How to make your own powerful cleaning products

Have you ever looked at the ingredients in your household cleaning products?

I approach most cleaning products the same way I approach the foods I eat. If my great-grandmother wouldn’t have recognized an ingredient in it, I don’t use it. The toxins in most cleaning products can be inhaled or absorbed through our skin and then spread through our bodies, wreaking havoc as they go. If you don’t eat them, don’t let them float around your house either!

It’s incredibly easy to make your own cleaning sprays, floor cleaners, and even laundry detergents with just a few basic household ingredients.

Contents

The benefits of homemade cleaners over store-bought ones

The benefits are the same as home-cooked meals versus instant or frozen meals. For starters, making your own is incredibly cost effective. DIY cleaners are about 1/8 the cost of standard commercial products. Plus, like home-cooked meals, you’ll know exactly what’s in them.

Standard cleaning products are full of toxins that can cause real damage to our bodies over long periods of use. Below are some of the chemicals in standard cleaning formulas and how they can affect us:

Ethanolamines

You’ll find them listed as TEA (triethanolamine), MEA (monoethanolamine), or DEA (diethanolamine) in all-purpose cleaners, oven cleaners, floor cleaners, dish soap, and other liquid detergents. They are emulsifiers, which make cleansers lather and lather well.

These ingredients can cause asthma and other lung problems if inhaled. In addition, they are potential carcinogens [1] and have been linked to the development of tumours.

Nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE)

If you use aerosol air fresheners, degreasers, or liquid toilet bowl cleaners, you’ve probably encountered NPEs. These chemicals are known endocrine disruptors [2]meaning they interfere with hormone function and regulation.

They are also carcinogenic and have been linked to the development of breast cancer. Additionally, some studies have found a link between them and reproductive system dysfunction in marine life.

Coal tar dyes

These are often used to dye cleaning products blue or purple, such as laundry detergents and window cleaners. They are known carcinogens [3], meaning they can potentially cause cancer. You will see them listed as P-phenylenediamine, coal tar solutions, benzine B70, naphtha or estar.

These are just a few of the many harmful chemicals found in most commercial cleaners. Needless to say, the cleaning products you make at home won’t contain any of these.

In fact, you can either eat or slather on the necessary ingredients without hurting yourself.

What you will need:

When it comes to DIY cleaning products, you will use the ingredients below in different ratios.

  • White vinegar
  • Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
  • Borax (aka sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate)
  • Castile soap (like Dr. Bronner’s) in bar or liquid form
  • Lemon juice (bottle), fresh lemons
  • Soda lye (sodium carbonate):
  • Essential oils (EO) in your favorite scents
  • Rubbing alcohol (90% isopropyl)

When it comes to essential oils, get scents that you love and find uplifting in your home. I typically use citrus scents like lemon, sweet orange, grapefruit, and bergamot for kitchen and living spaces.

On the other hand, scents like eucalyptus, sage, tea tree and mint are great for bathrooms.

1. All Purpose Surface Cleaner

  • 2 cups white vinegar
  • 1 cup of water
  • 20 drops of EO of your choice (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a standard spray bottle and shake well before each use. This spray removes grease and disinfects surfaces remarkably well. If you want to increase its disinfectant properties, add a little thyme or tea tree essential oil to the mixture.

2. Scouring cleanser

  • 2 tablespoons baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon of borax
  • 1/2 fresh lemon

Mix the dry ingredients together and sprinkle this mixture in your sink or bathtub, or on stained surfaces. Then take 1/2 fresh lemon and use it to scour the surface. Between the lemon acids and the mixture of abrasive powder, you will be able to remove all kinds of sticky dirt.

It works particularly well as a soap scum remover in the shower, both on tiled walls and glass doors.

3. Standard floor cleaner

  • 1/2 cup borax
  • 1/4 cup liquid castile soap
  • 10-12 cups hot water
  • 10-20 drops of EO of your choice

Mix all these ingredients in a bucket and use the mixture to clean linoleum, ceramic, stone or laminate floors. Wipe with a clean towel.

4. Real Wood Floor Cleaner

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup bottled lemon juice
  • 10-12 cups hot water

Mix these ingredients in a bucket or pail and use a mop or squeegee to clean and dab your floor surfaces. Just make sure to only use this mix if you have real wood floors. If you try to use it on laminate, you’ll be slipping all over the place for days.

5. Glass cleaner

  • 1 cup rubbing alcohol
  • 2 tablespoons of white vinegar
  • 1 cup of water

Combine all these ingredients in a clean spray bottle and shake to mix well. Then use it to clean glass surfaces such as windows and mirrors. For more shine, dry the glass with used newspapers.

6. Toilet bowl cleaner

  • 1 cup vinegar
  • 1/2 cup baking soda
  • HE of your choice

Do you remember blowing up a volcano in science class? Well, the magic of mixing vinegar and baking soda also works wonders for cleaning toilet bowls. Pour the baking soda into the bowl and add a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Then add the vinegar, close the lid and run away.

Let it work its magic for 15-20 minutes, then scrub with your toilet brush and flush it enthusiastically.

This mixture also serves as a sink or bathtub unblocker! Just pour baking soda down the drain and follow it up with heated vinegar. Cap it quickly and let it dissolve all the glop for 20-30 minutes. Then run hot water down the drain to wash everything away.

7. Laundry Detergent

Your skin is your body’s largest organ and easily absorbs chemicals that land on it. As such, it’s important to be discerning about the chemicals you use on your clothes.

  • 1 castile soap, finely grated*
  • 1 cup baking soda
  • 1/2 cup borax
  • 1 cup washing soda
  • 30-40 drops of essential oil(s) of your choice (optional)

Mix all these ingredients and store them in an airtight glass or plastic container. When you’re ready to do laundry, add 1/4 cup straight to the washing machine or dissolve it in warm water first, then add it.

Soda (sodium carbonate) washing powder “softens” the water so that the soap can be absorbed by the fibers of the fabric and draw out the dirt and grease. Then these dirty particles are suspended in the wash water so that they can be flushed down the drain.

It is one of the easiest cleaning products to make. Plus, you can flavor it however you like, if at all. I opted for unscented so my detergent wouldn’t compete with my scent. That said, if I’m doing a load of just my own clothes, rather than a combined household wash, I’ll often add jasmine EO to the water as well.

You can also make a liquid version of this detergent if you prefer. Dissolve dry ingredients in 4 cups hot water and add 1/1/2 cup liquid castile soap. Once well mixed, transfer to an airtight container. Then use 1/3 cup per full load of laundry.

Change things up!

As you can see, you can make just about any household cleaner with a few basic kitchen and personal care ingredients. Even better, you can flavor them however you like!

Here’s a fun tip: Change up your essential oil choices with the seasons and holidays. For example, combine cinnamon, orange and pine or spruce EO for winter holiday cleaning.

On the other hand, scents like mint, lemon, neroli, or clary sage work wonderfully for spring and summer. I also have a combination of tangerine, cinnamon, clove and frankincense ready for Halloween cleaning parties.

Cleaning your home is a necessary chore, but at least you can make it healthier with homemade cleaning products. Good scrub?

References:

  1. Tolbert PE. Oils and cancer. Cancer causes control. 1997 May;8(3):386-405. doi:10.1023/a:1018409422050. PMID: 9498901.
  2. Ji X, Li N, Yuan S, Zhou X, Ding F, Rao K, Ma M, Wang Z. A comparison of the endocrine disrupting potential of nonylphenol ethoxylate, vanillin ethoxylate, 4-n- nonylphenol and vanillin in vitro. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2019 Jul 15;175:208-214. doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.03.060. Published online March 19, 2019. PMID: 30901638.
  3. van Schooten FJ, Godschalk R. Coal tar therapy. Is it carcinogenic? Safe medicine. 1996 Dec;15(6):374-7. doi: 10.2165/00002018-199615060-00002. PMID: 8968692.

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