All-Purpose Cleaner
- 1/2 c white vinegar
- 2 Tbsp baking soda
- 10 drops tea tree, lavender, or lemon essential oil (for their disinfectant properties)
Mix the vinegar, essential oils and a little water before adding baking soda in a clean spray bottle (glass is best). Then fill to top with water. I use about a 12 oz bottle. Gently shake to mix ingredients, and then spray, wipe with a cloth, and allow it to dry.
“Soft-Scrub” Cleaner
- 1 ½ cups baking soda
- ½ cup environmentally safe liquid laundry soap
- 10 drops tea tree, lavender, or lemon essential oil
Mix baking soda and laundry soap in a mixing bowl, stirring vigorously to combine into a paste.Add essential oil and mix well.Store in an airtight Tupperware .
If the mixture begins to dry out, add a small amount of water and mix well.
Disinfectant Wipes
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup with vinegar
- 8 drops tea tree oil
- 8 drops eucalyptus essential oil
- 8 drops lemon essential oil
- Empty baby wipe container
- 15 – 20 squares of cloth (old t-shirts work well, as do old dish towels or similar material)
Fold and place the cloth squares into the empty wipe container and set aside.
Combine in a mixing bowl the water, vinegar, and 3 essential oils, stirring until well mixed.
Pour this mixture over the cloths in the container where they will soak in and be ready for you to pull out and use!
Launder and repeat as often as the cloths hold up!
Liquid Dish Soap
- ½ cup warm distilled water
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup white vinegar
- ½ cup liquid soap
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Lemon essential oil (optional)
Combine distilled water with salt, stirring until the salt is dissolved.
In a separate bowl, combine the vinegar, soap, and lemon juice.Stir this mixture into the salt water mixture, and stir until thickened.
You may wish to add 10 – 15 drops of lemon essential oil both for scent and for disinfectant properties.
Pour mixture into a recycled dish soap container for storage.
Dishwasher Detergent
- 1 cup salt
- 2 cups baking soda
- 2 cups Borax
- 1 cup of Lemi-Shine
Mix all ingredients together. Transfer to an air-tight storage container.It will last a long time: each load uses only 2 tablespoons of detergent!(I recommend keeping white vinegar in the rinse agent compartment, too.)
Non-Toxic Liquid Laundry Detergent
Combine the first three ingredients in a one gallon plastic jug(you may need a funnel to get it in there) and then pour in the water to dissolve the ingredients.Fill the container to the top with cold water.Shake before each use.For a standard-sized load of laundry, ¼ cup should work.Use a little more for a more heavily-soiled load.
Stain Remover
Always try soaking in Hydrogen Peroxide before laundering (especially blood)
Mix washing soda and white vinegar.You simply sprinkle the washing soda onto the stain, spray with white vinegar that has been diluted in a 1:1 ratio with water.Scrub the paste into the stain and let it stand for about 20 minutes.Launder as normal.
For really tough stains, like grass stains, the magic of Dawn dish soap comes in handy.This one calls for a bit of a recipe:
- 2/3 cup Dawn dish detergent
- 2/3 cup ammonia
- 6 Tbsp baking soda
- 2 cups warm water
Mix together all ingredients, and then pour into a spray bottle.Spray onto the stain, let it rest a bit, then launder as normal.
Because of the ammonia, you should NOT want this in chlorine bleach!
Fabric Softener
- 5 ½ cups water
- 15 oz bottle of your favorite hair conditioner
- 2.5 cups white vinegar
- 20 drops of essential oil for fragrance (optional, especially if your conditioner has a nice scent)
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.Pour into empty storage container (such as empty fabric soft container).
Use approximately ¼ cup per normal wash-load prior to the rinse cycle.
Dryer Sheets
Cut some old T shirts into washcloth sized squares.
Next, you will take some of the homemade fabric softener from the recipe above, and fill about ½ of an airtight, lidded storage container with this.Place the strips in the container, and press them down to soak up the fabric softener.
Squeeze out excess before tossing a square into the dryer with your clothes.These are obviously recyclable, and don’t have to be laundered between uses!
Dusting Spray
- 1 Tbsp liquid soap
- 15 drops lemon essential oil
- 2 cups water
Combine ingredients in a spray bottle and shake gently to combine.Use as you would any typical dusting spray, either spraying onto a clean cloth and wiping, or spraying on the surface and wiping.
Wood Polishing Spray
- ¾ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 30 drops essential oil, optional (I like lemon, orange, or lavender best)
Combine ingredients in a spray bottle and shake vigorously.Spray directly on wood furniture and buff with a clean, dry cloth.Shake before each use.
Carpet Freshener
In addition to freshening the smell in a room, this combination of ingredients can disinfect, kill fleas and their eggs, and act as a rodent deterrent.
- 2 cups Borax
- 1 cup baking soda
- 10 drops essential oil
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well.Store in an air-tight container.When you’re ready to use, just sprinkle around the carpet and let sit for about half an hour.Vacuum up, and you’re good to go!
Carpet Stain Remover
Sprinkle the stain with baking soda and let it sit for about 10 minutes, then vacuum it up.
Next, mix 1 Tbsp Dawn dish soap, 1 Tbsp white vinegar, and 2 cups of warm water.
Sponge this onto the stain and blot with dry cloth, repeating until stain disappears.
Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Sprinkle a package of Lemonade Kool-aid in the bowl, brush with toilet brush and let sit, preferably overnight. Then flush
(Thanks to Ann Tim Keeperofthehome.org)
