Making your own cleaners does not have to be daunting and it does not have to be as complicated as it can seem. These are 4 of my favourite homemade cleaners that have a permanent place in my cupboards. They are cheap to make, non-toxic and safe for use around kids and pets.
The common ingredients in most homemade cleaners are a castille soap like Dr. Bronners, vinegar, baking soda and essential oils. My absolute favourite essential oils for cleaning are peppermint, tea tree oil, grapefruit, lemon and orange.
Let's face it, cleaning tile grout is a pain in the ass but is a necessity if you want your floors to look like you actually care about them and not like you have given up because the previous owners of your house picked the worst possible tile to keep clean. Check out the before and after of my rage inducing tile floor.
Peppermint Bathroom Cleaner
I love peppermint and it is perfect for the bathroom. This cleaner not only smells refreshing but it disinfects as well as a traditional toxin filled cleaner. I use this cleaner on all parts of the bathroom so there is no need to have separate cleaners for the shower, toilet, floor, counter and sinks.
Grapefruit All Purpose Cleaner
The smell of grapefruit smells like "clean" to me. It reminds me
to spring and the window curtains fluttering in the breeze and I have NO idea
why! It works great in all areas of your
home because its scent is not too overpowering and it is a natural
disinfectant.
Natural Oven Cleaner
Melted cheese and pie filling can commonly be found on the bottom of my oven. I could use the self clean option on the oven but it uses a lot of energy so I don't find that it is the most sustainable option for cleaning. Probably better than the traditional toxic foam oven cleaners but no where near better than a natural oven cleaner.
Want to simplify cleaning? Have 1 spray bottle that is neutral in scent by using a scent free Dr. Bronners soap and water. Use this as your 1st bottle in the Peppermint Bathroom Cleaner and the Grapefruit All Purpose Cleaner recipes.
Wondering why you can’t just put
everything in one bottle? When you mix soap with vinegar it will cause the
soap to separate and “curdle”. It happens with more than just soap too…like
with your Baileys as you are trying to have a coffee one cold night after you
have de-scaled your coffee machine (worst.night.ever).
What are your favourite homemade cleaners?
Related Posts - Check them Out
Cleaning Your Dishwasher Naturally
Switching to Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent
Kicking Toxic Air Freshener to the Curb
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Photo credit - http://www.rail19.com/
I now only buy 1 cleaning product (bon ami) and make my own now. I agree, they are so much better. My favorite though, hands down, is just a paste made out of baking soda & soap (castille or dishwashing). It cleans EVERYTHING.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite homemade cleaner is vinegar. But I seriously need something for my shower grout. I've heard that baking soda plus vinegar works well. Also want to try that combo in the toilet!
ReplyDeleteI tried baking soda in the toilet. It was something from pinterst (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/215539532137159305/) and it totally did not work at all. If you find something that works let me know!
ReplyDeleteMy shower really needs this right now! Thank so much for the recipe. :)
ReplyDeleteThese are great! I will totally try them!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice. I've recently started trying a few green/natural/checmical free techniques, it's been kind of eye opening to see what you can achieve without toxic chemicals! My husband and I spend quite a lot of time away from home at work, but with a few teenage kid yet to leave home the place can get a bit messy, it has to be said! Particularly the cooker... they don't seem to enjoy cleaning that themselves :P Both our home and holiday home are fairly modest in size so we can manage most of it ourselves even with our busy schedules, though we have in the past used professional companies to come in and do the cookers. The two we use are oven cleaner sutton coldfield and oven cleaner medway, and it's nice to know that as well as doing a fantastic job, they don't use harsh chemicals either. But whether you go for that route or the D.I.Y. route, you can always get a decent job done without nasty chemicals! Thanks again for the informative post :)
ReplyDeleteThought vinegar and Castile soap were jot supposed to be mixed.?
ReplyDeleteYou don't mix them. If you read all the recipes above the vinegar and soap are never in the same bottle. You use the soap first and then the vinegar as a rinse afterwards.
ReplyDelete