Need Help Making Home Cleaning Products

www.naturemoms.com has lots of recipes for dishsoap, laundry soap etc.

Hi M B!

VINEGAR!!!! I have one spray bottle that I use on EVERYTHING!! (do NOT use on real granite)

I put in about 1-2 cups of vinegar in an old Windex bottle and fill the rest with water (shake each time you use). Works wonders! I use it on my windows, mirrors, counters, sink, floors and well basically everywhere! I will admit my house smells like a big giant douche for about 15 minutes but it goes away quickly! lol

You can get many essential oils at vitacost.com pretty affordably if you want to add a scent but I personally have not found any that I really like and have just given up on them :)

I have tried making it with Dr Bronners Castile soap also but found the smell combination unpleasant and have not used my big bottle of it since then. I have also added lemon to the vinegar and did not like it plus it clogged up the sprayer after it sat for a few days.

If you hand wash your dishes add a 1/2 cup to your water and it will cut the grease and make it soooooooo simple to clean... plus it dries without spots! You can even add it to your dishwasher in place of Jet Dry or similar products... much more affordable!

For my bathroom sink I just use the vinegar spray. For our tub I spray down the tub then sprinkle baking soda on it. I then spray with more vinegar to amke it more pasty and it sometimes will fizzle too and scrub away! Same with the toilet- but I leave that to hubby- ewwwwww!

I also put any old baking soda I have in my fridge down all the drains in our house about once a month and add vinegar... let fizzle for a few minutes then rinse down with hot water.

When using it on your floors... make sure you do not leave too wet. I have found that if I spray and just use a damp mop to clean it up it leaves no streaks at all. I was having a hard time with that until I realized it was because I was leaving it too wet. I use this on my laminate wood floors and they shine now!

You can also add a cup of vinegar to your laundry in place of fabric softener and it does NOT leave a smell to them and leaves them feeling great!

I have found my house sparkling a lot more since changing from the store bought products and it has saved me a fortune! I also find that I can breathe while cleaning.... unfortunately that used to be my excuse to get out of doing anything with chemicals... not anymore! Good luck and have fun with it!

Blessings to you!

Just a comment on the vinegar/water mix. I add a few drops of tea tree essential oil to the bottle, it is a good disinfectant.

Do you have a box of Borax in your laundry room? That's one thing our grandmothers used to use. On the box it tells you what it does.

Hi MB,
I did everything that you could think of to make my homemade cleaners. Each time my DH would complain or the product left yucky residue. Needless to say I had spent way to much time and money creating my own cleaners. A friend introduced me to a store that has really good prices on cleaners that are good for you and the environment. I bought one bottle a little over a year ago and still have some left. And this is from a mom who cleans non- stop. Needless to say the love this store! It has been a life saver.
E.

I just googled "making your own cleaning products" and TONS of hits came back.

For starters, you will need to buy some spray bottles. They have them everywhere - Dollar Tree, Target and even the hardware store.

You want to watch it on the scent part. That clean smelling scent is often not good for you.

Best of luck in your endeavor. I sell green cleaning products if you're interested in going down that road.

M.

vinegartips.com has a list of ways to use vinegar for cleaning