What Are Your Favorite Natural Cleaning Recipes?

merlin44
merlin44 Posts: 426 ✭✭✭✭

The contents of my cleaning cabinet have dwindled to just vinegar, baking soda and essential oils over the years. When I wander into the aisle of cleaners at the grocery store, I'm reminded of the money and health saved. Patchouli has become what "clean" smells like in my home. But always enjoy new recipes and ideas for natural cleaners, what are yours?

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Comments

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    I don't have any recipes off the top of my head, but my list looks like yours, plus hydrogen peroxide and castile soap. H3O is great when you need to sanitize.

  • dimck421
    dimck421 Posts: 203 ✭✭✭

    My list matches yours as well.

  • chimboodle04
    chimboodle04 Posts: 286 ✭✭✭

    I really like to extract lemon or orange oils by soaking organic peels in vinegar, straining, then diluting the vinegar (I think its 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water) for a good all purpose cleaner that smells great :)

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    about 80% of the time just use Plain water. For sanitizing White vinegar. in the Laundry "Shout". Rarely bleach in cleaning.

  • JodieDownUnder
    JodieDownUnder Posts: 1,483 admin

    White vinegar is my go to and sometimes I add essential oil, depending on my mood! Citrus, tea tree, oregano or lavender. A cup of Olive oil with a few drops of citrus, makes a great wood polish/cleaner.

  • Karyn Pennington
    Karyn Pennington Posts: 71 ✭✭✭

    I know that original "Dawn" is not completely natural/organic, but my go-to cleaner from toilets to windows is some strength of Dawn/Vinegar/Water.

    For fiberglass (tubs/showers) it does a great job dissolving soap scum, etc.; great at cleaning the stove. Weaker versions are used for countertops, weaker still for floors, weaker still for windows. If there's something really heavy duty, I'll add some baking soda for scrubbing. I also add Lemon essential oil to vinegar and water. I LOVE the smell of lemon and add it to Epson salts as a laundry softener and I diffuse it when I want that clean smell in the house.

    The basic recipe is 1 part dawn to 2 parts vinegar to 6 parts water. More Dawn and Vinegar and less water if you want it stronger, for something like windows, just a drop of Dawn to a tablespoon or so of vinegar and lots of water.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Karyn Pennington I agree with you. Dawn is my last holdout in my otherwise non-toxic house cleaning routine.

    I use e-Cloth microfiber items with water for most of my cleaning, works even for windows. Other microfiber cloth brands have not worked as well for me.

    I have yet to find a perfect non-toxic solution to hard water toilet rings though.

  • sarah121
    sarah121 Posts: 129 ✭✭✭

    I'm trying to cut down on the amount of single use plastic we currently use in our home (not as easy as I thought it would be!) I just discovered a great product, the LoofCo washing up brush - which is made from coir fibre (coconut hairs.)The company has a really great ethos and the product works really well. They also manufacture vegetable scrubbers and bath loofahs. Although not a recipe, I thought I'd ask what other natural cleaning products you guys might also recommend? What have you tried?

  • sarah121
    sarah121 Posts: 129 ✭✭✭

    @Karyn Pennington the toilet bowl is always a tricky one.......

  • Karyn Pennington
    Karyn Pennington Posts: 71 ✭✭✭

    My answer for the toilet bowl is swish early and often. Literally, a swish a day with just a squirt of cleaner is much more effective than scrubbing for 20 minutes once in a while. I raised boys, so it was a habit I got into early, toilets get wiped down (nearly) daily. And, yes, I have well water.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In the US, Loofco products are available through an Amazon third party seller.

  • Merin Porter
    Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin


    I've got some very concentrated homemade citrus vinegar that I haven't really been able to use because certain-members-of-my-household-who-shall-remain-nameless are super-sensitive to the smell of vinegar. I'm wondering if there are any essential oils I can add to the diluted vinegar to sort of mask the smell or "evolve" it into something more acceptable to these sensitive noses.... Thoughts? Thank you! :)

  • Karyn Pennington
    Karyn Pennington Posts: 71 ✭✭✭

    @Merin Porter I have one of those nameless individuals too. It dissipates so quickly (as far as I'm concerned) but he (or she) swears he (or she) 👃can smell it several hours later. Maybe a sweet orange essential oil in with the citrus vinegar? 🍊

  • hmsadmin
    hmsadmin Posts: 123 admin

    @sarah121 Thank you for sharing where you get your scrubbie brushes! I've been on the same trek of trying to eliminate one-time-use or short-time-use plastics and may just have to get one of their coco brushes!

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    That's a terrific idea! I've done the citrus vinegar, but I never thought of pine.

  • Merin Porter
    Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin

    @blevinandwomba , I'm so sorry if this is completely obvious, but what do you mean by H3O? I'm sitting here trying to rack my brain about the molecular breakdown of water (H2O) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) ... and maybe you're referring to a combination of the two? Basically, I'm just wondering if you use straight hydrogen peroxide as your sanitizer or a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and something else.... :D Thanks!

  • pamelamackenzie
    pamelamackenzie Posts: 143 ✭✭✭

    Hot water / steam work well on many things. Also, after squeezing a lemon for other use, I sometimes use the remaining lemon peel/pulp to scrub the kitchen sink as sort of a pre-cleaning step.

  • gennywu
    gennywu Posts: 96 ✭✭✭

    I like to use wool dryer balls with a few drops of essential oil to toss in my dryer. I used to use fabric softener but decided the chemicals weren't worth it.

  • merlin44
    merlin44 Posts: 426 ✭✭✭✭

    @Merin Porter Patchouli and Lavender essential oils completely masks the vinegar smell, others may as well but those are the main two I use.

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    White vinegar full strength in a spray bottle.

    Lemon

    But for a lot of stuff I use 3% hydrogen peroxide. I put it in a spray bottle full strength and spray according to need, leave on according to need, then easily wipe off and it sure dose make having to scrub mostly non existent. Important when you have arthritis, and makes a very quick clean up.

  • seeker.nancy - Central Texas
    seeker.nancy - Central Texas Posts: 795 ✭✭✭✭

    For laundry soap I use three tablespoons each of Borax, washing soda and original blue dawn dissolved in a gallon of very hot water. I just put it in an old laundry soap liquid bottle that I had and use a full cap if it's a big or very dirty load or a bit less for delicates. I've been using this for about five years now in three different locals. You can also pretreat with it in direct application. You can add essential oils if you want but I prefer to just put a drop of lavender oil on one of the wool dryer balls. I want a clothes line! Best bleach ever lol. Its on my list 😜

  • burekcrew86
    burekcrew86 Posts: 248 ✭✭✭

    I also put my lemon peels in vinegar in a mason jar for about 6 weeks. Then strain and store as my go-to concentrate all purpose cleaner. Ratio one part concentrate to four parts water. Cleans great and smells wonderful! I’ve also used a mixture of lemon and orange.

  • Midge
    Midge Posts: 13 ✭✭✭

    I love this book for alot of my natural cleaning products. I bought it on Amazon for 12.00.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Midge I noticed that this book is not yet reviewed on Amazon. Are willing to share your opinion there?

  • birderrose
    birderrose Posts: 9 ✭✭✭

    I have the baking soda and vinegar for cleaning, but one of my favorites is Thieves Cleaning Solution from Young Living. It only takes a little in a spray bottle with water added. My favorite part about it is the fragrance. You can use it in all your cleaning including mopping floors. Yes, I used to sell Young Living, but have not for several years, but I still buy the cleaning solution from them.

  • Amy
    Amy Posts: 35 ✭✭✭

    Thyme and Lemon in vinegar (use essential oils OR can infuse fresh thyme and a lemon in vinegar for 2 weeks) and add castile soap makes a good cleaner.

  • anita.toler73
    anita.toler73 Posts: 24 ✭✭✭

    I love baking soda and peroxide for bleaching my sinks. Also, for hard water stains I cut a lemon in half and sprinkle with baking soda. It gets hard cakey stuff like that off. We are on a well so I don't feel comfortable using traditional cleaners, ammonia or bleach.