I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried a lot of cleaning products. There are so many to choose from in the store. After countless tests, I find myself going back to natural cleaners I already have in my cupboard. They’re simple, effective and not full of unpronounceable chemicals. For the next two weeks, the blog will feature some easy handmade cleaner recipes for each room in your home.
These are some of my favorite ingredients to use when making natural cleaning products. They can be used for everything from cleaning the bathroom, kitchen and living room. If you’re looking for more natural cleaning recipes, check out this Spring Cleaning Roundup. The post includes recipes for laundry soap, wood polish and more. What is your favorite natural cleaning ingredient?
Baking Soda
Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, is a great all-purpose cleaner. Because of its exfoliating properties, baking soda is great for removing scum from your bath tub, burnt food from pots and pans and scuff marks from shoes. It also helps deodorize. In the Fizzy Toilet Fresheners Tutorial, baking soda is combined with citric acid, lemon essential oil and peppermint essential oil, 2nd distillation to keep your bathroom smelling fresh. You can also mix baking soda with a bit of water and wash your refrigerator to get rid of lingering food smells. Best of all, it’s inexpensive and easy to find in stores. Find out more ways to use it in this Sunday Night Spotlight.
Baking soda is an incredibly versatile ingredient. Learn more about it here.
White Vinegar
If you have stubborn stains on hard-to-clean surfaces, like windows and walls, vinegar will do the trick. It is a diluted form of acetic acid that forms through fermentation of natural carbohydrates. Mixed with water, it works wonders on rain spots, grease and more. Vinegar is used in the Crisp Orange Cleaning Spray to help remove dirt and stains from tile and glass. Vinegar is also great for removing sticky residue, cleaning shower heads and cleaning up soap scum. Just make sure not to use it on granite or marble, as it can etch it.
The Crisp Orange Cleaning Spray recipe uses vinegar to help with stubborn stains and residue.
Washing Soda
Washing soda – also know as soda ash or sodium carbonate – is an amazing stain fighter. Because of its stain fighting properties, it’s ideal for handmade laundry soap. When mixed with other ingredients like shredded soap, baking soda and borax, it helps your clothes stay clean and fresh. It’s also a water softener. Click through the Three DIY Laundry Soap Recipes for more information. Washing soda can also be used to clean tough materials like grease and wax. Washing soda can cause skin irritation, so I recommend wearing gloves and long sleeves when working with it. It can also irritate the nose and throat, so you can wear a mask if you like.
Making your own laundry soap with washing soda is easy, click here to learn how.
Salts
The scrubbing power of salt is ideal for household cleaning. It can be used to scrub shower scum, clean cast iron pans and remove oven spills. Salt is very absorbent, so it can absorb grease, oil and cooking residue from burnt pans. It’s also a deodorizer and fights unpleasant smells around your house. For instance, it’s an effective way to get rid of odors from the garbage disposal. It’s very versatile! Read more about salts in this Sunday Night Spotlight.
Salt, especially epsom salt, is great for cleaning recipes and bath and beauty applications such as bath salts.
Essential Oils
One of the best things about a clean house is a fresh, crisp scent. Essential oils can be used in room sprays, like the Springtime Room Spray, or added to cleaning products. The Simple Citrus Furniture Polish is scented with a bright blend of orange valencia essential oil and lemon essential oil. Lavender 40/42 essential oil on a towel makes a great homemade dryer sheet. It will make your clothes smell delightfully floral and earthy. Some essential oils, like tea tree essential oil, are also thought to have antiseptic and antifungal properties.
Essential oils make your cleaning products smell fresh. In particular, I like lemon, orange and peppermint.
What’s your favorite household cleaning ingredient?
I love this post!
Please go further on with handmade cleaner recipes!
I love to clean my (antique) wooden furniture with essential oils. I often use orange essential oil or an other citrus oil. I found this cleaning method in a book about Feng Shui.
With best regards, Nicole
Thanks Nicole, so glad you love it! Citrus essential oil is great for cleaning wood – not to mention it smells amazing. Look out for more handmade cleaning recipes on the blog this week and next week, including laundry cleaner recipes today. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
We also love using thyme essential oil in cleaning products!
It works so well for cleaning! I was really impressed the first time I tried it. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Good day,
Great Post, thank you!
I’d just like to add an Important note about washing soda, a product I am Extremely fond of and use extensively!
One of the major ways in which it works is by “eating” protein. This makes it a fabulous go to product to clean up pet messes (one of only two products I found that Always gets rid of the scent of cat urine), blood, stains from milk etc. However, it also means you don’t want it anywhere Near any protein based fabric or filler, such as wool, silk, down, mohair, cashmere etc. There is a warning on the Arm&Hammer washing soda I prefer but its well hidden and I can only imagine the horror of finding you got that terrible stain out of your favourite sweater, along with the cloth it was in.
Look forward to the upcoming articles,
Sincerely,
Grey Dove
Thanks so much for the great tips, they’re very helpful! I will definitely have to try washing soda on pet messes at home. It sounds perfect for absorbing those odors. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
This is brilliant information Grey Dove, thank you. If you catch this comment I’d ask if you’d mind sharing your process as far as cleaning up pet messes. In our house we always just pour baking soda over the top, but I’m wide open to a more effective method.
My recipe for laundry soap is 1bar Dr. bronners soap, 1 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup citric acid, 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/4 cup coarse sea salt. Shred the soap and chop it fine, let dry out for a day ( otherwise makes the dry ingredients clump up) mix all together and store in air tight container does approx 30 loads at three tablespoons for a large load
That sounds like an awesome recipe! Washing soda is perfect for laundry soap. It gets clothes so nice and clean. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I look forward to seeing and trying some of these. Does it matter to use essential oils vs. fragrance oils?
We can’t wait to share the recipes with you! Some essential oils are thought to have cleaning properties. For instance, orange essential oil is a degreaser, and also good for cleaning wood surfaces. That’s why we include essential oils in our recipes. I believe you can use fragrance oils if you like! I would recommend testing a small amount of the fragranced cleaner on a subtle area of your home to make sure they work well. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry