Make Your Own Green Household Cleaners

These are the main ingredients you'll need to make just about any cleaner for the home. You may also want to get a couple essential oils to add as fragrance. Lemon Tee Tree oil is one of my favorites, since it has a nice smell and Tee Tree oil is a great disinfectant. (Something to think about this flu season).

BAKING SODA (sodium bicarbonate): An all-purpose, non-toxic cleaner. Cleans, deodorizes, removes stains and softens fabrics.

Bar Soaps: Fels Naptha, Ivory, Kirks Hardwater Castile, Sunlight, Zote. Grated and used as a base in laundry detergent or hand soaps. Fels Naptha is great for pretreating laundry stains.

BORAX (sodium borate): A natural mineral that kills mold and bacteria. An alternative to bleach, it deodorizes, removes stains and boosts the cleaning power of soap.

CORNSTARCH: Absorbs oil and grease, starches clothes.

HERBS and ESSENTIAL OILS: For disinfecting and fragrance.

HONEY: Natural disinfectant. Can be applied to minor cuts or abrasions and chapped lips.

LEMON JUICE: Cuts through grease and removes perspiration and other stains from clothing. A bleach alternative.

OIL-BASED LIQUID SOAP (Like Murphy's)

SALT or SEA SALT: (sodium chloride): An abrasive

TOOTHPASTE: A mild abrasive. Cleans silver. Also stops itching from bug bites.

VINEGAR (acetic acid): Cuts grease, removes stains, deodorizes, water softener, soothes bee stings and sunburn, removes hair product buildup from hair.

WASHING SODA (sodium carbonate): Cleans clothes, softens water, cuts grease and disinfects. Increases the cleaning power of soap.

CAUTION: Ingredients like Borax and Tea Tree Oil can be toxic to small children and pets. Label all of your ingredients and keep them out of reach of children. While most of these all natural cleaners are not poisonous, some can be harmful or even fatal if swallowed by children or pets.

To save time and money, make your cleaners in advance and buy the ingredients in bulk. Make large batches of the recipes and store them in reusable airtight plastic containers and spray bottles. Thoroughly wash out your used containers and spray bottles from your old store bought cleaning products and re-use for your new homemade products.

My favorite liquid laundry detergent recipe:

1 bar of Ivory Soap or Fels Naptha Laundry soap
4 cups of hot water
1 cup of washing soda (find it in the laundry aisle, NOT baking soda)
1/2 cup of Borax (also in the laundry aisle)
5 gallon container or pail (These are great to have on hand for many uses. If you know any painters or drywallers, they'd probably be happy to give you some)

Shred the bar of soap and melt it in 4 cups of water in a pan on your stove. Once it's melted, remove from heat and stir in the washing soda and borax. You only need to melt the soap NOT boil it.

Fill your 5 gallon container 1/2 full with hot water. Add the melted soap mixture and mix well. Fill to the top or close to the top with more hot water, cover, and let it sit overnight. You can now fill your old liquid detergent container HALF FULL with your homemade mixture (I call it sludge) and dilute it with more water. Shake each time before using. You've now made 10 gallons of laundry detergent for less than a dollar!

If you want to add an essential oil for fragrance or additional disinfectant (for example: lavender, rosemary, or lemon tea tree oil) use 10-15 drops per 2 gallons.

Here's a powder detergent recipe:

2 cups of Fels Naptha bar soap, finely grated. (Most stores have this soap on the bottom shelf in the laundry aisle).
1 cup of washing soda
1 cup of borax
Mix thoroughly and store in a plastic container.

Check with your manufacturer if you have a new HE front-loading washer. Using non HE (High Effeciency) detergent could void your warranty. Even though your homemade detergent is very low sudsing and that's what HE detergent is supposed to be! Soap bubbles aren't doing the cleaning!

Here's some more ideas for cleaners:

Disinfectant spray cleaners:

Straight lemon juice or vinegar will kill germs, and don't forget old fashioned hot water.

2 cups of water mixed with 20-30 drops of tea tree oil. Put in spray bottle, shake, and use on non-wood surfaces and doorknobs.

Window cleaner:
1/4 cup of vinegar or lemon juice in 1 gallon of water. Mix in a spray bottle and use newspaper to prevent streaks. Club soda works well too.

Bathroom Cleaners, mold, or mildew:

Make a paste of baking soda and water, spread over the stain and scrub it away with a brush or cloth. Add salt to the paste if you need it more abrasive.

Dissolve 1/2 cup of Borax and 1/2 cup baking soda in water and keep in a spray bottle. Works great on mold or mildew.

Spray vinegar full strength in your tub or toilet bowl. Shake baking soda on the surface and wipe your tub or scrub toilet bowl with a brush. Disinfects and deodorizes.

Try the link below to get a great guide and recipe book for making your own shampoo, hand soaps, and other bath products that are great for your skin and hair. They also tell you the cheapest way to buy the ingredients you need and gives packaging advice in order to make your own Christmas or birthday gifts or start your own business! It's really comprehensive and informative.

Here's a cool recipe for liquid hand soap:

Finely grate a bar of Ivory soap into your blender
Add a cup of boiling water and blend
Add a 1/2 cup of room temp water and blend
Add 1 tablespoon of honey (the honey makes it anti-bacterial too)
Add 1 teaspoon of glycerin (find at your drugstore or the canning aisle of your grocery store)
Stir and let cool.
Whip again
You should have about 2 cups of liquid soap. Top with cool water until you have about 5-6 cups
Whip again before pouring into pump containers. Cool before capping. If your soap starts to get too thick, add a little more water.

You can also add your favorite herbs to the boiling water and make your soap with herb infused water. Just strain before adding to your soap mixture.

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