Read this post for natural, DIY home cleaners!
After researching the chemicals lurking in home cleaners, I decided to purge…everything.
Before purging, I experimented with DIY home cleaning recipes I found online. Through many failures, I’ve finally found a list of cleaning recipes that I love and use in my own home.
Beginning this journey can seem overwhelming, but luckily I stumbled upon some great mamas, who have been amazing influences in providing these clean living recipes.
this …
(Scroll to the bottom for my FREE DIY cleaning cheat sheet)
My favorite accounts to follow:
- Wellness Mama– If you haven’t heard of Katie Wells who runs Wellness Mama, you need to check her out! She’s a guru when it comes to clean living. Everything on her site is from clean living, natural remedies, recipes and so much more! Check out her podcast as well!
- Clean Mama- Becky from Clean Mama has tons of DIY recipes for home cleaners. She’s got a fantastic home cleaning plan as well, if you are having trouble keeping up with cleaning tasks throughout the week.
- Live Simply- Kristin Marr, who runs LiveSimply, is a great person to follow for real-food recipes, DIY home cleaners, natural beauty and so much more. She’s got a great podcast I listen to each week.
After additional research, the same non-toxic products consistently appeared and luckily for us both, they are very accessible.
List of non-toxic cleaning staples:
- baking soda
- distilled white vinegar (note- this should not be used on stone surfaces, such as granite)
- rubbing alcohol or vodka
- Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap or Sal’s Suds
- distilled water
- hydrogen peroxide
- lemons
- borax
- washing soda
- natural salt
- essential oils (optional)- for scent
Other item to go with your DIY home cleaners:
- Microfiber cloths (make sure you wash these separately, otherwise they will collect fuzzies and lint).
- Glass spray bottles– for storing your mixed spray cleaners
- Mason jars (optional) – for storing cleaning solutions
Below are the recipes I use for cleaning. These are my favorite DIY cleaning recipes thus far.
All purpose cleaning spray:
This is the recipe I follow by Clean Mama. I use this daily as my kitchen cleaner. Please note, this is NOT good for granite. Becky provides a different recipe for a granite cleaner here. Also, I do not use this mixture when I’ve been cooking with raw meat. (see disinfectant cleaner below)
Another great option (haven’t tried YET but will report back when I do)- Wellness Mama All Purpose Cleaner (4 ingredients)
All purpose disinfecting spray: (cleaning harmful bacteria, raw meat)
If you really want to disinfect the surface for potential harmful bacteria, spray the surface with vinegar. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, wipe clean, then repeat using hydrogen peroxide. This is great for disinfecting cutting boards as well!
Note- do not mix the two ingredients together to make 1 spray. Keep them separate.
Bathroom Cleaner
When I need the all purpose cleaner to disinfectant, I use this recipe by Clean Mama.
For tough grime: spray the surface with cleaner, sprinkle baking soda on any build up and wipe with a sponge or scrub brush.
Toilet Bowl Cleaner:
In a mason jar, store baking soda mixed with essential oils for a nice scent. Sprinkle mixture into the toilet bowl, and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. Scrub with the toilet brush then flush the toilet.
Another option is to squirt castile soap into the bowl then scrub clean.
To clean the toilet brush, spray or squirt with hydrogen peroxide, then allow it to dry by putting the brush between the toilet bowl and toilet seat. This will disinfect the toilet brush instead of sticking it right back into the toilet brush holder, dirty (YUCK!).
Clean Mama goes into detail on cleaning toilets in this post.
Kitchen Sink Cleaner:
Follow this recipe by Clean Mama for a sink cleaner. All you need is baking soda, essential oils (optional) and castile or dish soap!
Homemade Glass Cleaner:
Follow this recipe by Wellness Mama for a 3 ingredient cleaner. Use with a microfiber cloth.
Stainless Steel Cleaner:
Combine an equal amount of vinegar and distilled water. Use a microfiber cloth to wipe clean.
Dusting
Follow this recipe at LiveSimply for a 2 ingredient dusting spray!
Floor Cleaner
Follow this recipe at Live Simply for a multi-surface floor cleaner, or this vinegar based floor cleaner by Wellness Mama.
As annoying as it is, I find that my floors look best when I scrub on my hands on knees, dipping a microfiber cloth into the cleaning solution. It’s not fun, but the floors always end up looking WAY better!
I recently bought a steam mop, but in my experience, it still leaves those annoying streaks on the floor, however it beats washing the floors on your hands and knees.
Natural Carpet Stain Remover
Wellness Mama has a natural carpet stain remover recipe here. I haven’t personally needed to use it yet, but will report back once I do!
Laundry Detergent
I have been making my own laundry detergent for well over a year now. It is SO much cheaper and very easy to make. I highly encourage you to give it a try! You won’t look back!
Below are the recipes I have tried. I don’t love one over the other, they both seem to accomplish the same task. Be sure to let your powder dissolve into the water before throwing your clothes in, otherwise your clothes may attach to the powder, forming a build up on your clothing.
Homemade 5 minute Powder Laundry Soap (Live Simply)
No Borax Homemade Laundry Soap (Live Simply)
Stain remover:
Currently, I use COLD water to rinse the stain (as soon as possible) mixed with baking soda. I rinse the stain in cold water, then sprinkle a small amount of baking soda onto the stain to create a paste. Rub the paste gently into the stain and allow to soak for a short time. Wash in the washing machine, in a cold cycle.
Follow this link to Wellness Mama’s stain removers. There is an AWESOME cheat sheet you can print out to hang in your laundry room.
Citrus infused vinegar:
Use your leftover citrus peels as a cleaner! Store the peels in a glass jar with distilled white vinegar. Allow to soak for at least 2-days. Strain and use the citrus infused vinegar to clean surfaces (not marble or granite), windows or floors! Smells lovely! (I do not recommend using on stainless steel…it leaves streaks from my experience).
I find that mixing the infused vinegar with distilled water is best. I’ve been mixing 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water and it seems to do the trick!
Experimenting with Store Bought Natural Cleaners
There are a few companies that I use for cleaning. I’ve listed them below.
- Puracy- I use their dish soap, hand soap and lotion. They have cleaners as well that I haven’t tried.
- Ecover– I use their dishwasher tabs . They also have laundry soap that I would like to try!
- Dr. Bronners
- Sal Suds- can be used for multiple purposes
- Castile Soap- liquid used for many purposes
- Unscented bar soap- use for making laundry soap
Here are the companies that I have NOT personally tried, but come up a lot with clean ingredients. Always do your research first before purchasing.
- Babyganics– they have a fragrance free floor cleaner that has received good feedback
- BioKleen- multi-surface floor cleaner with no artificial fragrance, non toxic and plant based
- Branch Basics- I REALLY want to try this company. They have so many great options!
What natural products NOT to mix together:
- Vinegar and hydrogen peroxide
- Vinegar and baking soda
- Vinegar and castile soap
For more information on why these chemicals don’t mix well, click here.
Try these apps if you are unsure of a product or ingredient:
If you come across a product and have questions about its safety, check the Environmental Working Groups app (or website ewg.org) or the Think Dirty app. Think Dirty gives you information on the product (after searching or scanning the barcode), its ingredients and safer options to choose from. The EWG app allows you to do the same. With EWG you can scan food related products as well!
DIY Home Cleaning Cheat Sheet-
I hope I didn’t overwhelm you too much! There was a lot of trial and error when I started this process of switching out toxic cleaners to clean ingredients. I am still learning and experimenting today.
Hopefully you feel more confident and ready to swap out a few of your cleaners for some of these DIY natural cleaners today!
Here is to a healthy future!
Grab your FREE DIY home cleaners cheat sheet by clicking below.
Natural DIY Cleaning Cheat SheetDownload
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