Homemade Cleaners For Your Home

Would you like to start making your own homemade cleaners for your home? Most families are more eco-conscious and are steering away from harsh chemicals. Instead, they are resorting to natural cleaning products.

A typical example is avocado oil which is praised for its versatility and high smoke point. When you learn how to clean a Blackstone grill, you will realize that avocado oil is used to season the appliance after cleaning. This helps maintain a non-stick cooking surface. This oil is also often added to homemade cleaners as a natural curing agent.

Natural cleaners are safer for your family, your pets, and the environment. Most of them contain simple ingredients that are easily found in most households.

From a simple glass cleaner to hard water stains, you are sure to find a natural cleaning recipe that works for you and your home.

Let’s get started on making the best homemade cleaners for your home right now and learn yet another skill for being self-reliant.

Common Natural Ingredients

There are some ingredients that are used in homemade cleaning products regularly. If you keep these on hand, you will always be prepared to make more of your favorite cleaners.

The first, and most obvious ingredient, is water. If you only have access to well water you should be able to use that with no problem. However, if you are like us and have yellow sulfur and iron-filled well water that stains every sink, toilet, and tub it touches, you may want to buy bottled water or use distilled. Tap water is fine.

Beyond water, there are some other ingredients that will come up often in homemade cleaning recipes.

Common Ingredients for Homemade Cleaners:

• hydrogen peroxide – great stain fighter when combined with soap
• lemon juice – eliminates mold and mildew, cuts grease, shines surfaces, smells great
• baking soda – has virus-killing abilities, deodorizes, cuts grease easily, absorbs odors
• olive oil – cleans and polishes
• white vinegar – cuts grease, and soap scum, and cleans great
• club soda – great for lifting stains on clothes like wine
• washing soda – a good foundation for making laundry detergent
• rubbing alcohol – excellent bacteria and virus eliminator that cuts greasy film on glass surfaces
• citrus peels – can be infused with vinegar to make citrus cleaner
• salt – scours dirt easily, boosts the cleaning power of other ingredients like baking soda and vinegar
• ammonia – great for cleaning glass, cuts grease

Other Common Ingredients You May Need To Buy:

• castile soap – made from plant oils, cuts grease
• citric acid – great for cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting
• essential oils – some are bacterial fighters, give a better scent to cleaners
• soap nuts – natural soap, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-microbial
• coconut oil – has numerous health benefits, a great polisher for wood and hard surfaces
• Epsom salts – works as an abrasive to scrub surfaces
• mineral oil – shines appliances like no other

Beyond the ingredients above, whether common or uncommon, there are a few ingredients that some people feel are okay to use where others are not comfortable at all. The choice is up to you.

These include:

• chlorine bleach – a great stain fighter but is chemically based
• borax – controversial, some research says it disrupts hormones and causes allergies
• Dawn dish soap – excellent cleaner and flea eliminator, but it is not natural so many won’t use it

Tools and Supplies For Making Homemade Cleaners

Now that we have the ingredients out of the way, let’s talk about the tools and things you may need.

I want to give a word of caution here. Please keep any tools you will use for making homemade cleaners separate from your everyday cooking supplies. This includes bowls, funnels, spoons, etc.

Most Common Tools To Have on Hand

• paper towels
• rags
• soft cloth (for polishing)
• scrub brush
• small bowl
• bucket (1 gallon and 5 gallons with lids)
• spray bottles (glass spray bottle preferably, I prefer a dark spray bottle)
• mason jars (can be a reused jar from jelly or salsa or any sized mason jar with a lid)
• old toothbrush (for scrubbing tight places)
• funnels (different sizes for pouring ingredients into spray bottles)
• labels for cleaning bottles to identify the ingredients and use
• permanent marker

Using Essential Oils in Your Homemade Cleaners

Many homemade cleaners include a few drops of essential oil to make them smell better. Some of the essential oils actually have a purpose, like tea tree oil for example.

When it comes to adding essential oils to your cleaning products please be sure to use quality essential oils. I use Simply Earth Essential Oils and for good reason. First of all, I use them and can personally attest to their high quality.

Secondly, Simply Earth donates 13% of its profits to stop human trafficking. That’s a great cause.

If you check out Simply Earth using the link above and type in the code ANNIELEWELLYNFREE as a first-time subscriber you will receive a free $40 gift card with the purchase of your first box. The gift card is not a discount on your purchase. It’s an actual gift card you will receive in your email after subscribing and paying for your first box. The gift card can be used on your next Recipe Box or future purchases!

Don’t worry, I promise that once you try their oils you won’t want to try anyone else’s. As a matter of fact, I love them so much that I am opening an online store this month so I can provide these oils and products directly to you.

Every box you receive, if you should join the monthly subscription box, comes with a complete set of supplies and step-by-step instructions to make everything yourself. If you do not want a monthly subscription box you can always order just what you need.

If you have questions or need to know more please email me at annie@roadtoreliance.com.

Homemade Cleaner Recipes For Your Home

Are you ready to make your own DIY cleaners? Below are some basic homemade cleaner recipes for you to get started with. I know you will love being able to stop using all those toxic chemicals after using the following household cleaners.

Bathroom Cleaner Recipes

Toilet Cleaner

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 10 to 12 drops of tea tree oil or lemon oil

Directions:

• Pour the baking soda into the toilet bowl.
• Add the tea tree or lemon essential oil
• Add the vinegar and scrub while the mixture is bubbling.

Note: This is a heavy-duty type toilet cleaner that I use once per week. When I do daily cleaning I spray a mixture of 1 cup of white vinegar with a few drops of lemon oil directly on and around the toilet and wipe.

Shower Cleaner

Ingredients:

• baking soda
• Castile soap

Directions:

• Place some baking soda in a small container
• Mix in some Castille soap until a thick paste forms
• Using a sponge, dab the cleaner on any spots that are covered in mildew
• Scrub and rinse

Note: You can also spray pure white vinegar on tough mildew stains, let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes then wipe it with a sponge. Repeat as necessary. Use the same daily cleaner for toilets above on your shower in between heavy cleanings.

Fizzing Cleaning Pods for the Toilet

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup citric acid
• 1 cup baking soda
• lemon essential oil
• Dawn dish soap

Directions:

• In a bowl, combine the citric acid and baking soda and mix well
• Add a few drops of lemon oil
• Add a bit of Dawn dish soap
• When the mixture clumps together, place small clumps on parchment paper
• Allow drying overnight
• To use, drop a pod into the toilet bowl, when the fizzing slows down, scrub with a toilet brush and flush.

Note: You can place the mixture into molds also. Keep these sealed in an airtight jar when finished. Make sure to label the jar so no one mistakes it for bath bombs.

All Purpose Cleaner

Ingredients:

• white vinegar
• water
• essential oil of your choice

Directions:

• Combine equal parts of vinegar and water in a spray bottle.
• Add 10 to 12 drops of essential oil.
• Spray on surfaces and wipe clean

Note: Do NOT use this on granite, marble, or stone.

Glass Cleaner

Ingredients:

• white vinegar
• water
• essential oil (optional)

Directions:

• Combine 1 part white vinegar and 4 parts water
• Add a few drops of essential oil if desired
• Spray directly on the glass and wipe clean

Note: Do not clean windows in direct sunlight because they will streak. If windows have a film, such as from cigarette smoke you can wipe them with straight rubbing alcohol first.

Furniture Polish

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of olive oil

Directions:

• Combine the olive oil and lemon juice and pour into a glass jar or spray bottle
• Spray on a soft cloth and spread it over your wood furniture

Note: If the furniture is not wood you can exchange the lemon juice with 1/4 cup of white vinegar. Increase the olive oil to 3/4 cup. Wipe as stated above.

Ready for More Homemade Cleaners?

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