22 January, 2021
Natural Household Cleaners (Recipes)
It is not difficult to make your own natural household cleaners, and your long term health will probably thank you for it. Mostly you will need ingredients that you can find lying around your house such as:
- White vinegar
- Lemons
- Baking soda
- Table salt
- Rubbing alcohol
- Liquid castile soap
- Corn starch
- Borax
- Essential Oils
- Microfibre cloths
- Glass spray bottles (you can make your own with an old glass vinegar bottle and a spray top)
Natural Household Cleaners
All-Purpose Cleaner
You Will Need:
- ¼ cup of white vinegar
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 1 liter of hot water
- ½ a lemon or lemon rind
- Rosemary sprigs or a few drops of your favorite essential oil
Place all the ingredients in a spray (glass if possible) bottle and shake. This is an incredible cleaner for freshening, naturally disinfecting, and scrubbing surfaces in the kitchen, bathroom, hard-water stains, trash cans, and wall smudges.
Tile Grout Cleaner
You Will Need:
- ½ cup of baking soda
- 2 tbsp washing soda
- 2 tbsp Borax
- 3 tbsp liquid castile soap (or dish soap)
- White vinegar
The trick with this is to wipe down your tiles with the vinegar and a sponge first, then get to work with this deep scrub. You can let this mixture sit for 10 minutes first and then scour with a brush and rinse with cool water. For lighter cleaning of tiles that don’t have too much grout, just use vinegar, lemon, and baking soda and scrub.
Glass Cleaner
You Will Need:
- 2 cups of water
- 2 tablespoons of white vinegar
- 1tbsp cornstarch
- The essential oil of choice (lemon or tea tree are nice)
Mix the ingredients in a glass spray bottle and with a microfibre cloth wipe the windows clean.
You can also use old pillowcases, t-shirts, or newspapers to wipe the glass clean.
Toilet Cleaner
You Will Need:
- 1 cup of white vinegar
- ¾ cup baking soda
- Drops of essential oils (tea tree, lemon, and lavender are nice scents)
You can mix these in a bowl and just pour them into the toilet bowl when you’re ready to clean. This recipe for natural household cleaners cannot really be stored due to the fizzing action. It’s more of a make-it-when-you need-it recipe!
Washing Up Liquid
You Will Need:
- 3 tbsp liquid Castile soap
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 tsp glycerine
- 2 tbsp. white vinegar
- 10 drops lavender essential oil (or scent of your choice)
Mix all the ingredients together and give them a good shake to blend.
You’ll find that this liquid is thinner than your regular dish liquid but it does an outstanding cleaning job on grease and difficult stains. The lavender smells lovely and has antibacterial qualities yet will not leave your plates or dinnerware with an overwhelming scent.
Brass Cleaner
You Will Need:
- White vinegar or lemon juice and salt
All you have to do is moisten a sponge with vinegar or lemon and sprinkle some salt over the sponge.
Lightly clean the brass surface and then rinse and dry. This works wonders on cabinet pulls and bedroom or bathroom handles.
Natural Air Freshener
This is one of my favorites and it keeps your place smelling amazing. My friend gave me this one, as her home always smells so good.
You Will Need:
- 1 sliced lemon, some sprigs of fresh rosemary (has to be fresh), and a drop of vanilla essence.
- 1 sliced orange, a sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves
- 1 piece of chopped fresh ginger and some orange slices
- Fresh thyme, rosemary sprigs, and 1 slice of lemon
In a medium saucepan, simmer a quart of water with any of the following natural ingredient combos.
Keep the water simmering, not evaporating, and you will soon have your space smelling divine!
So these are my top recipes for natural household cleaners.
Try them out and let me know how it goes in the comments! If you can get hold of some pretty glass bottles, these also make a thoughtful, homemade gift for environmentally conscious friends and family.