Homemade Green Cleaning Recipes

Clean nearly everything in your house with simple and non-toxic ingredients.

Whether you're worried about the chemicals you're using, wanting to save money, or hoping to save yourself from all those horrible added dyes and fragrances - these recipes are for you!

Step 1 Ingredients Used In These Recipes

The recipes use very few ingredients, most of which you should have around the house!

• water
• baking soda
• rubbing alcohol or vodka
• castile soap
• white vinegar
• essential oils
• unflavored gelatin
• salt

In addition, you'll need spray bottles and glass containers, depending on the recipe. You can reuse bottles from old cleaners - just make sure to clean them thoroughly! You can also buy cheap reusable ones from most grocery stores.

Comments

[barefootbohemian]

Love the work you've done! I'll definitely be following :)

[redorchestra]

I make my own laundry detergent by mixing 1/2 a cup of borax and 1/2 a cup of washing soda in a gallon of water until it all dissolves, then melting 1 cup of grated sunlight bar pure soap into a medium pot of about 1 litre of water.
Mix the dissolved soap and borax/soda mixture together and let it sit for 12 hours.
Laundry soap for about 1 dollar.

[rpguy]

Hi, how much would you use for a large load in a front load washer. What a great idea
Thanks

[redorchestra]

i use about a cup of my homemade soap for a load in a toploader. it is low foaming soap so it works great for front loaders though

[bluidego]

oh also I use RAIN vodka for this it is the best

[bluidego]

I have been doing this with vodka for years. Although I didn't ever see it as ghetto. Essential oils are pricey and way better than anything febreeze puts out!

[pmahler1]

You can order castile soap easily from Amazon.com for $5-$10 =)

[mcorriveau]

I would be careful with some essential oils. Peppermint, in particular can be harmful to cats so it's a poor choice to deodorize your couch if you have one that likes to lay on it.

[vortexmax]

Better look up the toxicity factor on IPA (Rubbing Alcohol) Is is flammable and toxic,handle with care keep out long reach of children.Vodka to expensive to waste on cleaning.Use it to clean your throat but not to much.Other then this good stuff.

[fidgetofdoom]

actually... Vodka is WAY cheaper then some alternatives... This isn't just a smell good spray, its a deodorizer... and Vodka is brilliant for that oddly enough. I use it to remove sweat stink in shoes, and cat piss smells... great for spraying down furniture that you've gotten of craigslist and whatnot...

You don't need the kinda Vodka you'd buy to enjoy drinking, that nasty bottom shelf swill will work just fine for this.

[thefiftyfootwoman]

I just made this with cheap vodka, lavender and grapefruit essential oils. My sheets smell incredible. Thank you!!

[Ingridpin]

There is any substitute for the castile soap to make it? I can't easily find it where I live in... :/

[fgodwin]

Would vanilla essence work? Because then you could still drink some :D

[jessyratfink]

I initially read this and worried about the color of the essence, but I think it would be since it would be diluted so much!

[kieRAWR]

Does anyone have tips on cleaning kitchen floors? For some reason my roomate is a messy chef and believes simply swiping at a spill with a papertowel will clean it. The spot is still sticky! They purchased a Swiffer WetJet, but are taking it with them when they move out soon.

Should I just use the all-purpose cleaner? The flooring looks pretty sturdy, not linoleum (sp?)

[mrsthursday]

First off I don't like swiffers. Get yourself a mop & bucket & rubber gloves & a spray bottle of your fav. all purpose cleaner & water. If it's wood DON'T use ammonia & don't over-wet it, it just damages the wood.

1st vacuum - most of the yuck is hair - people moult just like animals- it'll be way quicker to vac or sweep if u prefer.

I go around & clean the edges & corners of the room just spray around the edges wait a few minutes for the yuck to break down then mop - that's the worst area done! .
Then do the remaining area- spraying & mopping & rinsing the mop now & then. When finished make sure u wash the mop in clean water & cleaner, rinse & stand it mop up- outside if possible or in the tub until it's dry & it'll last ages not like those germy sponge mops, don't like them either : ).

[jessyratfink]

I use the all purpose cleaner on my floor all the time - both wood and vinyl - with no problems. :)

A mix of vinegar and water with a little soap can work on most floors too, and especially in kitchens where things can get greasy and nasty.

[BluWriter]

Awesome instructable! Thanks so much for this. *-* <3 It's going to be really handy. :D

[bluemoon6]

I do this but I use an Alka-Selzer tablet and it works wonders----just make sure that the water is almost boiling that you use to flush the solution down the drain!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bluemoon6]

Amazing this is so...simple-thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111

[poori_kanna]

u can also try water + vinegar overnight in the pot ... the muck comes out cleaner and there's no smell ... :) i also spray my pots in vinegar and rinse if i'd cooked eggs/meat in them. there won't be any leftover smell :D

[stretch mark]

Nice recipes! I also wanted to mention that essential oils are very strong anti viral and antibiotic. Last summer I had a staph infection and I read that tea tree or lemon grass oil kills all staph including MRSA. Using similar ingredients as yours I made a liquid that I used topically that seemed to really work well. Of course I was also on major antibiotics but my topical remedy seemed to work better than the prescribed topical ointment. Thanks!

[jessyratfink]

Oh, neat. I didn't know that. Good to know just in case, haha. :)

[stretch mark]

I did not mention that I diluted to an extreme ratio like 1/30 or 40. My illness was very scary and happened very fast. I was in the hospital within 24hours of my first symptom. Essential oils are just that it turns out. If you haven't already, you should check out oregano oil. Used as an antibiotic primarily before penicillin and sometimes rarely referenced in old literature.

[onemoroni1]

Very good recopies for homemade cleaners. Some unique from other sources I've seen. I have made a window cleaner for years using rubbing alcohol, ammonia (non sudsing), and water in a spray bottle. It is close to the Windex brand. The alcohol makes it dry fast.

[jessyratfink]

Good idea about the rubbing alcohol, maybe I'll add a little next time!

[capricorn]

Informative and useful, thanks for sharing.

For what comes to cleaning the drain, it is the same method I use myself, but I tend to fill the soda and then pour the vinegar and the boiling water at the same time.

In fact I create a super heated bubbling foam that falls down the pipes. The pressure it creates is enough to unclog the plumbings and push the grim out, ready to fall in again.

I will try with your 15/20 minutes resting time next time :)

[jessyratfink]

I'm always worried about using boiling water because I always seem to live in places with plastic piping under the sink. I can just see it ending badly. :P

[vcramer]

Great ideas!

[jessyratfink]

Thanks! :)

[iowa_girl]

These look great and I can't wait to try them. I wonder what you might suggest as a green cleaner and whitener for a porcelain kitchen sink? Or for getting hard water stains off the rim of the inside of a toilet. Any suggestions.

Thanks so much. Great job.

[jessyratfink]

Lemons should work on both of those - but it kinda depends how discolored the surfaces are.

You can just cut a lemon in half and rub them on the spots, or spray lemon juice on them. For the toilet, a lemon half dipped in baking soda should help. You can also do half and half borax and lemon juice and let it sit a bit before scrubbing.

If nothing else works, I'd try the pumice stone that rpatzman recommended. :P

I also did a little googling and there were a lot of people recommending making a paste out of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, but I've not tried that one.

[rpatzman]

Get a pumice stone for the toilet rust stains. A little elbow grease along with it and you have a sparkling toilet again. Pumice stones are a bit pricey at the hardware store, You can get the kind for calluses at your local drug store for a couple of bucks. Should be just as good for a porcelain sink, though I wouldn't recommend using the same one LOL.

[MsJaxFla]

Hey Jesse! I use most of these and they are GREAT. I don't add the essential oils though, mainly because I don't have access to them without going out of my area. I wanted to ask you if you had tried this one yet or if any of your followers had tried it YET? I have not, because I keep forgetting to get the lemons and/or oranges to use in it. And now my car battery died and have to get a new battery.

2 liter plastic bottle
100 grams of brown sugar
1 liter of water
300 grams (total) of lemon and orange scraps
Sharpie because you have to put a date on it and let it ferment for 3 months.
And I worry about it exploding as well, you need to loosen the lid ever so often, so not real sure about trying it yet. lol

Sheryll & Critters.

[jessyratfink]

Oh, wow, that sounds intense! I have not tried anything like that yet. I did do some googling, though, and they seem pretty popular. I saw a couple sites selling them for a ton of money - so they must work pretty well!

I think I'd like to give this a go. Next time I get a bottle big enough to make it in, I think I'll try. :)

[rpatzman]

Safe way to ferment the home made enzyme cleaner, is to put a balloon over the top of the bottle. Then it won't explode.

[MsJaxFla]

Thanks for reminding me, I meant to post that as an added thought and just got sidetracked and forgot. Like making homemade wine. And those vinyl gloves work as well. Just tie some twine around the neck of the bottle or use a rubber band. My ex boy friend always fussed about me saving stuff, but I reuse a lot of stuff. Partly because I was raised to reuse then recyle (my parents did this before it was fashionable) and partly cause I am rather broke all the time.

[jessyratfink]

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for that - I was wondering the best way to do it!

[MsJaxFla]

Duh, the recipe is for Homemade Enzyme Cleaner. Sorry!

[DeliciousMystic]

A hint for cloth towels.. You can cut and hem old sheets, or curtains from a thrift store for napkins and towels... this can save you a ton of money. I haven't bought paper towels in several years, and I don't miss throwing away all the money I used to spend on them.