More people are realizing the impact of environmental chemicals on our health. And with prices climbing, most everyone wants simple solutions that work well, and won’t put a pinch in the pocketbook.
Make Your Own Laundry Soap
Laundry soap is made by combining washing soda (available from Arm & Hammer), simple soap like Castile soap, and Borax If you enjoy mild scents, add a few drops of essential oils to your laundry soap recipe. Some good choices are lemon, lavender, rose geranium, orange, or any mix of these.
What is Castile soap?
It’s a simple soap made from olive oil and sodium hydroxide. Find castile soap in bulk on Amazon here:
WHOLENATURALS Pure Castile Soap, Liquid
What is washing soda?
It’s basically baking soda that has been heat-treated. Find it on Amazon here:
ARM & HAMMER Super Washing Soda Household Cleaner and Laundry Booster
Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe
4 cups liquid castile soap
4 cups washing soda
4 cups Borax
Mix all ingredients in a large bucket. Add 28 cups of boiling water and stir well. Transfer to a container with squeeze pump, or use recycled laundry detergent bottles with lids as storage.
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Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Somewhere along the way, we were trained to believe that toilets should be cleaned with a mysterious blue or green gel. But if you really think about it, you can clean your toilet bowl just as easily using simple cleaning products.
A squirt of liquid soap or detergent, a sprinkle of baking soda and a toilet scrubbing brush would just as well to cleanse away toilet grime and crud. When finished, flush and then add a splash of Clorox bleach to sanitize.
NOTE: Avoid combining bleach with other cleaning products, particularly ammonia which will cause poisonous gas fumes to form.
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Make Your Own Window and Glass Cleaner
Ammonia is the product of choice for cleaning glass. Look on the label of your favorite window and glass cleaner, and you’ll notice that the active ingredient is ammonia-D. What does the D stand for? Glad you asked.
No one on the internet can seem to explain use of the letter D here. But this is what it is:
Ammonia-D is ammonium hydroxide, which means ammonia combined with water to make a cleaning solution. If you’re wondering how to make ammonium hydroxide at home, don’t bother. It’s a somewhat complicated and risky process. You’re way better off just picking up a bottle of ammonia at the store.
Homemade Window and Glass Cleaner Recipe
1 cup ammonia
¼ tsp dish soap
1 cup water
½ cup vinegar
4 or 5 drops of lemon or peppermint essential oil
Find Ammonia on Amazon here:
Austin’s 00051 Clear Ammonia Multipurpose Cleaner
Here’s a good cleaning vinegar to use: Tillbrook Cleaning Vinegar – Extra Strength
If you prefer to keep it non-toxic, try a 1:1 ratio of white vinegar mixed with water and a squirt of soap, which will also work.
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Bathtub Grout Cleaner Made from Household Cleaning Products
You’ll find many bathtub grout cleaning recipes online. It’s actually amazing how simple these are to make using old-fashioned household cleaners. Grab your trusty scrub brush, and you’ll be amazed at how well they work to remove grime, buildup and discoloration from your bathroom tiles.
Ideas for what to mix up to clean your grout:
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Dish soap
- Hydrogen peroxide
If you think of bathroom cleaners, they’re usually a paste or powder that you sprinkle on using a slightly damp cloth or sponge, then wipe. So you don’t really need exact measurements. Just grab the box of baking soda, sprinkle around the area to be cleaned. Moisten with water or peroxide if you’re using that, and scrub to shining.
If you’re someone who loves to spray and wipe, you can use this mix to clean your bathroom tiles:
Recycle an empty bottle that held cleaning solution that’s been cleaned out and add:
2 Tbs. baking soda
1 squirt dish soap
2 Tbs. peroxide
Fill to the bottle shoulder with water. Add an extra boost of cleaning power with a few drops of lemon essential oil. Lemon oil disinfects, deodorizes and kills germs. Cap and store your shower spray mix. When ready to use, shake, spray and wipe or scrub with a brush.
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Homemade Floor Cleaning Solution
Floor cleaners of all kinds line the shelves of your favorite grocery and home supply stores. But why pay top dollar for pricy potions, when you can make up a cleaning solution using a few simple ingredients?
Just as good as any commercial floor cleaning formula, this cleaning recipe will remove grime, grease and crud, leaving your floors fresh, clean and shiny as new.
For use on linoleum, composite, tile and other types of non-wood floors:
Homemade Floor Cleaner Recipe
1 gallon hot water in a bucket
1 cup white vinegar
1 squirt dish soap
1 squirt rubbing alcohol (optional)
7 drops lemon, orange, peppermint, lavender, or eucalyptus oil (or any combo of these)
Mix all ingredients in a bucket and use a clean cloth to wipe your floors. Follow by re-wiping with a hot water-soaked rag to rinse.
Wood Floor Cleaning Solution
Sometimes your wood floors need a good cleaning. They’re started to become coated in a grimy film, or maybe there are some stains, dirt, and even pet odors.
Wood absorbs toxins, so not only will your wood floor soak up whatever is in the air, be it cooking odors, smoke, or something else, but your wood floor will also absorb whatever you use to clean it with. For this reason, a regular old floor cleaner that you’d use on a non-wood floor, simply won’t do.
Wood floors need moisture – they’re kind of like your hair. After you wash them with a cleaning agent, you might consider conditioning them with a homemade floor polish.
Here’s a cleaning recipe that’s just right for wood floors:
½ cup olive oil
½ cup white vinegar
1 gallon hot water
2 squirts dish soap
10 drops lemon or orange essential oil
Use a soft cloth and dip into the cleaning solution, wring out, and then scrub your wood floors in circular or back-and-forth motions. Be careful and try to avoid getting caught on any splinters.
The homemade floor cleaner that we just described, should work well to clean and shine your wood floors. But if you’d like to go the extra step and condition your wood floors after cleaning, mix up a 1:1 ratio of white vinegar to olive oil.
Add a few drops of orange or lemon essential oil. Use a clean cloth to buff your floor in small, circular motions, using maybe a dime-sized amount of this mixture.
Find olive oil in bulk on Amazon: Soapeauty Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Shop for your favorite essential oils to use in cleaning recipes: Amazon.com Essential Oils page
