I have received several requests for the recipes to my natural cleaning products. So, here they are! Try them out and let me know how they work for you or let me know if you have a better version that I can try out!
These cleaners are stored in plastic spray bottles and labeled appropriately. I believe that they all last “indefinitely”, whatever that means.
Anytime that I mention vinegar, I mean Distilled White Vinegar, unless otherwise noted. Also, essential oils can be any type… citrus versions, eucalyptus, tea tree oil, lavender, etc. It is really whatever floats your boat.
All-Purpose Cleaners, several versions… You pick your favorite!
Castile Cleaner-
1 teaspoon washing soda
2 teaspoons Borax
1/2 teaspoon castile soap
2 cups hot water
10 drops essential oil (I use Tea Tree Oil)
16 ounce spray bottle.
** Mix into spray bottle and use as needed on most surfaces
Borax Cleaner-
1/2 cup Borax
1 gallon hot water
**Mix into pail or bucket and wipe with sponge or rag
Hayley’s Version of Cleaner-
2 cups vinegar
2 cups hot water
1 tsp castile soap
2 tsp Borax
1 tsp washing soda
20 drops of essential oil (I use tea tree oil)
**Mix into a spray bottle and wipe down surfaces with a rag
Basic Vinegar Cleaner (the most basic version)
either straight vinegar or vinegar mixed with water
**wipe down surfaces with a rag
(this one tends to make your house smell like a pickle. If you want to reduce the smell, add essential oil to the mix)
Toilet Disinfectant
2 cups vinegar
few drops of essential oil
*Mix into a spray bottle or better yet, put into a squirt bottle to make it easier to get into the toilet.
***Before spraying the cleaner into the toilet, sprinkle the bowl with baking soda. This makes for quite a cool chemical reaction. Plus, it helps with scrubbing.
Vinegar of Four Thieves
(I have not tried this yet, but I keep meaning to!!! I have heard good things about it and it is perfect to use during flu season. It is supposed to kill germs like a champ.)
2 quarts organic apple cider vinegar
small handfuls of dried lavendar, rosemary, sage, rue, mint
large jar with screw-top lid
**Mix all ingredients into jar and make sure it’s on tightly. Leave it for about 4 weeks in a quiet place. Strain out the herbs after this time. Put into a spray bottle and use on surfaces that are ridden with yucky germs. Like toilet handles. Or anywhere in kids rooms. LOL.
General Antiseptic Spray
I really like this one:
Liquid Castile soap… I use about 2 cups
10-20 drops of essential oil (again, I use tea tree oil)
**Mix into a spray bottle. Spritz as needed.
Laundry Detergent
This one is a major “work in progress”, as is the dishwashing detergent. It totally depends on your water type, i.e. hard or soft, and several other factors like ph balance. I am not a chemist, nor do I claim to be, so I certainly don’t have all the answers. If you can help me out in this area, I would really appreciate it!
Basic Laundry Detergent
1 part Borax
1 part Washing Soda
**Mix into a container (like a Rubbermaid container, for instance). Use in place of your regular detergent.
***If you live in a hard water area like me, you are supposed to add more of the washing soda.
I do not like that recipe for several reasons. I feel like it doesn’t get my clothes clean enough, probably due to the hard water that we have. Secondly, I am totally not used to using powder detergent as I have always used liquid, so this is going to take some learning curve!
A More Complicated Basic Recipe
1 Bar of Ivory Soap
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 Borax
**Okay, you need to grate the soap and add six cups of water. Boil this mixture on the stove until it melts. Add the Borax and Washing soda until everything is dissolved. In a bucket, put four cups of hot water. Add your soap mixture and stir. Add one gallon, plus 6 cups of water and stir. It needs to sit for about 24 hours and it becomes a gel. You generally use about 1/2 cup of the solution for a normal sized load.
Dishwashing Detergent
Here is another homemade cleaner that I am having issues with. The regular recipe seems to leave a white residue on my dishes, but only the plastic ones. I believe that this also has to do with my hard water. Ugh.
Regular Dishwashing Detergent
1 part Washing Soda
1 part Borax
**Mix into a container. Use about 1-2 TBSP per load. Just put it into both compartments like you would with normal detergent.
***I have also read that adding vinegar to the rinsing agent container (you know, the one you normally put Jet Dry into) is supposed to help with the white residue, but so far it hasn’t worked for us.
Pumped Up Version of Dishwashing Detergent
I have not tried this yet because I still need to get the ingredients. I will keep you posted when I find out how it works. I read about this online and I am hoping it works!)
1 cup Borax
1 cup Baking Soda or Washing Soda (I will try the washing soda first)
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup citric acid
30 drops citrus essential oil (or tea tree oil)
**Mix into a container and use 1-2 TBSP per load, same as above.
***Now, I have seen different things regarding the citric acid. I have read that some people use the Unsweetened Lemonade Koolaid packets because it won’t dye your dishwasher and it’s cheaper than buying citric acid. I think I might try this first because it’s easier. BUT make sure it’s the Lemonade flavor or you will have a dyed machine!!!! (unless that is what you are hoping for…) Oh and make sure it’s UNSWEETENED! Sugar will not help you out.
Recipe If All Else Fails
Vinegar and Water. Easy. Simple. Cheap.
But you will seriously smell like a pickle.
Hayley
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That’s awesome, thanks for sharing these! Now all I need is the motivation to clean. LOL.
Okay, I have no idea how I managed to sign that under Ian’s name. Sorry!
Elyse
Thanks for sharing! I am going to try these! Although I hate vinegar with a passion!
LOL about smelling like a pickle! That is so cool you took the time to write all of these out. I just spent several minutes going over your blog and cried over Ethan’s video. It is so wonderful!
I agree with you about the laundry soap. I never felt that our clothes got clean, so I am back to using good ol’ Arm and Hammer.
What exactly is castile soap? I am so going to make some of these cleaners. I love the smell of tea tree oil.
Oh and I don’t mind the smell of vinegar. If you’ve got a funky smell in your kitchen (made fish the night before, something nasty went down the drain, etc) just put a small bowl of vinegar out and it’ll absorb the smell. I use it so often I don’t care about the pickleness.
I linked to your blog fron BBC, but I am on a mission to make my own liquid laundry detergent. I have listed 3 recipes on my blog if you want to check it out (emilywinship.blogspot.com.) So far, the top one (I think I called it Take III) is working quite well!
Hayley, I wish you lived in Illinois…I think we were separated at birth! haha
I use Fels Naptha bar soap in my laundry detergent. I do it the hard way and make the gel, but I have a friend who just adds the grated soap the borax and washing soda for powdered detergent.
I have been making my own cleaners for a few years as well. For a scrubbing powder I use a mix of 1 part each: Borax, washing soda, & baking soda. It scrubs tubs/toilets/showers/sinks etc for those who like a powder. Also on the laundry soap, we use the liquid mix similar to what you have above. We found that Ivory and other standard soaps often left a residue on our clothes. Fels Naptha works well, but is pretty toxic chemically. We have switched to Dr. Bronner’s Bar Soap in lavender or peppermint, grated/melted in water/added to 5 gallon bucket with hot water and dry ingredients. It works really well for cleaning everything. Every once in a great while we add vinegar to the fabric softener cup to take care of any residual build-up, it also softens clothes & removes odors. Can’t beat that vinegar, even if it does smell like pickles 🙂