3 DIY All-Natural Home Cleaning Solutions
Clean your home without all the harmful chemicals with these easy and effective all-natural home cleaning recipes…
In today’s modern world, we have come to rely on commercial cleaning products made from man-made chemicals that are relatively new to the human body (and the environment) – such as phthalates, ammonia and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). I believe we are just beginning to see some of the effects of frequent exposure to these chemicals over the long term (many of them weren’t around until the 1950s and later), in the increased incidence of all types of cancer, autism and other brain disorders, and other modern diseases that we are seeing today.
However, for hundreds of years in the past, homesteaders made their own non-toxic, all-natural home cleaning products from cheap, readily available substances such as vinegar, salt, and baking soda.
For the most part, these substances do JUST as good a job of cleaning your home as those high-priced, toxin-filled cleaning products you buy at the store – despite all the marketing hype and shiny packaging! And they don’t come at such a high price to the environment and your health either.
While you can buy all-natural home cleaning products quite easily these days, they tend to be quite expensive, whereas the DIY versions cost mere pennies and are easy to whip up using just a few simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand.
1. Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner
- 1 part citrus-infused white vinegar
- 2 parts water
Mix in a spray bottle and use on just about every surface* in your house!
To infuse your vinegar, add citrus peels to a Mason jar and cover with white vinegar. Allow the infusion to sit for about 6 weeks, then strain out the peels and use infused vinegar to make this homemade cleaner. I always have a jar of vinegar going that I add my lemon peels to after I’m done with them, which makes this recipe extra frugal because I’m using something I would normally just be throwing out anyway.
You can also use plain white vinegar in place instead of the infused vinegar, which I recommend doing if you’d like to primarily use this as a window cleaner. The added citrus gives this a nice lemon scent and takes some of the “bite” out of using plain white vinegar.
*Just don’t use it on marble as vinegar will stain marble!
2. Bathroom Cleaner/Foaming Drain Cleaner
- Baking soda
- Lemon essential oil and/or lemon zest
- + White vinegar (keep separate and use when cleaning)
To make, add a few drops of lemon essential oil and/or a couple of tablespoons of lemon zest to a Mason jar full of baking soda and mix well.
Sprinkle some of this homemade bathroom cleaner in your sink, bathtub or toilet and spray with vinegar. Let it sit for about a minute, then scrub clean.
To use as a drain cleaner, sprinkle some down the drain and then pour a little vinegar down the drain to make the baking soda foam up. Rinse well with hot water.
3. Orange Oil Wood Polish
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 10-12 drops orange essential oil
Mix ingredients together and use a rag to rub the oil on wood floors, furniture, and other wood surfaces.
The vinegar helps to clean surfaces and the olive oil and orange oil help make your wood shine!
You can also infuse the olive oil with dried orange peels in place of or in addition to the orange essential oil. The compounds in orange peel (and subsequently orange essential oil) help to keep wood from drying out and makes the grain in wood stand out, not to mention it smells great too!
If you choose to infuse your oil, make sure peels are dry first as fresh peels can cause mold to form in the oil. Place peels in a jar, cover with olive oil and let sit for about 6 weeks. Then strain peels out and use infused oil in place of regular olive oil in this recipe.
Find more DIY all-natural home cleaning recipes at MelissaKNorris.com…
