Learning how to make your own cleaning products, is surprisingly easier than you thought. It only requires a few base ingredients along with LOTS of different essential oils. The only thing to remember is ALWAYS shake really well before use. My spray bottles are purchased at Target.
Pros to making your own products are:
Cheaper-essential oils are going to be the biggest expense. Click the link to see what brand I use!
Creative-you can mix up scents or create scents specifically for each rom!
Super easy!-When I have to re-fill- it takes at the most, 10 min from start to finish
Endless recipes-Pinterest is my recipe inspiration.
No mystery ingredients-everything is literally made by hand!
So the base ingredients I like to get are: Liquid castile soap, Borax, Baking soda, Cleaning vinegar, Hydrogen peroxide(hydo pero acts as a bleach alternative) Rubbing alcohol and Olive oil…..you can’t forget the Essential oils!
For diluting, you can buy distilled water(free of minerals) OR you can boil water from your tap for 15 min…let it cool :)! and have your homemade distilled water. The reason to use distilled water when making your cleaning products, is to remove contaminants.
Toilet Bowl Cleaners:
- Liquid castile soap (like Dr. Bronner’s)
- Baking soda or borax- again I make a shaker from a quart size mason jar filled with each
Sprinkle baking soda or borax in toilet. Squirt undiluted castile soap …I usually have a squirt bottle(like a reused soap bottle) filled with it. Let sit for a little bit. Scrub inside and sides of toilet.
Soft Scrub:
- ½ c. baking soda OR borax…you can mix if you want to experiment
- Castile soap
- 25 drops of antibacterial essential oil -lemon,lime,orange,grapefruit OR Tea Tree,Rosemary,Peppermint
In a empty spray bottle, measure 1/4-1/2 c castile soap then fill with water to the top… (all my spray bottles are 32oz)Add your essential oil. For the baking soda part, I always keep a quart mason jar filled with baking soda, poke holes into the top and waaa laa! a shaker! Shake enough baking soda to cover the bottom. Add mixture. Later. Scub sides of tub and walls. Rinse. Taa daaa!
Glass Cleaner:
- Add 1/2 cup cleaning vinegar to a new spray bottle. My spray bottles are 32oz
- Add 1/2cup rubbing alcohol(isopropyl)
- I’m not sure why it works to prevent streaking but…1 tbsp of cornstarch 🙂 if anyone knows the answer, I’d love to know!
- Fill with distilled water
- Add 10 drops of orange essential oil
- Note: you can also use straight rubbing alcohol with essential oil to mild the smell. Just pour rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle, dilute about 1/4 with water and add essential oil.
Always shake before each use! Just shake,spray and wipe!
All Purpose: There are wayyyy too many all purpose recipes out there, so really this recipe is about preference. I have tried several, but my favorite is:
- 1/2cup of castile soap; 3/4cup for tougher jobs
- Fill the rest of the way with distilled water (my bottles are 32oz)
- Essential oils-I am a HUGE fan of the citrus oils. Orange, grapefruit, lime and lemon. You can mix and match.
All purpose #2:
- 2c hydrogen peroxide
- Distilled water-fill rest of the way in a 32 oz bottle
- 40-50drops of essential oil
Mix them all up….And BAM! you can clean bathrooms, wipe surfaces, sprayed on floors before mopping, stoves, ovens(along with a few other things)…its safe on everything!
Multi-Surface floor cleaner: However you choose to clean floors, this works any and every way! You can use it in a bucket, OR you can make a spray and spray and mop. I use a steam mop to clean floors, so I usually make my mix, spray and mop.
- For buckets: 1c castile soap, 2 gallons water, 30 drops essential oils. Sometimes different ratios work for different situations.
- For spray and mop: 1/4c -1/2c castile soap in a 32oz bottle, fill rest of the way with water. Add 30 drops of essential oil. (I use orange, it’s a natural degreaser)
Wood cleaner and polish:
- 3/4c Olive oil
- 3/4c Vinegar
- 20 drops essential oil-lemon and orange are the best
- Distilled water
Again, all my bottles are 32oz. So just mix, mix, mix it up! Remember, always shake well before using!
I have gone through a lot of trial and error with making my own cleaning products. I am still learning and perfecting. When I started, I followed all the measurements that were advised, eventually I have become comfortable enough with testing measurements and ratios to see what work best for me. Experimenting is just a given when you are learning how to make cleaning products, that’s what makes it fun! Re cap: Base ingredients+Essential oils=Some very eco-friendly products!
Here is what you shouldn’t mix together:
Baking soda+Vinegar
Hydrogen peroxide+Vinegar
Castile soap+Vinegar
Rubbing alcohol+Hydrogen peroxide
All you really need for making products is castile soap, essential oils and distilled water. Natural glass cleaners are usually pretty non-toxic. My preferred brand(if you feel like you don’t want to make it) would be HomeSolv or Better Life’s glass cleaner. You can also check out some local brands on our green cleaning page.
Happy Experimenting 🙂
Eco Clean Madison House Cleaning Service
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