Be the DIY royalty you were born to be!
Germs can hide just about anywhere in your home - from your doorknobs to your countertops to your computer keyboards and more, this is one game of hide and seek you definitely want to win.
For many, however, it's a catch-22 situation. Lots of popular cleaning supplies have some pretty scary ingredients in them that can harm your health. Some household cleaning supplies can irritate your eyes and throats, cause headaches, and even cause cancer, according to the American Lung Association.
So, what do you do when the cleaning supplies you use are almost as pesty as the germs you are trying to be rid of in the first place?
If you want to oust your products of harmful ingredients like ammonia and bleach, it may be the perfect time to create some DIY cleaning products.
Get ready to clean up your act with these amazing natural cleaning products for home that you can make at home.
Vinegar: the ultimate bathroom & kitchen cleaning ingredient
First, let’s give huge shouts to our pal vinegar, the miraculous jack of all trades! Vinegar can be used in a plethora of ways, including:
- To freshen up veggies
- To make rice fluffier
- Paint brush softener
- Acne treatment
- AND SO MUCH MORE
Before jumping into particular recipes, we want to first share some that feature vinegar as the star ingredient coupled with only a handful of others to clean whatever it is that needs sprucing up. Best of all, it is a powerful and natural ingredient that most people already have at home!
All-purpose disinfectant superhero
Vinegar can be mixed with water to kill germs.
Simply use a 50/50 ratio of both and put into a spray bottle before taking to all of the surfaces in your home!
Vinegar can also be used to disinfect wooden cutting boards, polish chrome in your home, and aid in removing urine stains from carpets.
Find out 35 more ways to use vinegar in this article by Ultimate Lifespan!
If you are anything like us and can’t stand the smell of vinegar, however, be sure to freshen up your DIY vinegar creations by adding in your favorite essential oils.
Here’s one we love from Get Green Be Well:
bak
Image via Get Green Be Well
BEST DIY ALL NATURAL KITCHEN CLEANER RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
- 385ml / 13 oz. Hot water (NOT boiling)
- ½ cup Vinegar
- 10 drops Lavender essential oil
- 15 drops your choice of Pink grapefruit, orange, lemon, or tea tree essential oil
- 7 drops Lemon essential oil
- 500ml / 17 oz. Spray bottle (plastic is fine as long as you don’t use boiling hot water)
- Measuring cup with a spout for pouring
INSTRUCTIONS
Just mix it all together in a measuring cup and then pour into the spray bottle! Easy as vegan pie. Be sure to shake before each use. Use for any surfaces except granite; do a test spray and wait a few hours if unsure before first use.
Original recipe by Get Green Be Well.
OR
If you don’t have essential oils, you can also check out DIY Project’s video below using vinegar to create cleaning sprays featuring food items you may already have at home, including orange and lemons peels!
DIY & eco-friendly toilet bowl cleaners
Just because you’re probably running low on toilet paper doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be cleaning the toilet!
On average, a toilet gets flushed five to six times a day, which is about 2,000 flushes per year. Unfortunately, the germs in a toilet aren’t getting swept away with each flush - how wonderful life would be if that were in the case!
Instead, it’s recommended that you use a drop-in cleaner or apply an in-bowl solution to clean the bowl to cut back on the germs that are most definitely in there. In addition, you should use a porcelain-safe cleaner to basically disinfect everything else, like the seat.
One of our favorite DIY drop-in toilet bowl cleaners we’ve come across is definitely Sweet Nature’s Beauty’s Citrus Toilet Bombs. Eliminate all harmful toxins with this amazing recipe below.
DIY CITRUS TOILET BOMBS
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup Baking Soda
- 1/4 cup Citric Acid
- 20 drops Lemon Essential Oil
- 20 drops Sweet Orange Essential Oil
- 10-12 spritz of water
- Silicone Mold
INSTRUCTIONS
- Mix together the baking soda and citric acid.
- Add 30 drops of lemon essential oil and mix.
- Add 30 drops of sweet orange essential oil and mix.
- Fill a spray bottle with water and spray 2 times into your mixture.
- Mix.
- Repeat until you hit around 10-12 sprays of water and mix after every 2 sprays.
- Press the mixture into your silicone mold firmly pressing down on any corners or sides.
- Let dry overnight for about 12 hours.
- Turn the silicone mold over and carefully pop out your toilet bombs.
NOTES
You will know that there is enough water when you are able to grab the mixture with your hand and it's able to hold form, not falling apart. Avoid spraying too much or it will start to fizz. Think of it as slightly dampening the mixture. This recipe makes about 12-14 medium sized toilet bombs.
Original recipe by Sweet Nature’s Beauty.
Use this recipe to eliminate things like formaldehyde, chloroform, and hydrochloric acid, which are found in many standard toilet bowl cleaners. These ingredients can pose risks to the person cleaning to the toilet as well as pets and children. It’s always better to be safe than sorry with your own DIY version.
If you are looking to make your own toilet bowl cleaner as opposed to toilet bowl cleaning bombs, be sure to check out DIY Natural’s Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaners, featuring a total of three amazing recipes, including their deliciously aromatic Tea Tree Toilet Bowl Scrub! Here’s one of our faves from them:
TEA TREE TOILET BOWL SCRUB
This deodorising formula utilises the antibacterial properties of tea tree oil to kill germs in your toilet bowl and on toilet surfaces.
INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup baking soda
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon tea tree essential oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine vinegar and essential oil in a small spray bottle. Spray vinegar mixture inside the bowl, and also on the toilet seat, lid, and handle. Allow the cleaner to sit for several minutes. Sprinkle baking soda inside the toilet bowl and scrub inside of the bowl with a toilet brush. Use a clean dry cloth to wipe vinegar solution off seat, lid, and handle.
Original recipe by DIY Natural.
DIY candles
Make your home the most pleasantly pungent it can be with a homemade candle! You might be thinking to yourself, what’s wrong with regular candles? They are so beautifully unassuming, and it’s hard to believe that they could be anything but downright relaxing. With that being said, many candles use paraffin wax (as opposed to safer ingredients, like soy). This can create highly toxic benzene and toluene when burned (in layman terms, these are both known carcinogens). Some candles also contain artificial scents and dyes.
While we recognize it may be hard to give up your favorite candle scent, there are lots of DIY recipes out there that will help you create an amazing smelling candle but without any of the carcinogens, including Mother Nature’s Networks’ DIY Soy Candle recipe! Make this DIY candle with your own personal touch by putting it in an upcycled container, like an old glass jar. Some ingredients you’ll need include:
- Essential oils (we recommend vanilla!)
- Soy wax flakes
- Candle container
- Wick to fit your container
Don’t forget that Mother’s Day is right around the corner (on second Sunday of May) and that a homemade candle is about as perfect as Mother’s Day gifts can get!
Baking soda, I got baking soda!
How to clean with baking soda
You most definitely have baking soda laying around the house. If you do, it’s your lucky day! You can use it to:
- Remove mold
- Scrub residue of a variety of surfaces
- Rid your fridge of unpleasant smells
You can also mix baking soda with your current laundry detergent to get rid of stains! Your clothes will be brighter with the addition of baking soda in every load, and you can use less detergent and less bleach (if you need it).
OR even use it as an all-natural bathroom scrub — perfect for bathtubs, tiles and sinks, just like this recipe below:
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Vivi (@wandering_wild_home) on
Lemons
When life gives you lemons, clean your stainless steel appliances.
Beyonce would be proud if she could see you using lemons to clean your stainless steel appliances!
Here’s a recipe for the perfect combination by One Good Thing - you’ll have your appliances spotless in no time:
STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCE CLEANER
Lemon juice and baking soda can both be used to clean stainless steel, as lemon juice is naturally acidic, while baking soda is naturally abrasive. Borax has many household uses thanks to its low toxicity so it does not react with stainless steel. These natural cleaners are just as effective as chemical cleaners, but less expensive and safer to use.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup of baking soda
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3 Tablespoons Borax
- Soda water / Club soda
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine the baking soda, lemon juice, and borax in a small bowl and stir to combine. Then add just enough soda to make a thick paste. Dip a rag into the paste, and rub the paste onto your stainless steel appliances.
Original recipe by One Good Thing.
Goodbye, paper towels!
Okay, so this isn’t a cleaning supply recipe, but lessening our usage of paper towels is equally just as important as limiting the toxins in our cleaning products. Why?
Because people are kind of obsessed with paper towels. In the U.S. alone, Americans spend nearly as much on paper towels as the rest of the entire world...combined... wtf? That’s a whole lot of $$$!
And no disposable good is really that great for the planet, including paper towels, most of which end up in landfills. Instead, switch to reusable towels, cotton napkins, or reusable paper towels, like Bambooee’s paper towel sheets (according to their website, one roll replaces up to 429 paper towels rolls).
Well, that’s it for us. Too lazy to make your own? We also love this list by PETA of eco-friendly cleaning products you can spend your dollars on instead!
Do you have even more random eco-friendly natural cleaning recipes you want to share with us? Be sure to shoot us a message WHERE and let us know your favourites! We absolutely love hearing from you.
To wrap up, there’s only one type of recipe we love more than cleaning ones - we’re talking about plant-based recipes! Get your cooking fix with these 8 vegan comfort food dishes that will boost your immune system or 17 of our fave vegan recipe Instagram accounts, which is inclusive of recipes!
If you’ve cooked and cleaned your way through your home and need some reading downtime, be sure to check out Plant Faced Clothing’s brand-spankin’ new Journal. This is the best blog out there for all things plant-based.
Be sure to check out some of our newest articles on the blog:
