Non-Toxic Homemade Houshold Cleaners

With all the response from the blog 'Why Should I Change Household Cleaning & Hygiene Products?' I decided to share with you all the cleaners I use in my home rather than wait for next week. Thank you all for your response! I hope that you are excited about making your own non-toxic all purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, furniture polish, and disinfectant cleaner. I will also share with you a few ways to keep your home smelling nice and clean with homemade deodorizers and mop water.

As I have stated many times before, I like to get the most out of the ingredients I buy to make these household cleaners. I do not want to buy fifteen different ingredients to make a few cleaners. Also, I have been using these cleaners in my home for over six months. When I started making my own cleaners I had made a few others as well, but they didn't work. So, I stopped using them. I actually don't even have them anymore. So I can attest that these work, because they have for us. These are all very easy to make, you basically just mix the ingredients. It literally takes about 10 minutes the first time you make ALL of them if you have all the ingredients on hand.

The ingredients needed to make these cleaners are Tea Tree Oil, Lavender Oil, Lemon Oil, White Vinegar, Liquid Castile Soap, Bakig Soda, and Water. What I love about these ingredients is that I know what each of them are. Outside of the Tea Tree Oil, all the other ingredients can be ingested. Why I say this is because there are millions of accidental poisoning every year. The US Poison Control Center says, "a child is accidentally poisoned every 30 seconds." So if your child accidently ingest any of these cleaners then they should be okay. The Tea Tree Oil is in small enough amounts to hopefully not cause any harm. The only one I would be concerned about is the Disinfectant Cleaner if you choose to use the Tea Tree Oil because of the amount in the recipe. If Tea Tree Oil is consumed it can cause Auto Immune Disease. However, in my opinion knowing the evils in your home is much better than not knowing. Lorie Dwornick (Researcher, Educator and Activist) stated that only 1% of toxins are required to be listed on labels, because companies classify their formulas as "trade secrets." There was a girl in our old church growing up who had consumed some chemicals that were left out on the cabinet. The doctors didn't know what all the chemicals would do to her body or what to expect. They could only continue to evaluate her and take things as they came. Also, if something is touching your skin for 26 seconds then it is found in the blood stream, fatty tissues, and the bodies organs. So when our babies and kids are crawling around on the kitchen floor or we make sandwiches on the cabinets instead of the plate then the things in our cleaners are getting on food and skin. These are all things to think about. So saying all this, lets get started!

All Purpose Cleaner 

Ingredients:

Tea Tree Oil

Lavender Oil

Lemon Oil

White Vinegar

Water

Spray Bottle

Directions:

Mix 5-10 drops of Tea Tree Oil, 5-10 drops of Lavender Oil, and 5-10 drops of Lemon Oil with half a Spray Bottle of White Vinegar. Then fill the other half with Water. 

The reason you can use 5-10 drops of each oil per Spray Bottle is because people might want or need something different than the next. For example if  someone has a sensitive nose they might want to use just 5 drops of each oil. Or if someone wants the cleaner to smell more like Lavender oil than the Tea Tree Oil, then they can use more Lavender Oil and less Tea Tree Oil. Also, if someone wants a stronger All Purpose Cleaner then they might want to use 10 drops of each oil. The recipe is made so that it can be individualized to an extent. 

Glass Cleaner

Ingredients:

White Vinegar

Water

Spray Bottle

Directions:

Mix half a Spray Bottle of White Vinegar with half a Spray Bottle of Water. The mixture should be 50% White Vinegar and 50% Water.

The great thing about this Solution is that you can use it for many things. Yes, I use it as a glass cleaner. However, you can also use it to clean your vegetables before you eat them. It helps take the pesticides off much better than water. Also, some people use vinegar and water as there all purpose cleaner. Personally, I like it better as a Glass Cleaner. 

Another tips for cleaning glass in general; use Newspaper! Newspaper cleans glass much better than paper towel or cloth rags. It also leaves your mirrors and windows streak-free!

Furniture Polish

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

Lemon Oil

White Vinegar

Water

Spray Bottle

Directions:

Mix 1 cup Olive Oil, 25 drops of Lemon Oil, and 1/4 cup vinegar. Then fill the Spray Bottle with Water.

Before you use, shake the Spray Bottle to mix again. The Olive Oil separates from the water as its sits.

Disinfectant Cleaner

Ingredients:

Liquid Castile Soap

Tea Tree Oil or Lavender Oil

Hot Water

Directions:

Mix 2 drops of Liquid Castile Soap, 30 drops of Tea Tree Oil or Lavender Oil, and 2 cups of Hot Water together in Spray Bottle.

You want the water to be hot while you are making and mixing your mixture so that the Liquid Castile Soap will easily spread through the whole mixture and stay that way.

Deoderizers

Ingredients:

Baking Soda

Essential Oil of your choice

Bowl

Directions:

Pour some Baking Soda in a Bowl. Then add a few drops of the Essential Oil onto the Baking Soda. 

There is diversity in this recipe as well. You choose the Essential Oil that you want the room or area to smell like. Personally I like to use lemon or peppermint. Also you can choose what type of container or bowl to put it in. You can use something as practical as a dish in the cabinet to something as nice as a decorated plate or crystal bowl to put the recipe in.

Bathroom Deoderizer:

Choose the Essential Oil of your choice and drop inside the toilet paper roll where the cardboard is. Each time the toilet paper is rolled it will give off the smell of the Essential Oil you chose!

Kitchen Garbage Disposal Deoderizer:

Do you have a Garbage Disposal in your kitchen sink? If so, cut a lemon in half or an orange in fourths and drop them down the disposal. Turn on the disposal and let it grind up the citrus fruit for a second. Then step back and smell as the aroma fills the air. When you use the disposal it will continue to grind the fruit and fill the air until it is gone.

Mop Water

Ingredients:

White Vinegar 

Water

Essential Oils (If desired)

Directions:

Mix 50% water with 50% White Vinegar in the sink, a bucket, or a spray bottle. If you choose add an Essential Oil to make the water smell as you choose. 

Personally I like to put some Tea Tree Oil and Lemon Oil in my mop water. Since I live in an apartment at the moment and have a small area of vinyl floors, I like to use a Spray Bottle. That way I can spray the floor and mop. It doesn't make a big mess and I don't have a lot of excess water. I also don't use as much, or too much, product. If I am in a hurry and don't want to 'mix' the recipe I also use the All Purpose Cleaner as my mop water.