All Natural All Purpose Household Cleaner
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One of the first things you need to have a Naturally Fresh Home is this All Natural All Purpose Household Cleaner.
And, oh. my. gosh.
It smells so much better than any store-bought cleaner I’ve ever used. It’s like cleaning with little puffs of fresh air!
And it’s all natural. AND it’s super cheap… I mean thrifty. Unless your a tweety-bird, and then it’s cheep-cheep.
Not to mention, I get to put those super cute chalkboard stickers on my bottles. BONUS!
What you need:
- ½ cup Vinegar
- 2 Cups of Isopropyl Alcohol
- 1 tsp Dish Soap {I use Mrs. Meyers, but you can use Castile soap if you prefer}
- 10-20 drops of lavender, tea tree or peppermint essential oils {or a mixture}
- Enough Distilled Water to Make a Gallon
- An empty jug – I used a leftover Orange Juice jug
- Empty Spray Bottle
If you want to know why I’m using these ingredients, take a minute to read my post, The Ingredients for a Naturally Fresh Home. It’s cool to know what this stuff does!
How to make this All Natural All Purpose Household Cleaner
First, mix your vinegar, alcohol and dish soap.
Pour into the empty gallon container.
Add your essential oils. Oh, they smell so yummy!
I use essential oils from Mountain Rose Herbs. They are wonderful and VERY reasonable compared to some other oils I’ve seen!
I used a combo of peppermint and lavender, my two favs.
Shake to combine and then add enough distilled water to make a gallon.
Shake again to combine. Then, fill up your empty spray bottle and go to town!
I love this stuff. I think I might sleep with it tonight.
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Do you make your own cleaners? How long does yours last?
What brand of oils do you use?
Hi Shelia,
I use Mountain Rose Herbs Essential Oils. They are incredibly reasonable compared to some I have come across, and the quality is excellent.
You can read more about why I chose them here: https://www.theboldabode.com/2015/03/ingredients-for-a-naturally-fresh-home.html
I put a lot of research into my oils and use Mountain Rose Herbs. They use the most effective extraction method, assure all resources are organic and collected in sustainable quantities to reduce adverse environmental impact, and have the best price for that quality of product. Native American Nutritionals were a close second but their prices were slightly higher even though it’s a local company for me so it was a downer. And while Mountain Rose Herbs has had the best prices on oils, it’s not always true of their other products so I still price compare. The monthly deals usually can’t be beat tho. It’s important to pay attention to the quality you are comparing to tho as well as their company has made sure to offer organic and sustainable products. Hope this was helpful/insightful!
Me, too, L.M.! I love Mountain Rose Herbs!
xoxo
Gwen
Love your blog and cleaning recipes! What surfaces would this cleaner not work on? For example, marble or granite? Thanks!
Thank you so much!
I use it on pretty much everything except for marble and granite. Here is how I make my granite cleaner: https://www.theboldabode.com/diy-granite-cleaner.html
You can’t use vinegar on granite because it’s too acidic. Instead, I use Isopropyl Alcohol.
Thanks,
Gwen
I’m SOOOO glad I found your blog!! Can’t wait to try all these wonderful natural cleaners! And — where do you get those cool chalkboard labels? Thanks much!
I think I found them at Michael’s, Jamie!
How long does the cleaner last (strength-wise)? Not sure how fast I would go through a gallon of cleaner. Thanks!!!
It depend on how much and how often you use it, Ellen. But mine has lasted a few months.
Gwen
Storing your cleaner in plastics could be causing the toxins from the plastic to leach into your cleaner. The all-purpose cleaner recipe I use is recommended to be stored in glass for that reason, tinted glass at that to prevent breakdown from the sun. I believe it is due to the essential oils which I use lemon in mine so maybe it’s a special property of that oil but I take that precaution with all my oils and I do believe is true of all oils. Glass containers aren’t too pricey, are reusable, and you can still use the chalkboard stickers for easy relabeling. I got a set of 2 cobalt spray bottles for $5. If you’re trying to rotate toxins out of your home, plastics are a good riddance even if your cleaner isn’t causing breakdown. Plastics are full of toxins (only recyclables #7 or labeled PP are suspected to be safe) and expensive to recycle if not reused, and just a whole lot of toxic waste if not reused or recycled. Having reusable grocery & produce bags, buying local and unprocessed foods, and using glass or stainless steel containers I feel make the biggest impact on plastic use. If you’ve already transitioned to natural cleaners, you’re likely concerned with toxins in your home which plastics are a large contributor too so I wanted to share what I’ve learned 🙂 I also love having air plants in the house to filter the air as you can’t remove all toxins, ok maybe with extreme and drastic initiatives like a filtered glass bubble that you can’t cook in but who wants to do that. Just hoping to help someone else recognize the affects linked to their choices! The more I learn about all the products in our modern culture, the more upsetting it is, but the more thankful I am to have gained the knowledge to put to use in our home to make it a lil healthier! It’s a work-in-progress for us but one I’ve been committed to for three years now so close to full-transition! We started with the foods we ate and have just progressively worked to where we are now. Proud to be a part of society that is trying to be more conscious of our choices to make health a focus, whether @ the individual level or the ecosystem’s both of which we value and consider in our home!
Thanks for your tips! I’m moving to glass bottles for that reason!
xoxo
Gwen
I have to say, I made this recipe (I just used lavender oil, as that’s what I love best) and this is BY FAR AND AWAY THE BEST CLEANER i HAVE EVER USED. I mean I HATE to clean and just smelling this stuff makes me want to clean! seriously… I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. And it cleans windows and glass better than any other glass cleaner I have found. I think you should market the stuff!
Keep up the great work and I really can’t thank you enough! ♥