With a few items from your pantry, you can clean and refresh your home using only natural ingredients. With some basic kitchen items and a bit of elbow grease, you can easily remove stains and kill germs.
Step away from harsh chemicals and try out these simple recipes to get your home feeling and smelling fresh.
Bathroom
By combining a few natural ingredients, your bathroom will be brighter and cleaner in no time.
Unclogging a Drain
Ingredients:
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 2 pots of boiled water
Instructions:
Step 1
Start this process by pouring a pot of boiling water down the drain to loosen any build-up.
Step 2
Once this has fully drained, pour the baking soda down the drain and let this sit for several minutes.
Step 3
Next, pour the vinegar followed by 1 cup of hot water down the drain.
Step 4
Use a plug to keep the reaction below the drain surface. Let this sit for approximately 10 minutes.
Step 5
Pour another pot of boiling water down the drain to flush out the mixture. Your drain should now be unclogged.
Toilet Cleaner
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp essential oil
Instructions:
Step 1
Pour the vinegar and your essential oil of choice into a spray bottle (we recommend tee tree oil because of its antibacterial properties.)
Step 2
Spray the mixture inside the bowl and surfaces. Don’t forget to spray the lid.
Step 3
Let the cleaner sit for a few minutes before sprinkling the baking soda inside the toilet bowl.
Step 4
As the baking soda reacts to the vinegar, scrub the toilet bowl with a brush.
Step 5
Once you have finished, wipe the vinegar mixture off the seat lid and handle with a clean, dry cloth.
Bath Tub Cleaner
Ingredients:
- 1 2/3 cup baking soda
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil-based liquid soap
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 Tbsp. white vinegar
Instructions:
Step 1
Combine ingredients into a spray bottle.
Step 2
Make sure to shake the bottle before use and apply it to the surface with a cloth.
Step 3
Rinse the tub with water once you have finished.
Mold or Mildew Remover
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup borax
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
Instructions:
Step 1
Combine ingredients to make a paste.
Step 2
Apply the paste to the mold-affected areas. For tough mold, allow the paste to sit for an hour before going on to the next step.
Step 3
Scrub the surface with a brush or sponge.
Step 4
Rinse the area thoroughly with water.
Glass Cleaner
Ingredients:
- 2 cups water
- 2 Tbsp. white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp essential oil
Instructions:
Step 1
Combine all of the ingredients in a spray bottle.
Step 2
Spray on the glass and clean with a microfibre cloth.
Floor Sanitiser
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup borax
- 2gal hot water
Instructions:
Step 1
Pour the hot water into a bucket and add the borax.
Step 2
Use a mop or sponge to scrub the floor and allow to dry. Rinsing is not needed.
Kitchen
These easy-to-make concoctions are sure to get your kitchen sparkling clean.
All-Purpose Cleaning Spray
Ingredients:
- 1/2cup white vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. baking soda
- Essential oil of your choice
- Water
Instructions:
Step 1
Pour the vinegar and baking soda into a spray bottle.
Step 2
Add a few drops of essential oil, and then fill the remaining space in the bottle with water.
Step 3
Shake the mixture and let it settle before using.
Burnt Pots and Pans
Ingredients:
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. baking soda
- 1 cup water
- Rough sponge
Instructions:
Step 1
Pour the vinegar and water into the pan, and then bring the pan to a boil.
Step 2
Remove the pan from the stove, and then add the baking soda.
Clean and Polish Wood
Ingredients:
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 cup water
- 3 Tbsp. vinegar
Instructions:
Step 1
To clean the wood, combine the water and vinegar in a spray bottle.
Step 2
Spray wood lightly, and wipe down with a cloth.
Step 3
Once the wood is dry, combine lemon juice and olive oil in a jar.
Step 4
Shake jar well to combine the mixture.
Step 5
Dip a soft cloth into the jar, and using only a small amount of mixture, polish the wood until it is smooth and shiny.
Microwave Cleaner Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Instructions:
Step 1
Combine lemon juice and vinegar in a bowl
Step 2
Heat in the microwave for 3 – 4 minutes.
Oven Cleaner
Ingredients:
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- Salt
Instructions:
Step 1
Combine water and vinegar in a spray bottle.
Step 2
Heat the oven to 122 degrees F and spray any food marks or build-ups with the vinegar mixture.
As the mixture heats up, the steam from the vinegar will help loosen any food marks or grime.
Step 3
Take a sponge or cloth and wipe out the microwave.
Step 4
To get rid of any stubborn spots, dip your cloth into the vinegar mixture before scrubbing.
Step 3
Once the marks are damp, pour salt on these areas.
Step 4
Turn the oven off, and once it has cooled, use a cloth to scrub the food marks or build-ups.
Step 5
If the marks are stubborn, try using baking soda instead of salt and let it sit for a few minutes before scrubbing.
How about laundry?
A family that does a lot of laundry could practically go broke buying detergent and fabric softener. Fortunately, there’s an alternative to purchasing commercial laundry products. By making your own laundry detergent and fabric softener from readily available components, you can wash your family’s clothes for a third or fourth of retail-priced commercial laundry detergents.
When you stop to think about it, detergent isn’t exactly rocket science; people have been making it since pioneer times. I’m not talking about lye soap made from bear fat and campfire ashes or anything like that, though.
I’m talking about buying the components at a local store— often in the same aisle where you buy commercial detergents—and mixing up your own laundry detergent for a fraction of the price.
Know the Basics
Homemade detergent can be made as a liquid or a powder. We use the powder form at our house. There are several recipes for making different laundry soaps, but they are all fundamentally the same.
There are four main ingredients: 20 Mule Team borax, washing soda laundry booster, regular soap and lavender essential oil.
Borax cleans and also softens water; washing soda cuts grease and neutralizes odors; soap is a stain remover, and lavender just makes the laundry smell nice and fresh.
Laundry Detergent Recipe
Follow these steps to make your own powdered laundry detergent.
- Shave a bar of Fels-Naptha or Castile soap on a cheese grater. Then, pulverize the shavings into very small particles using a blender.
- Add 15 drops of lavender essential oil.
- Pulverize it again.
- Mix together 1 cup borax and 1 cup washing soda in a bowl.
- Add the pulverized soap to the borax and washing soda mixture.
Storage and Use
Store your detergent in an airtight container. On wash day, use two heaping tablespoons of detergent per laundry load. We’ve found our homemade detergent to be just as effective as commercial laundry detergent.
Homemade detergents don’t suds up like store-bought detergents do, especially in hard water; although, you can add 1 cup baking soda to the mixture to produce more suds.
Fabric Softener Recipe
Liquid fabric softener can also be made at home for a fraction of the cost of the commercial variety. There are only three ingredients, and one of them comes right from your tap.
Simply mix together the following: 5 cups hot water 1 cup of the cheapest hair conditioner you can find 3 cups white vinegar.
Mix the water and hair conditioner together, then add the vinegar. Use ¼ cup of fabric softener per laundry load.
When my family switched to using homemade laundry detergent, we didn’t notice any difference in the results of our laundry. Our clothes seemed just as clean and fresh as before.
The final test came when we used homemade detergent to wash the dog’s bed, an old quilt that our Labrador retriever sleeps on. To our pleasure, the old quilt came out of the wash looking and smelling great. Even the dog seemed pleased.
Livingroom
Cleanse and refresh your living area with these DIY mixtures.
Cleaning Carpets
Ingredients:
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 2 cups water
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp essential oil
Instructions:
Step 1
Pour the vinegar, water, salt, and essential oil of choice into a spray bottle.
Step 2
Shake bottle to mix ingredients.
Step 3
Spray onto the carpet, soaking affected areas, and shaking bottle between sprays.
Step 4
Let the mixture sit until the carpet is dry.
Step 5
Vacuum the affected areas.
Concluding
By using the recipes within this article to make green cleaners for your household, you will cut costs and chemicals with clean, fresh results. Most of us use cleaners every day to maintain proper hygiene, but we never stopped thinking about how we can improve our lives, but cutting costs and, at the same time, protecting the environment. Know you can make your own green cleaners at home and without worrying about your footprint on this planet.
Recommended resources for preppers and homesteaders:
Ingenious DIY projects for a Self-Sufficient Homestead
The vital self-sufficiency lessons our great grand-fathers left us
A DIY Project to Generate Clean Water Anywhere
An Innovative Solar Panel Setup (DIY) that covers all your electricity needs