Do It Yourself Housecleaning Products

Though I love the convenience of being able to just run into a store and purchase an all purpose cleaner or window cleaner, we have 2 people with asthma in our household and our daughter has some serious health issues that preclude me from doing that. I was seeking out alternate cleaning supplies when I ran across an article on “green cleaning”.

The article I found went on to state that many of the chemicals in cleaners can be pathogenic and harmful causing cancer and other health related issues, especially to asthmatics and others with impaired immune systems. In addition to 2 asthmatics in my household, my daughter is in remission from cancer and we are very very cautious about using any chemicals. Thus, I read on.

I found that vinegar, baking soda, borax, lemons, club soda, isopropyl alcohol, and just plain soap (avoid using soaps which contain petroleum distillates) work just as well if not better than commercial products.

Here are some great do it yourself products. They are a fraction of the cost of the store bought formula's and environmentally safe. I have adapted several of them but most are in their original form just updated with products that are more readily available.

Oven cleaner: Moisten a warm oven with water. Mix of ¾ cups of baking soda and ½ cup of salt with enough water to make a thick paste and spread in oven over dirty crusty areas. Let sit overnight and in the morning scrape out with a spatula. Wipe your oven clean. Repeat in tough areas as needed and your oven should be sparkling new.

Multi purpose cleaner: Mix ½ cup vinegar and ¼ cup baking soda into ½ gallon of water. Shake gently before each use. Use to clean tubs, shower stalls, bathroom fixtures, windows and mirrors. For extra soap scum use either salt, baking soda or borax to gently remove.

Fabric Softener: White vinegar is a great fabric softener. Simply add ½ cup to rinse load in washer and dry as usual.

Fabric whitener: White vinegar or lemon juice will whiten fabrics. Simply add ½ go 1 cup to wash cycle and wash as usual to freshen and whiten laundry.

Dishwasher soap: Add equal parts of borax and washing soda to your machines soap dispensers. Add vinegar to the rinse additive unit and you're all set. If you have extra hard water add extra borax to help prevent dingy glass ware.

Powdered Laundry soap: Grate 1 cup of either Ivory soap, Fels Naptha or any pure soap; add in ½ cup washing soda and ½ cup borax (optional) Mix all together thoroughly. Add 1 Tablespoon for light loads and double for heavier loads.You can add some scented oil such as lavender, lemon, tea tree or such if you wish for a freshly scented laundry soap. 

Gel Laundry soap: Add above mixture to 6 cups water and heat til melted. Add another 6 cups of water and let sit overnight. Gently shake to stir and use ¼ to ½ cup per washer load. This will not be a solid gel but rather a liquid type gel similar to egg drop soup. Again you can add some scented oil such as lavender, lemon, tea tree or such for a fresh scent.  If you save empty laundry detergent bottles to put this in it works great. Just give it a gentle shake and measure your detergent out for your laundry.

Window cleaner: Mix 2 Teaspoons of vinegar with 1 quart of water. Shake and spray on mirrors or windows and gently wipe clean with newspaper or a lint free toweling. Another way is to use hand sanitizer. Yup, it works just as well. I simply spread some on a clean cloth and wipe down the mirrors, counters and sink and tub areas daily. It not only cleans and shines but it also disinfects.

Ispopropyl alcohol works great as a disinfectant. You can also add tea tree oil to any of the above mixes to give disinfectant properties to them.

Use baking soda and/or borax as cleanser.I have also used a coarse salt to clean out stubborn stains and soap scum.

Lemon juice or vinegar or baking soda can be set out around the house in decorative decanters or such for air fresheners.

All of these are simple to use, safe for the environment and my family. I'm actually spending less on cleaning supplies these days. With such environmentally safe products I don't have any harsh chemicals in my household and I don't have to wear gloves to do the dirty work unless I want to. What a great bonus for my families health.