Homemade Cleaner Recipes

I love to save money, doesn't everybody? Making your own cleaning solutions can save you a ton of money, I have a lot of recipes for different types of cleaners- as I'm sure any readers for this particular post do. However, I'm writing this to create a place where they're all gathered together!

Homemade Tub Scrub

Add one teaspoon of liquid soap and several drops of an antibacterial essential oil (such as tea tree, eucalyptus, rosemary, or peppermint) to one cup of baking soda. Add just enough water to form a paste, and use it with a sponge or brush to scour bathtub surfaces.

Furniture Dusting Spray

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon lemon essential oil
1/4 cup  white vinegar
1-3/4 cups water
Spray bottle (16 oz size or larger)

Mix the ingredients in the order listed into your clean spray bottle.  Shake well each time you use to mix oil and water. Spray onto wooden furniture and wipe off with a soft cloth to dust and clean the surface.

Spot Remover

one part dawn dishwashing liquid, two parts hydrogen peroxide

Mattress Freshener

Fill a mason jar with holes poken in the lid with baking soda and a TBS of your favorite fabric softener, let sit for an hour and vaccum off. Would be a great carpet freshener as well-

Carpet Freshener

Same mix as above OR mix in different jar with just a few drops of your favorite smelling essential oils. It's like homemade carpet fresh! These can both be put into empty grated parmesan cheese bottles too! Oh and those sprinkler lids from the parmesan bottles? They fit mason jars.

Dishwasher Soap

2 c borax
2 c Arm & Hammer washing soda
2 c lemi shine
1 c kosher salt

thats 1 TBS per load

Homemade Fabric Softener

6 cups HOT water
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups Suave Refreshing Waterfall Conditioner {or other favorite scent}

Mix conditioner & hot water well, until conditioner is dissolved completely.
Add the vinegar, and mix well.
Store in a large container {empty fabric softener container, empty large vinegar bottle, etc}
Pour into a downy ball… or use approx. 2 tbsp. in the fabric softener spot in your laundry machine… then wash!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1 bar of soap (any kind you want)
1 cup of Borax
1 cup of washing soda
a big pot ( that holds more than 2 gallons)
a grater
a funnel
a long spoon
2 empty gallon jugs/containers
Grate your bar of soap into your pot. Fill one gallon jug and pour water into pot with grated soap. Cook until the grated soap dissolves. Add the Borax and washing soda.Bring to a boil. It will coagulate. Turn off the heat. Add 1 gallon of cold water. Stir well. Pour 1 gallon of your detergent into each container. A funnel helps tremendously. Now you have 2 gallons of homemade laundry detergent.Use 1/2 cup per load.

Mock Windex

1 Empty Spray Bottle

1/8 Cup (1oz) White Ammonia

1/4 Cup (4oz) Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol

1 Drop Laundry Detergent

Water - To Fill The Bottle

                                                ::::::::::WARNING::::::::::

                               

   !!!!ALWAYS LABEL YOUR BOTTLES AND KEEP OUT OF THE REACH OF CHILDREN!! AND NEVER EVER EVER EVER MIX BLEACH AND AMMONIA- IT WILL CREATE VERY TOXIC FUMES!!!!!!

Other Tips:

• put a few drops of essential oil inside the cardboard tube of your toilet paper, each time it's spun it will give off that scent!
• Nailpolish remover will remove marker from laminate and other hard surfaces (always spot test!)
• Use wadded up aluminum foil to scrub caked on nasty pans (I love doing this)
• Use old newspaper to clean windows- the difference in that and paper towels is amazing! Crystal clear!

***********All recipe titles include links to the original website, where I got them. Several sites are repeated.