Make Your Own Green Cleaners Easy Recipes

Vinegar, Essential Oils, Baking Soda, Citrus Acid, Washing Soda, Castile Soap (which i make from scratch from oils, milks and lye- but you can buy it too, or use whatever bar soap you like), Lemon Juice, Oils and Hydrogen Peroxide.

These are what are used to clean with in my house. Some jobs just require one ingredient, like just vinegar (disinfectant/deodorizer, just hydrogen peroxide (stain remover) or just baking soda (scrub/abrasive cleaner) and some a mix of a few of them. It's cheap and easy to do. Most people say they don't have time to make their own cleaners, invariably I find these people have never tried (or have tried with complicated recipes), it's amazingly simple and quick to make all the recipes I use, and they work just as well as store bought or better- and oh so much cheaper!

Just remember baby steps so you don't overwhelm yourself.

This is by no means all of my recipe archive, but here's some to help get you started, let me know whatever questions you have about anything. My screen name is KayMMIV


Disinfectant/General Cleaning Spray

The easiest one by far is just half and half cheap white vinegar and water.

For a little more germ fighting and deodorizing power you can add 7/8 drops of tea tree oil and an ounce or two of lemon juice to 10oz of vinegar (plus 10oz of water) or 7/8 drops of any citrus essential oil instead of the juice.

Just put this in an empty spray bottle and you have a very cheap and effective disinfectant and general cleaner.


Dishwasher Detergent (powder)

Most people use a mix of borax and baking soda, but get a film. Here is an easy remedy for that.

1 cup borax
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup citric acid
(essential oil if desired for scent)

Mix and then grind to fine powder. Use vinegar as rinse agent.


if you aren't so hot on borax (like me) here's a good substitute recipe.

1/2 cup grated bar soap (I use castile, but any bar soap works)
1/2 cup washing soda
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup citric acid

Mix and then grind to fine powder (or as close as you can get the soap to go) and use vinegar as a rinse agent.


Glass Cleaner (can be spray)

Mix in a spray bottle or bucket:

1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Tip: If you are having trouble getting some sort of oil off glass sprinkle corn starch to absorb the oil off it (or put it in a towel and wipe with it if a window) use the above cleaner again.


Bathroom Cleaning

Your new best bathroom buddy is baking soda, with vinegar a close second.

Most everything in the bathroom can be cleaned with one of the other. And when something just won't scrub off, mix them ;-)

But remember those science volcanoes as a kid? So here's how you mix them to get the job done. Make a paste out of baking soda and water and put this on top of the tough to scrub clean area. then pour a little bit of vinegar over top. That chemical reaction will help loosen the soap scum or lime buildup or whatever it is. Then just your own scrubbing elbow grease will do the rest of the job.

You can add whatever essential oils you want for smell, and using ones like citrus (lemon, orange, lime etc...) or tea tree oil or clove that have their own anti-microbial properties is never amiss.