Homemade Cleaning Products You Can Make Today

Cleaning products can be expensive and difficult to find—they can also contain chemicals that might be harmful to your items, your plants, and even your pets. Luckily, there are many ways to create natural cleaning products with items you already have in your home.

It should be noted that while many of these products are non-toxic, your homemade cleaning solutions still should not be consumed and should be kept away from children the same as your store-bought products. Refer to the resources linked here and adhere to warnings before mixing together products. 

Here are several product combos that will help you keep your home clean and offer a quick solution to a shortage of cleaning products. 

First: The Basics of Creating Your Own Cleaning Products

First off, we recommend having these items if you’re going to be making your own cleaners. Most of these you’ll probably have available already, and if not they’re easy items to track down. 

• Spray bottles
• White vinegar
• Baking soda
• Essential oils (lemon, lavender, orange)
• Borax and washing soda

Follow along with the suggestions to see where these items will fit together to make great products to clean with. 

All-Purpose Cleaners

Having a cleaner that you can use on any surface is so important in terms of keeping your home sanitized and clean. Eco-friendly all-purpose cleaners made at home will feature ingredients you definitely have around the house, such as vinegar, baking soda, and essential oils.

Vinegar is a solvent, meaning it dissolves substances, and, while it definitely has its own scent, vinegar also serves as a deodorizer—grandmas have been recommending adding it to eliminate scents in loads of laundry for years. Lemon is a great addition to all-purpose cleaners—in addition to smelling great, lemon rind and lemon oil have anti-bacterial properties, as does tea tree oil. Baking soda can be used to eliminate tough substances like animal protein. 

Avoid using vinegar cleaner on marble surfaces and countertops, as vinegar has the potential to damage marble. All cleaning products you mix at home should be stored in spray bottles that have not contained other chemicals.

Check out these recipes for all-purpose cleaners: 

• Scented All-Purpose Cleaner (1st recipe)
• Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner (1st recipe)

Disinfectants

Household bleach can serve as a disinfectant. Take care and investigate how to use bleach thoroughly, and refer to this guide just in case you’re wondering if you should mix bleach with certain items, as the resultant accidental combinations can be quite dangerous. 

To make a bleach disinfectant, use a 1/68 ratio with parts bleach to water, and do not add in other chemicals. Store the product in an opaque spray bottle. Once again, ensure you keep this product out of the hands of children and avoid using it on surfaces you wouldn’t normally use bleach products on, like wooden floors. 

Floor Cleaners

Items that will help clean your floors vary by the type of floor you’re trying to keep clean. Tile and linoleum can be easily cleaned with vinegar, water, and essential oils. Tea can be used to clean wood floors, and if you’re looking for a product to buy that will go a long way, Murphy’s Oil Soap is a good option. The following recipes will help you keep your floors clean:

Tile floors:

• Formula 1- Vinegar Floor Cleaner
• Homemade Tile Floor Cleaner (recipe 6)

Wooden floors:

• Formula 4 – Tea Floor Cleaner
• Homemade Wood Floor Cleaner (recipe 2)

Laundry Detergent Replacements

Laundry detergent swapping can be as easy as keeping three ingredients on hand. Most homemade laundry soap recipes demand the following ingredients (all of which can be found at Walmart): 

• Borax
• Washing soda
• Fels Naptha

Following this recipe, you can create a laundry detergent you’ll want to use over and over. To add scent, simply add a little bit of essential oil. Just be careful when adding essential oils to substances that will interact with clothing, because oil stains are possible.

More laundry detergent recipes include: 

• Homemade Laundry Detergent and Rinse Aid
• Homemade Non-Toxic Liquid Laundry Detergent

One Product for Everything

If you’re looking to cut out buying multiple products for your cleaning needs, i.e. dishwashing soap, laundry detergent, and cleaner from separate places, look no further than Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap.

Dr. Bronner’s is a recognizable brand in the world of environmentally friendly cleaning, and their liquid castile soap can be used in varying different ratios for almost any cleaning purpose. Dr. Bronner’s soap is made with hemp and comes in a variety of great scents like Almond and Eucalyptus—it’s also pretty cheap to purchase a bottle, so a little will go a long way. Following their Liquid Soap Dilutions Cheat Sheet, you can create almost any cleaning product, from laundry soap, to dishwashing liquid, to fruit and vegetable rinse. Seriously, this is a miracle product with so many applications, which makes it a great household staple. 

If you’re looking for more cleaning solutions, check out the other recipes in the articles linked above. One great thing about cleaning with products you have at home or natural ingredients is that you’ll feel good about the products you’re interacting with and that other people are likely to come into contact with. Getting a little creative with your cleaning solutions can also be a fun project for kids, as you get the opportunity to explain why items like white vinegar can work to clean your home.