Sink to scrub?
Window that needs a good cleaning and shining?
The next time you need to clean your house, instead of grabbing some store-bought cleaners, just raid your cupboards.
Seriously.
Most of the time you can make a great (and usually better) cleaner from items in your pantry. And an added bonus, you won’t have to smell or ingest ingredients you can’t pronounce in order to make your surfaces sparkle.
Here is the mother-load of DIY easy green cleaning recipes that your whole family can use.
A couple of notes:
- You’ll need 15 ingredients. Most are just hanging out in your house somewhere, like water or baking soda, others, like Castile soap and vodka (unless you are me and vodka is always in the house), you might need to purchase in advance. I’ve hyper-linked my favorite brands to my favorite place to purchase them.
- I use Sally Organics 16 ounce Brown Glass Bottle Sprayer. They are a little expensive, but they are very high quality and the sprayer is amazing.
- I use Amazon MicroFiber Cloths exclusively. They are the bomb. They scrub, leave a streak free shine, and hold up to a gazillion washes. Plus, they are SUPER inexpensive.
- I only use doTERRA essential oils.
- Under each recipe, I’ve listed why it works as well as where to use it (because some ingredients should be used on specific materials).
- DIY Cleaners last approximately one month, so it is best to work in smaller batches.
The Motherload of DIY Easy Green Cleaning Recipes
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Easy Green Cleaning Recipes
Here is a huge collection of easy green cleaning recipes that use natural ingredients to cleanse, degrease, disinfect, scrub, and shine your entire house.
Ingredients
Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap (And it’s FREE this week as part of the ePantry promotion.)
Rubbing Alcohol,
Natural Dish Soap,
White Vinegar,
Vodka,
Baking Soda,
Club Soda,
Salt,
Wild Orange, Lemon, Lavender, Peppermint, Clove, and Melaleuca (Tea Tree) Essential Oil Lemons
All-Purpose Cleanser
1. Mix 3/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol, 10 drops Wild Orange essential oil, and 1 squirt natural dish soap into a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray on surface and wipe with microfiber towel.
Why It Works: Rubbing alcohol kills bacteria and is fast drying, while natural dish soap removes dirt and grime and orange essential oil smells good and is anti-bacterial.
Use it On: Quartz, marble, granite, or composite counter tops; also fine to use on bathroom sinks, baseboards, window sills, and tabletops. Pretty much everything besides raw wood and glass.
Degreaser
1. Mix 2 cups of water, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap, and 1 tablespoon baking soda into a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray on surface and wipe with microfiber towel.
Why It Works: Lemon is a natural bleach, disinfectant and degreaser. Baking soda is a natural abrasive. And the castile soap helps disperse the other ingredients once the solution is sprayed on the surface.
Use it On: Any hard surface besides wood. Baking soda have scratch wood.
Vinegar & Vodka Disinfectant
1. Mix 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup vodka, 10 drops lavender essential oil, 10 drops lemon essential oil, and 1.5 cups of water in a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray surface and let sit for 10 minutes and then wipe with microfiber towel.
Why It Works: Vinegar and vodka inhibit the growth of germs while lavender and lemon essential oils are antibacterial and antiseptic.
Use it On: Any surface that is grossing you out – bathroom surfaces, toilets, light switches, doorknobs, etc.
Glass Cleaner
1. Mix 2 cups of water, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, 2 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol, and 5 drops of peppermint essential oil in a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray on to a microfiber towel and clean.
Why It Works: Vinegar cuts through dirt and grime. Rubbing alcohol speeds up drying times. Peppermint smells good.
Use it On: Mirrors and windows.
Chrome Cleaner
1. Mix 2 cups of water, 1/2 teaspoon Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap, and 3 tablespoons of white vinegar into a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray on surface, wait 10 minutes and then wipe with microfiber towel.
Why It Works: Cleaners with sulfates can damage chrome and mirrors long term. Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap is free of these sulfates and uses vegetable and hemp oil to remove dirt and grime naturally.
Use it On: Chrome Objects – faucets, appliances, etc.
Heavy Duty Kitchen Scrub
1. Mix 1/4 cup natural dish soap, 1/4 cup baking soda, 3 drops of water and 5 drops of clove essential oil in a small bowl. Apply to surface and scrub with kitchen sponge or rag. Use clean water and microfiber towel to wipe up and shine.
Why It Works: Dish soap cuts the grease and lifts the dirt, baking soda is abrasive to dig out tough stains and clove essential oil is antibacterial.
Use it On: Kitchen sinks, pots, pans, bath tubs, etc. – anywhere there is a good dose of grime.
Everyday Sink Scrub
1. Mix 2 cups baking soda, 10 drops lemon essential oil, and 10 drops of clove essential in a small bowl. Store in an air tight container. When using, sprinkle mixture over area and then add a small squirt of Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap with a few drops of water and scrub with a nylon bristle brush. Rinse.
Why It Works: Baking soda degrimes without scratching. The paste created from essential oils and soap helps cuts the grease and lifts the dirt.
Use it On: Kitchen sinks, bath tubs, and grout. etc.
Shower Cleaner
1. Mix 1/2 cup white vinegar with 1 cup hot water into a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray on to area and let sit for five minutes. Wipe clean with a microfiber towel.
Why It Works: Vinegar is amazing at dissolving hard water spots and areas. Use it On: Ceramic, porcelain, and fiberglass tile or surfaces. (But do not use it on natural stone because of the vinegar.)
Mold & Mildew Remover
1. Mix 2 cups of hot water with 2 teaspoons of melaleuca (tea tree) essential oil in a spray bottle. Shake well. Liberally spray area and let sit for 24 hours. After a day, mix 1/4 cup baking soda with a few spritzes of solution to make a paste. Apply paste to surface using a clean toothbrush and scrub. Rinse and wipe clean with a microfiber cloth.
Why It Works: Melaleuca essential oil is a natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, so it eliminates mold and mildew. The baking soda removes and discoloration left behind.
Use it On: Tubs, shower doors and shower curtains.
Carpet Cleaner
1. Blot area to remove all liquid from stained area. Saturate the area with 1 cup club soda and blot again to remove excess. Sprinkle salt on the area and let sit for 12 hours. Vacuum as normal.
Why It Works: Club soda carbonation lifts a stain and salt absorbs it.
Use it On: Carpets.
Hardwood Floor Cleaner
1. Mix 1/2 cup white vinegar, one gallon of warm water, and 3 drops of lemon essential oil in a 2-gallon bucket. Dip mop head in bucket and wring it out to be just barely damp. Apply to floors and repeat as needed.
Why It Works: Vinegar and lemon essential oil cuts through the grime, but because of the dilution it is safe to use on floors.
Use it On: Hardwood floors.
What other ways do you use baking soda, vinegar, and essential oil for cleaning?
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I think your article is the best guide for green cleaning I’ve ever seen! Impressive! These recipes are really effective in my personal opinion. I am absolutely obsessed with green cleaning and my recipe for all-purpose-natural-cleanser is: 1 cup vinegar, 1/2 baking soda, 30 drops essential oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 1/2 cup water! That homemade product kills every germ and dirt in your household! Greets!