Frugally Sustainable

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My Collection of Homemade Cleaners

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With the holidays suddenly upon us, I am scrambling to prepare my home for our out-of-town guests! Who’s with me?

I’ve decided to gather a few of my most popular homemade cleaner recipes here in one place so as to serve as a reference for those of us in a mad rush to clean the toilets, the tub, the windows, the counters…

cleaners label
 
Also included here is a brand new recipe for a wood furniture dusting spray. You know I’m not down with paying for or using any of the commercial products out there made for dusting, so naturally I make my own.

Wood Furniture Dusting Spray

-1 cup water
-1 tsp. olive or jojoba oil
-1 tsp. liquid baby mild castile soap
-1/4 cup white vinegar
-15 drops sweet orange essential oil

Directions: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or spray bottle. Apply to lint-free cloth and dust away. Store remainder of mixture in glass jar or spray bottle. Will last indefinitely. Note: If using in a spray bottle, shake bottle often as you are spraying in order to mix the oil in with the liquid.

My Collection of Homemade Cleaners

As long as you have…

1. Borax
2. Baking Soda
3. Super Washing Soda
4. White Vinegar
5. Castile Soap
6. Anti-Septic Essential Oils (i.e. tea tree oil, cinnamon leaf, lavender, eucalyptus, lemongrass, sweet orange and clove)

…you’ll be able to make all of these cleaners!

With these easy and frugal recipes you’re sure to get the house spic-n-span in no time, without braking the bank!

Learn more about making your own homemade cleaners here!

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  1. I called it "Operation Clean Up". With the back to back projects of the Wood Shed and Solar Bathhouse, the back yard was a mess. I was embarrassed to have any customers over to the Mini Farm much less family.
    We are now done. Everything is in it's place. Now for the house.

  2. If you do not have the baby castor soap is there a way to tone down the regular stuff to make it work in your recipes?

  3. You must have been reading my mind. I am in the process of converting to all homemade cleaners. I currently do a lot with vinegar, it's my favorite, but need to start replacing soaps, window cleaner, bathroom cleaners, etc. This is just perfectly timed for me. Thanks for sharing!

  5. Thanks for posting these! I have especially been looking for a natural toilet bowl cleaner. That store bought stuff scares me!

  7. I'm a big fan of baking soda, vinegar and castile soap for cleaning and deodorizing. A light shake of baking soda over the living room rug, absorbs food smells and leaves the rug scent free. The Costco size bag of baking soda call it a multi-purpose cleaner and I totally agree.
    I use essential oils based on the season. I love the smell of lavender in Spring/summer so it is incorporated then and rosemary is the fall/winter scent. Sleeping on sheets that have been scented with lavender is heavenly.

    • Hint: Use an empty dry Parmesan cheese container to put your carpet powder (baking soda and essential oil of choice) into. The holes make a good distribution system!

  9. What a helpful collection! I have a couple recipes for household cleaners that I use, but I could definitely use more.

  10. This is exactly what I've been looking for. Thank you so much!

    Do I understand correctly that the spray bottles need to be glass? Not sure if I've seen those.

  11. @Sherri No the spray bottles can be anything:) You can even save the ones holding commercial products now for use later:)

  14. I am wondering if you have any suggestions for a wood floor cleaner? We have a lot of wood floors and a baby who just started crawling. I want to keep the floors clean for her but also chemical free!

    Thanks!

    • For my wood floors, I use a Shark brand steam cleaner – I think other brands like Bissel make versions that are little more robust. I find the Shark to works well – it does a great job on my hardwoods and tile floors! The reusable pads are easy to wash and dry, as well.

  15. I’m also interested in a wood floor cleaner.
    (Love your blog, I follow you through Facebook.)

  16. You shouldnt mix castile soap with vinegar, they cancel each other out and neither works!! Just thought you may want to know!!

  17. I was wondering if you have a homemade Laundry Detergent recipe. I have one I have been using for about 2 months and wanted to compare it to yours.

  18. I have a really weird question. I found a recipe for spray cleaner with just baking soda and water yesterday, so we made it. This morning, when I woke up, I found that it appeared all the baking soda had “climbed” out of the bottle and run down the side (out the spout and around the screw on lid). There is residue everywhere around the “pores” of the bottle, down the side of the bottle and on the counter. Any ideas? This is so weird to me.