All Natural Mom: 7 Homemade Cleaning Supply Formulas

I love the book “The Naturally Clean Home” by Karyn Siegel-Maier. I had my library order it in for me from another library. I may have to buy it. It contains 150 formulas for green cleaning. Below is a sampling of some of them. I chose ones with the easiest mixes of ingredients, and with the fewest number of essential oils I would need to buy. Many people use just vinegar and water (half and half) or baking soda to clean, but here are some other options using herbal essential oils.

You can get small spray bottles from Target for about $1 near the travel size personal hygiene items. Or Home Depot has larger all-purpose spray bottles for about $1 near the lawn supplies.

Using the below recipes, you would need to buy the following essential oils and ingredients (I got mine at my local health food store – NOW brand essential oils): I have more listed in the picture because I had some at home already.

Lemon

Orange

Peppermint

Tea Tree

Pine

Cedar (I got Cedarwood. I’m assuming it’s the same thing.)

Lavender

Rosemary (optional; can sub lavender in the recipe)

Other ingredients you will need: Baking soda, Borax (near the laundry detergent. Called 20 Team Mule Borax), vinegar, Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap (I got unscented, but there are a few scents, which all should be fine), Murphy’s Oil soap (I got from Home Depot), and however many spray bottles you will be filling.

Glass Cleaner / All Purpose Disinfectant

2 cups water

2 cups vinegar

20 drops lemon essential oil (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a large spray bottle. Shake before use. This works great on glass, mirrors, and as a general all-purpose cleaner. Cleans and disinfects, and the lemon helps mask the vinegar smell (but not all that well).

I've actually found that I like using just straight vinegar and water a little better than adding the lemon oil. This was the only thing that would clean my glass shower door. My cleaning lady tried every commercial brand out there and nothing worked as well as vinegar and water!

Sink Cleaner

1 cup baking soda

3 tsp ground cinnamon

3 drops cedar or orange essential oil

Combine all ingredients in an airtight container and shake well to blend. Sprinkle a small amount of the powder into the sink and scrub with a damp sponge. Rinse well.

Toilet Cleaner (outside of the toilet)

2 cups water

¼ cup liquid castile soap (I used Dr. Bronner’s)

1 TB tea tree essential oil

10 drops peppermint oil (or eucalyptus)

Combine all ingredients in a large spray bottle. Shake before use. Spray on toilet surfaces and wipe clean with a damp cloth or sponge.

Pine Disinfectant Spray

2 cups water

2 tsp Borax

8 drops pine essential oil

4 drops cedar essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake before use. I use this on kitchen countertops. I prefer this smell to vinegar.

Oven/Stovetop Cleaner

2 cups of water

¼ cup oil based soap (I used Murphy’s Oil)

10 drops of rosemary (or lavender or citrus essential oil)

Combine all ingredients in a large spray bottle. Shake before use. Nothing like turning on your oven to almost singe your eyebrows after cleaning with chemicals. I like this option much better.

Endust / Wood Cleaner

½ cup oil soap (I use Murphy’s Oil)

¾ cup of water

5 drops orange essential oil

15-20 drops of cedar essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake before use. Spray onto wood and wipe clean with a clean, dry cloth.

Laundry Stain Remover

1 TB of cream of tartar (in a jar near the spices)

1 drop of peppermint oil

1 tsp or so of water to make a paste

Combine above ingredients to make a paste and cover stain with it. Allow to dry, then scrape off, and wash normally. This actually worked! My son spilled blueberry pie all over his school dress shorts. I thought they were ruined. I put the above stain remover on a few hours later and washed them that night, and you can’t even tell where the stain was! Apparently, for a berry stain, if you can do it right away, you can also rub a fresh lemon slice over the stain.

There were a few more that I made, like the instant car deodorizer. J It actually worked. There’s a car wash formula that’s really easy, and a dashboard restorer, and a car mat cleaner. There are great formulas for the laundry, getting rid of pests, carpet cleaners, etc. Love it!

I heard a DJ on the radio the other day talking about Pinterest and making fun of people making their own cleaning supplies. She asked, “Why would anyone want to make their own cleaning supplies when they can just buy them, and they’re cheaper?”

Well, let me tell you - because those other cleaning supplies are toxic! I get a headache from the smell of them and they really can make you sick. I’ve read a few books that say to not even store your chemical cleaning supplies in the house; to keep them out in the garage.

Andrea Fabry has a GREAT web site about toxins as well and they sometimes do a “Toxic Tuesday” show on her husband’s radio program – Chris Fabry Live. Here in Chicago it’s on Moody Radio, 90.1 FM. I caught one program and it was really good. Here is a link to her kitchen cleaning formulas. Check out her entire web site for great non-toxic cleaning solutions and tips.

http://momsaware.org/kitchen/58-a-naturally-clean-kitchen.html

And, just as a side note - people can be sensitive to all kinds of scents, even all natural herbal essential oils, so you might need to test them out and see how they work for you. So far, so good for us.

Happy cleaning! If there is such a thing!