued Oregon, so mildew is a constant challenge, but this product surpassed my expectations. Again I sprayed the product, set an alarm and walked away. I came back and was happy to discover that almost all of the nastiness simply rinsed away, with just a small amount of scrubbing in a few stubborn areas.
Need more evidence? You can watch this YouTube video of a woman using LA’s Totally Awesome cleaner/degreaser to remove stains from her truck upholstery, or you could read this online review from a woman who used it to remove tree sap from her car. You might even want to read this testimonial from a woman who used it to save her laundry after accidentally sending a crayon through the dryer.
Need one more reason to check out the LA’s Totally Awesome cleaning line? They’re made right here in the U.S.A. with “Manufacturing and distribution centers in West Memphis, Arkansas, and Orange County, California.”
You may hesitate to budge from your brand loyalty, but it’s worth giving LA’s Totally Awesome products a try. After all, they’re only a buck. What have you got to lose?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Dammit, Katy! You got me all excited about this degreaser, but EWG gives it an F rating. I constantly struggle to balance environmental concerns with my inherent cheapness, but in this case I will just stick to baking soda.
Damn.
I also checked the ratings. EWG gives the first product (oxy clean) an A but the others of the same brand Ds or Fs. It would be helpful if you would update your post to correct that.
I looked at EWG’s ratings, too. It appears to me that the majority of their products are rated so low because there is no data available. Looking at the alternative choices, many are also rated low for some reason. I will most likely continue to use the products unless I see some valid evidence, or a better alternative can be found.
EWG has a feature where you can type in the product’s ingredients and get results showing about each ingredient’s safety/hazards. Not quite the same as a whole-product rating, but a good useful reference in the meantime.
Supporting their work is one frugal investment our family makes.
I’m not seeing any of the 1984 posts…did you take them down? Actually, I’m not seeing any of the posts between Friday, January 28th and this one here about cleaning supplies. What happened?!
I use oxygen cleaner all the time for my laundry. I should check this out, because that stuff’s expensive!
I know, I was wondering the same thing. I was reading them, and then came back later and they were gone.
They disappeared when I did some behind the scenes blog stuff. I’ll get it figured out, but I don’t have time for it right now.
Yeah I was missing those posts, too.
Ah, makes sense.
Does anyone know how to remove hair dye stains from a white shirt? I would be grateful for any ideas… Thank you.
Have you tried wetting the shirt, mix bleach with water, then dotting it on with a q-tip. I have had some tiny hair dye splatters on a white shirt and it worked for me. Too much bleach on the whole shirt will make the shirt a yellowish color.
Awesome gets red wine and red nail polish out of carpet too! My brother-in-law also used it to remove mildew from a pop-up campers canvas.
Glad to have your endorsement of the Awesome products, Katy–especially the news that they are environmentally OK. I’ve been using them for some time, but with a guilty feeling that anything this effective can’t possibly be good for Mother Earth. Thanks for the reassurance.
BTW, I just ran a test, and the original Awesome spray removes Sharpie markings. This may be good news for anyone who, ahem, needs to remove Sharpie graffiti anywhere. (See the recent stories about Sharpie swastikas in the NYC subway. I’ll gladly provide the NYT link on request.)
Oh, nuts. Just read Jenne’s comment on the F rating. But it may be worth keeping some on hand for graffiti removal anyway.
Great idea re being prepared to “wipe out hate”! I also like the transformative approach, found here: http://fatfreevegan.com/slowmiracle/files/2016/11/Love-Graffiti-pastel-by-MTM-photo-1-e1479599326412-420×420.jpg
I started using Dollar Tree cleaners and there’s no difference in quality between them and pricier cleaners at stores like Walmart. Often you can even dilute the cleaning mixture and get more bang for your buck.
Katy, Would you happen to know if they sell this, amazing sounding product in – Montreal, Canada? We have Dollarama & Dollar stores here but not – Dollar Tree.
I’ve used it too and like it. I do make most of my own cleaners though, but if/when I buy one it is that brand I choose.
Hi Katy, this is off-topic, but would you consider doing a post where you explain Swagbucks in more detail? I decided to sign up and found it a little overwhelming, plus my computer is older and some of the things (videos) were not supported.