Your Spring Cleaning Guide To DIY Cleaning Products

It’s now well known that conventional cleaning products are full of some pretty icky stuff. Considering that even something as innocuous-sounding as “fragrance” can contain toxic chemicals, just imagine what’s in the rest of those ingredients! Now more than ever, people are turning to DIY, natural solutions. It’s simple to whip up an array of toxin-free DIY cleaning products that can keep every corner of your abode sparkly clean. Here’s our comprehensive guide.

What Ingredients to Use

When it comes to DIY home cleaners, a few ingredients stand out from the pack in terms of their ability to natural clean and disinfect. Here are a few of the ingredients you'll be using and why.

Borax: Borax is a mineral also known as sodium borate. It is a type of salt that has a number of applications when cleaning. It helps make your cleaner basic, which makes other cleansers more effective. It can also convert water to hydrogen peroxide, which has cleaning applications of its own. All factors combined, Borax is effective in removing grease and grime.

Vinegar: Vinegar is a fantastic cleaning agent, as it has disinfectant properties yet is completely natural. It is capable of killing both bacteria and mold.

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Baking Soda: Baking soda is another useful ingredient to have in your natural cleaning arsenal. For one thing, its mildly gritty texture makes it useful for scrubbing off dirt and grime. But, much like Borax, it is basic in its pH... This means that when it reacts with vinegar (an acidic ingredient), the results are explosive! This fizzy combination can help remove dirt and grime, unclog toilets and pipes, and much more.

Washing Soda: Many DIY cleaning recipes call for washing soda, which isn’t to be confused with baking soda. Though the two are closely related, they have a different chemical makeup. Washing soda helps to soften the water, allowing this mixture to more easily lift grease from dirty dishes, pots and pans.

Hydrogen Peroxide: Hydrogen peroxide is a disinfectant that can kill certain strains of bacteria. It also helps to keep your home clean by prohibiting bacterial reproduction.

DIY Cleaning Recipes

All-Purpose Cleaner

A good all-purpose cleaner can fight bacteria, help wipe away dust and dirt, and give a pleasant fragrance to your entire home. Our favorite recipe makes use of old-fashioned ingredients that are able to gently and naturally disinfect your home with the trifecta of hydrogen peroxide, Borax and vinegar.

• 1 T hydrogen peroxide
• 1 T Borax
• 1/2 C vinegar
• 2 C hot water
• 1 T lemon juice
• 5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil

Directions:

1. Mix the Borax with the hot water and whisk together.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until combined.
3. Pour into a spray bottle and use to clean all the surfaces of your home.

DIY Window Cleaner

A good window cleaner won’t include ingredients like Borax or baking soda, because those kinds of ingredients could cause streaking. Instead, this recipe contains subtle antibacterial properties thanks to lemon, as well as the gentle-but-tough cleaning capacity of vinegar.

• 1 C white vinegar
• 1 C water
• ¼ C lemon juice
• 2-3 drops of your favorite essential oil

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients into a spray bottle, and use!

DIY Dish Soap

Looking for a dish soap that will be effective at removing food and grime while still remaining affordable and natural? This is it.

• 1 T Borax
• 1 T washing soda
• 2 T white vinegar
• 2½ C hot water
• ½ C liquid Castile soap

Directions:

1. Combine hot water and Borax, and whisk until combine.
2. Add in washing soda, vinegar and Castile soap. Whisk to combine. Pour into a squeeze bottle and use to clean dishes, pots, pans and utensils.

DIY Dusting Spray

A good dusting spray should be (extremely) mildly sticky. This is because it needs attract dirt and dust to your rag, and leave a light coating to make your furniture and floors nice and shiny. This natural DIY dusting spray does just that with natural olive oil.

• 1 C water
• 1/4 C vinegar
• 2 t olive oil
• 5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients into a spray bottle, and use for dusting.

DIY Laundry Detergent

Your clothes sit against your skin all day — why wash them with products that contain toxic substances, irritating artificial fragrances and who knows what else? This DIY detergent will get your clothes smelling fresh and clean.

• 1/2 C washing soda
• 1/4 C Borax
• 1 C hot water
• 1 T Castile soap
• 1/4 C white vinegar
• 15-20 drops of your favorite essential oil

Directions:

1. Combine Borax and baking soda, whisking until combine.
2. Pour the hot water over the dry mixture and whisk until fully dissolved.
3. Add in Castile soap, vinegar and essential oils. Mix until combined.
4. Add additional hot water until the detergent reaches your desired consistency. Store in an empty gallon jug.

DIY Toilet Bowl Cleaner

Finally, no cleaning list would be complete without taking care of one of the dirtiest places in the home: the toilet. This DIY cleaner freshens things up and washes things out while remaining as nontoxic as it gets.

• ½ C baking soda
• ¼ C liquid Castile soap
• 10 drops of your favorite essential oil
• ¼ C hydrogen peroxide
• 1 C hot water
• ¼ C vinegar

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients besides vinegar and water into a bowl.
2. Slowly add the vinegar, whisking gently until the foaming stops.
3. Add hot water, continuing to whisk until fully incorporated.
4. Funnel the mixture into a squeeze-top bottle and store it under your bathroom sink.

With all of these natural DIY cleaning options, your home is sure to be sweet-smelling and freaky chemical-free in no time!