So let’s start with cleaning your home. I find people are more comfortable making the initial switch to DIY with basic cleaners, as these are both the simplest and cheapest recipes.
These are also the most toxic products in your home, and therefore are in my opinion the most important to replace. If you have small children around, family members with respiratory issues or allergies, you may find making the switch to natural cleaning products gives you peace of mind.
Let’s get started with the two basic cleaners that do almost all the general cleaning jobs in my home! Get ready for the simplest recipe of them all, my…..
ALL PURPOSE CLEANER:
Find yourself an empty spray bottle. Fill with:
1 Part White vinegar
1 Part Water
10 Drops Tea Tree essential oil
Shake well, and spray away! The vinegar and tea tree are both antimicrobial agents, the vinegar being acidic, and the tea tree working naturally to eliminate bacteria. Worried about your home smelling like vinegar? Don’t! The smell absolutely does not linger, and you will get more and more used to it during use. I add citronella to my cleaner sometimes which I find masks the vinegar smell very well during use.
What can you use it for? Spills in the kitchen, a tile or laminate cleaner, surface cleaner for your bathroom, mirror cleaner, and a disinfectant for toys. You name it! Stuck on mess? Spray and let it soak. Need a more abrasive cleaner? Coming up!
TOUGH SCRUB – BATH & TOILET BOWL CLEANER:
Need an abrasive cleaner for that brown ring in your tub, or stubborn stains in your toilet bowl? A really stuck on mess that your all purpose spray can’t handle? Try this recipe on for size.
I find this product dispenses great from one of those large costco size herb / spice shakers with the large holes. Grab one of those, or something similar that you can shake this product out of, and add:
1 Part Washing Soda
1 Part Baking Soda
1 Part Borax*
Mix these ingredients well (if you find you are breathing in a lot of dust from the ingredients, wear a mask or tie a scarf around your face while you are mixing, or mix them on your stove with the exhaust fan running. Although these ingredients are generally benign, it’s not great to be breathing in a large amount of any kind of particulate).
Scrub your toilet or bath with this mixture and they will be clean in no time, with very little elbow grease! If you are cleaning a dry surface, you will want to use a bit of water with this! For your tub, after cleaning, spray down with your all purpose cleaner and rinse well – the sodas can be slippery. The vinegar in the all purpose cleaner will neutralize the sodas so you don’t slip in the shower! For really stuck on messes, scrub with this mixture, and then spray with the vinegar cleaner, and scrub again – this creates a fun foaming reaction that lifts off messes no problem!
*If you would like a borax free recipe, simply replace the borax with an equal part washing soda. I find the borax just gives it that extra kick, but isn’t fully necessary.
DIY Jayne 