Homemade Products: Cleaning Products

General Housecleaning Recipes

I have been making my own cleaning products for the past few years. I love the fact that I can breathe when cleaning, it doesn't tear up my hands and hurt anyone or anything in my house. I find that I mostly use baking soda and vinegar for just about everything. I know a lot of people don't like the vinegar smell but I now associate it with clean!!! Here are some recipes from my new Homemade book that might interest all of you. I am going to break these down into sections and add a few new ones over the next few weeks. Here are some General Household cleaners.

Basic window and Glass cleaner: 1/2 cup white vinegar, 2/3 gallon water container to mix it and spray bottle to put small amounts in. This will do a lot of windows. (Hint I just take a spray bottle and put part vinegar and part water and then use everywhere in my house) You can also make a super window wash by adding 1/4 C rubbing alcohol.

Citrus Disinfectant: Peel one orange, lime or lemon and add it to 3 cups white vinegar in a quart jar, store for 2 weeks, strain peels and you have a cleaner. You can also put in a small bowl and deodorize a room.

Tough Multipurpose Cleaner: 1 1/2 pints water, 1/3 c. rubbing alcohol, 1 teas. clear ammonia, 1/2 teas lemon juice, 32 oz spray bottle. combine and shake well.

Like the smell of Pine Sol? Pine Floor Cleaner: 1/2 c soap flakes (grated bar soap) 1/4 cu washing soda (I get mine from meijers) 1 cup salt, 2 c. water, 2 teas pine oil, 1 cup white vinegar and 1-16 oz plastic bottle. In sauce pan on low heat combine soap, washing soda, salt and water stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and cool slightly, add pine oil and put in bottle. Use the vinegar in half bucket of water to rinse the floor.

These are all good cleaners and I like the basic ingredients and you can add essential oils to most to get the desired smell. I often use baking soda to clean all parts of the kitchen and bathroom. If I need a scrub I make a past with some water and soda. I honestly use my water vinegar mixture with a couple of drops of liquid soap on everything in my house. I will add more recipes for cleaning over the next few weeks. Happy Cleaning.