Cheaper to Use Homemade Household Cleaners

I recently have made the switch to using all natural ingredients for my household cleaners for two reasons:  

1)  I'm trying to get rid of environmental toxins in my home
2)  They are a whole lot cheaper to buy and work just as great as the brand name stuff!            

Here are all the components you need to go cheap and green in your own home:

• Baking Soda
• Club Soda
• Borax                             (found in laudry detergent area)
• Hydrogen Peroxide         (found near cosmetics and pharmaceuticals)
• Distilled White Vinegar
• Lemon Juice
• Liquid Castile Soap         (found in the laundry soap area; vegetable-based, not animal-based)
• Olive Oil

Before I tell you how to use them in replacing your current brand (toxic) cleaners, let me give you a little pep talk about why to do this.  I've never been one to jump on the bandwagon of going green and saving the planet, but this just makes sense.  Did you know how much chemicals are actually added to our everyday cleaning supplies?  Just look at your Orange Glo, for example.  It has added petroleum, and it cautions against having it contact your skin for very long, and then you better wash it off well.  If it's on our furniture, then how can it help but get into our skin and have prolonged contact?

Our families' bodies our constantly bombarded with the onslaught of so many chemical toxins all of which are added for texture, smell, function, ....whatever else.  Our ordinary toilet bowl cleaners are so acidic and caustic, they can seriously burn our mucous membranes if inhaled, or touch our skin. 

The simple natural household ingredients I have listed above are just that.....SIMPLE.   They have no hidden chemicals and toxins that shouldn't be inhaled, touched, absorbed, etc.  They are all natural ingredients that pose no dangers for our children, or ourselves.  Is it a wonder that so many of our kids have allergies and asthma, headaches, skin problems, and other disorders.

Time to stamp out these chemicals and just go simple and natural.  I only spent $14 at my local grocery store on the total of those natural products.  And they will last me for several, several uses before I need to replenish them.  And they will replace all the following types of cleaners I was currently using until today.

Here's how they work:

All-purpose cleaners:  This is the cleaner that can be used on pretty much any surface (except marble).  Put 2 Tbsp. white vinegar and 1 tsp. borax into a 16 oz. spray bottle. Fill the rest with very hot water and shake to blend until the borax is dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of liquid castile soap only after you’ve completed the above steps. If you want to scent your spray, also add 10–15 drops of an essential oil, such as lavender, lemongrass, thyme, eucalyptus, rosemary, rose, or clove. The spray will keep indefinitely. For an even simpler solution, try cleaning with two cups of club soda in a spray bottle. 

Carpet cleaner: To clean and disinfect your carpet,  blend 1/2 cup baking soda, 1 cup borax, and 1 cup cornmeal. Sprinkle mixture over rug and rub with a cloth. Let rest for several hours or overnight, then vacuum. To remove stains from your carpet, mix 1/4 cup liquid castile soap and 1/3 cup water in a blender until foamy. Spread the mixture on the carpet and let sit for a few minutes, then scrub the stain with a brush or clean rag. Also, club soda will remove many acidic stains, like coffee, wine, or juice. To deal with big carpet spills, pour cornmeal on the spill, wait 15 minutes, then vacuum. 

Glass cleaner: To make your windows shine, you can simply use club soda in a spray bottle. Add 1 tsp. of lemon juice to increase your window cleaner’s degreasing power. 

Bathroom surface cleaners: You can use the all-purpose cleaners recommended above or, for even simpler bathroom cleaning, use baking soda or borax as a scouring powder.  Club soda works wonders on plumbing fixtures.  Just sprinkle borax on a damp sponge, and you can clean your tub/tile with it (porcelain or fiberglass).

Toilet cleaner: Sprinkle baking soda or borax, or pour white vinegar into the toilet, and let sit for a few minutes. I mixed b.soda with the white vinegar for a nice frothy clean and let it sit for 5 minutes before scrubbing with a good toilet brush.

Oven Grates:  Leave outside overnight and let the grassy dew do it's thing.  It will breakdown the grease and grime, and a simple damp rag can wipe it clean in the morning.

Mold remover: Combine 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide or white vinegar with 1 cup water. Spray on mold and do not rinse. 

Wood polish: To polish wood furniture, dab olive oil onto a soft cloth and rub.Lemon juice can be added to the olive oil for a fragrant shine.

Cutting Boards:  You'll want to disinfect them with a paste of lemon juice and baking soda.


Are these products any good at treating bacteria or fungus you might ask?  Absolutely!  White vinegar is an antifungal and also kills germs and bacteria.  Baking soda removes odors, borax acts as an antifungal, and can possibly be a dissinfectant.  Lemons and Hydrogen Peroxide are both non toxic bleaches, and disenfectants as well.  Castile soap is also a proven disinfectant.


There you have it!  Clean your home naturally and perfectly, and quite cheaply, too!