Homemade Household Green Cleaners

Along with my more than month long challenge to rid my house of pricey and nasty cleaners, I wanted to share with you some easy recipes for around the house cleaners.

I’ve shared with you so far my Recipe for Facial Moisturizer , DIY Organic Dishwasher Detergent, Cheap, Organic Face Wash and my Easy Homemade Laundry Soap.

I am concocting my own household replacements with little more than what I have on hand or what I can find at the organic market.

But the replacements must meet or exceed three important expectations for this frugal gal:
1. It must be easy to replace-no beakers or science lab experiments. Thank you.
2. It must be just as good or better than the current product I’m using and,
3. It must cost the same or less than the current product I’m using.


photo source unknown

If the product I create passes the final test-me using it for over two plus weeks to make sure it does its job-then I’ll be sharing it with you. I will break down the cost for you, provide you the recipe and give you my honest opinion of the final product.

For household cleansers, I have a theory: If I can eat it, then I can clean with it.

 


This theory doesn’t work all that well when I come to vacuums…

 


If you have hair on your head like I have hair on my head, you need this recipe.

Green Drain Cleaner:
1/2 Cup Baking Soda
1/2 Cup White Vinegar
Boiling Water
Pour Baking Soda down the drain. Add white vinegar and cover the drain, if possible. Let set for 5 minutes. Pour the boiling water down the drain.

 


We are dusty people. We like to leave the doors open for fresh air, but then regret it when we wipe our fingers along the coffee table, leaving a stripe behind. You win some, you loose some.
This recipe has restored life to most of our vintage finds, too!

Green Furniture Polish and Cleaner:
3 Cups Olive Oil
1 Cup White Vinegar
Mix together in a jar and pour onto a soft cloth. Remix every so often by shaking the jar again.

 

 

 


If you restore old homes, or parts of old homes, this recipe is a must. I have removed years of gross crap off of fixtures, fireplaces and doorknobs.

Green Brass Cleaner:
Lemon Juice
Baking Soda
Make a paste the consistency of toothpaste. Rub onto brass with a soft cloth. Rinse with water and dry.

 


Lime and gunk will magically disappear. I use this on all of my faucets and chrome baking tins.

Green Chrome and Stainless Steel Cleanser:
1 Cup Vinegar
1/2 Cup Water
Mix in a recycled spray bottle. Spray solution on the chrome/stainless steel and let sit for a minute. Wipe off with damp sponge and dry with a soft cloth.

 


I know we don’t like to talk about toilets. Or their bowls. Or the funk that grows inside. But, you gotta clean it. Why not do it green style?

Green Toilet Bowl Cleaner:
Baking Soda
Vinegar
Sprinkle baking soda into toilet bowl. Add vinegar. Scrub ‘er down with a toilet brush.

 

That’s mainly everything I use around these har parts. Let me know if you have recipes for cleansers. I would love to try them out, too!

Linking up to this and other parties:
The Thrifty Home


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38 Responses to "Homemade Household Green Cleaners"

  1. Jen Wager says:

    Love your blog, love your green cleaners. Yay!!!!

    Reply
  2. Good Girl Gone Green says:

    That’s what I use: water, baking soda, and vinegar for everything! And sometimes fresh lemon juice! Great recipes

    Reply
  3. Angie R says:

    YAY for vinegar! 🙂
    Thanks for sharing at Create & Inspire

    Reply
  4. Tamara @ Etcetorize says:

    Wow, so many good ideas. I’ll definitely try to use some of these when I start my spring cleaning. Tthere’s still snow on the ground here so I think I’m allowed to wait a bit longer :).

    Reply
  5. Ivy Bliss says:

    I am so happy I found you! I love this! Thank you 🙂

    Reply
  6. Haley says:

    For those hard to scrub areas, like greasy oven hoods, try olive oil, salt and vinegar. The salt is a gentle abrasive and the olive oil is great for cleaning grease. After scrubbing with the oil and salt do a quick wipe down with the vinegar.

    Reply
  7. Kara says:

    What great tips! Thanks for linking up to my party 🙂

    Reply
  8. Shiloh says:

    Don’t you love vinegar? I’ve been using it on my toilet recently. It’s also great with baking soda for cleaning the shower.

    Reply
  9. Jill says:

    Great recipes there! I use white vinegar for most of my cleaning too! Works just as well as store bought cleaners – particularly with the baking soda!

    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  10. Lisa says:

    This is wonderful information! Thanks so much for sharing at Mix it up Monday 🙂

    Reply
  11. Stacy says:

    I love this! Perfect timing to. I’ve been trying to change our cleaning habits to fit our tight budget and this is the perfect solution. All these things are easy to find in a small town and very inexpensive, making them very budget friendly options. I really have enjoyed this series. Thank you.

    Reply
  12. liberty says:

    i love washing soda for the counters – and baking soda+water as shampoo!!
    blessings!
    here’s another green recipe http://bit.ly/wsoUJV

    Reply
  13. Lori says:

    This is GREAT!! I love this! I can’t wait to try them…. 🙂

    Reply
  14. Karima says:

    I must get around to trying this!

    Reply
  15. LaVoice says:

    These are all great suggestions. I have tried some of them and they do work.

    Reply
  16. Claire @ Polkadot~pretties says:

    Thank you for linking up your project !!

    This week’s linky party is up!!! i hope you will stop by and link up another fabulous project…

    http://polkadot-pretties.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/you-inspire-linky-party_17.html

    Claire x

    Reply
  17. Anne @ Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy says:

    That is probably the easiest furniture polish recipe I’ve ever seen. Thanks for this great list! Thanks for sharing at Healthy 2Day Wednesday; come back tomorrow and see if you were featured!

    Reply
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  23. Rakefet says:

    Love your diy posts…
    I want to try these, but i was wondering – what’s the difference between white vinegar and regular?
    In my country i’ve only found regular so far…

    Reply
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  26. Christine says:

    I had heard that olive oil or vegetable oil can go rancid, so you should only make as much as you need to use at that time (another reader on the page on which I read that suggested linseed oil as an alternative.) have you found any problems with it?

    Reply
  27. Tracy says:

    I just tried the olive oil and white vinegar furniture polish…. and OMG i will never buy any from the store again! My furniture looks amazing, better than it ever look with store bought cleaners! The only thing I did was make a smaller amount since the only oilve oil I have was expensive….. But then again a little goes a long way! I changed it from 3 cups to 3 tbsp of oil and from 1 cup to 1 tbsp of vinegar.
    Thanks for saving me so much money!
    Tracy!!

    Reply
    • Rebekah says:

      Tracy-
      My pleasure! I’m so glad you like the furniture polish. I have loved using it on all my wood furniture-mostly vintage. Everything looks so pretty after I’ve used it!

      Reply
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  33. tips and tricks professional cleaners use says:

    You’ve provided some useful tips there, thank you for taking the
    effort to do this. I work as a office cleaning professional and
    find this kind of discussion an interesting read.

    Reply

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