Recipes for Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products

How can you clean with natural, non-toxic products and save money? Make your own. It is easy and straightforward. As a bonus, you will also recycle fewer bottles and jars as you won’t be buying as much packaging. You can use an old plastic spray bottle from a cleaning product, and mix your new home-made recipes right into it!

I'll give you a quick run-down of recipes that work for our most commonly-used products, and how to use them effectively:

DISINFECTANT SPRAY

• 2 cups Water

• ¼ cup White Vinegar

• ¼ tsp. Tea Tree Oil

• ¼ tsp. Lavender Oil

Directions: Combine and store in a spray bottle. Shake occasionally. Use where ever a disinfectant spray is needed.

WINDOW CLEANING SPRAY

• ¼ tbs. Castile Soap

• 3 tbs. White Vinegar

• 2 cups Water

Directions: Combine and store in a spray bottle. Shake before use. Use a cotton cloth to clean. Do not clean windows if the sun is shining directly on them as this will cause streaks to show upon drying.

ALL-PURPOSE SPRAY CLEANER

• 2 cups Hot Water

• 2 tbs. White Vinegar

• 1 tsp. Borax

• ½ tsp. Washing Soda

• ½ tsp. Castile Soap

Directions: Combine the borax, washing soda, vinegar, and liquid castile soap in a spray bottle. Add very hot tap water, shaking the bottle gently until the minerals have dissolved. Spray on to the area to be cleaned and wipe with a sponge, rag, or cellulose sponge cloth.

STOVE & OVEN CLEANER

• Water

• 1-2 cups Baking Soda

• 1 tsp. Castile Soap

Directions: Sprinkle water generously over the bottom of the oven, then cover the grime with enough baking soda that the surface is totally white. Sprinkle some more water over the top. Let the mixture sit overnight. You can easily wipe up the grease the next morning because the grime will have loosened. When you have cleaned up the worst of the mess, dab a bit of liquid castile soap on a sponge and wash the remaining residue from the oven.

RUST REMOVER

• Salt

• Lime Juice

Directions: Sprinkle a little salt on the rust, squeeze a lime over the salt until it is well soaked. Leave the mixture on for 2-3 hours. Use leftover lime rind to scrub away residue.

LAUNDRY DETERGENT

• 1 cup Dr. Bronner's Castile Bar Soap

• ½ cup Washing Soda

• ½ cup Borax

Directions: Use a cheese grater to grate the soap. Mix with other ingredients in a large container. Use 1 tbsp of mixture for light loads; 2 tbsp for heavy loads.

--

Once you have a system in place for cleaning with your own natural ingredients you’ll realize how easy and economic it is; you can get the job done and know that what is going down your drain won’t have a negative impact on our bodies and on our environment!