Homemade cleaning products

[plank]

My 9 month old son is starting to get into all the cabinets and I'm debating between removing all the cleaning products to somewhere unreachable or just changing to homemade cleaners based off of baking soda/vinegar/lemon juice.  Has anyone tried this?  Does it actually work?

[Emilyngh]

Yes!

We use a spray bottle with about 1/3rd vinegar 2/3 water for most of our cleaning.   This works well for any wiping up type of cleaning (kitchen counters and appliances, other spills around the house, bathroom sink and fixtures, mirrors, windows, etc).   Don't use on marble and lookup before using on any other fancy surfaces, but works great on your standard linoleum, tile, etc.

For anything that's dingy and needs more scrubbing action (eg, tub), we mix baking soda with enough water to make a paste and use a scrub brush to scrub with it.

For wood dusting/polishing we use a mix of 3/4 oil (olive, canola, whatever) and 1/4 vinegar in a spray bottle.

For toilets we just use a squirt of Dr Bronner's or the natural dish soap we have on hand and scrub with a brush.   If they aren't cleaning well with this, you can turn off the water, pour in a bucket of water to drain the bowl, and then clean the bowl directly with such a soap without water in it.

For mopping floors (wood and tile) we use a little Dr Bronner's in water with a mop.

Oh, laundry soap.   The very easist DIY laundry soap (and soooo inexpensive) and works well for us, except we use natural dish soap liquid instead of dawn: http://www.themakeyourownzone.com/2013/10/homemade-laundry-soap-made-dawn.html

Homemade stain treatment (made in a dark colored spray bottle, and again natural dish soap): http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2012/06/best-homemade-stain-remover-ever.html

So, the Dr Bronner's and dish soap aren't completely DIY, but they are both natural, pretty inexpensive, and pull many-use duty (we use our natural dish soap for dishes, laundry soap, etc) and Dr Bronner's is used for our foaming hand-soap and foaming body wash.   They are the only two soaps we have in the house, and really, why would someone need more (the dish soap is actually a detergent and harsh but leaves no residue, whereas the Bronner's is a milder soap)?   We don't even have shampoo (use baking soda), so really buying these two soaps and the baking soda, vinegar, etc, covers all cleaning needs, including ourselves.

[m8547]

For wood dusting/polishing we use a mix of 3/4 oil (olive, canola, whatever) and 1/4 vinegar in a spray bottle.

You can spray it on your salads too!

FYI, standard* vinegar is 95% water, so if diluted vinegar isn't woking, try it full strength.

*The cheapest store brand is only 4% acetic acid, so it's not actually a better value, and fancy aged balsamic vinegar can be more than 5%. The cheapest store brand bleach is also more diluted than regular bleach, and I haven't seen any fancy aged balsamic bleach, but maybe they sell that in Italy.

If you need to disinfect something (like food prep surfaces after preparing raw meat, or a bathroom if someone in the family is ill), here's a good guide:
http://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/stories/disinfectants-a-guide-to-killing-germs-the-right-way
I keep bleach and a benzalkonium chloride (or equivalent) cleaner on hand for disinfecting. I recently read that bacteria might be able to develop resistance to bzk type disinfectants, so when I run out I'll reconsider buying more.

I would suggest getting a lock for the cleaning supply cabinet since it would be hard to eliminate anything dangerous and still have effective cleaning/disinfecting.

[Emilyngh]

You can spray it on your salads too!

Ah-ha-ha-ha!   I oil wash my face with olive oil and use baking soda to wash my hair with a vinegar rinse too and DH always teases when I tell him I'm off to take a shower to make him a salad while I'm in there.

As far as disinfecting, soap and hot water wash away all germs very well, so really, there shouldn't be a need for bleach or similar.

[Canadian Nicole]

I use vinegar for the toilet bowl and usually just baking soda and hot water for the rest of the bathroom.   I'll often wash the kitchen floor with just hot water and I dust with a dry cloth.   Sometimes I use dish soap and water for things.   I've never understood the need for most cleaning products, and since I am chemically sensitive most of them do me more harm than good.

[Druid]

I use vinegar when I can. I do have some cleaning supplies from years back, but I eventually want to get to a point where I use just vinegar and the occasional simple green.

[bonjourliz]

We have two spray bottles  - one with a vinegar mix and one with a castille soap mix.  Between them, they cover most of our cleaning needs.

[NewbieFrugalUK]

I've just thrown a small bottle of white vinegar (cost all of 39p) into the kettle to delimescale it and it works like magic. (Got to be done - hard water area plus clear glass kettle!) Clearly vinegar is the way to go.

[4alpacas]

I also love vinegar and baking soda for cleaning.  I differ from the majority of people on this thread because I also use bleach to clean my toilet. 

[Lizzy B.]

Ive used an olive oil vinegar mix for furniture polish, but wasn't particularly pleased. The wood looked good but was still a tad oily after cleaning. I felt like it actually got dusty faster too. (perhaps because the dust stuck to the oil?) I was also worried about the oil going rancid and smelling. Any advice? 

The obvious answer is to just dust and not "polish" the wood at all, but it's kinda dry where we live and I'm afraid the wood will dry out. I want to take care of our stuff, particularly since we inherited much of it from grandparents.

[Hannah]

Commenting to follow:

My two cents- for kitchen (except after raw meat) I use vinegar to clean up messes, and I use the baking powder paste followed by an olive oil scrub followed by vinegar on my cabinets.

I've tried polishing silverware using lemon juice, that was a fail.

For bathroom I've used standard chemicals, but I am interested in learning about how to remove soap scum in the tub without such harsh chemicals.

Any tips for lyme scale (spelling error?)

[Fonzico]

I too use a vinegar solution for the majority of my cleaning (kitchen/bathroom surfaces) and find it more than sufficient. However, I DO add about a dozen drops of Tea Tree Oil (anti-bacterial) and about 6 drops of bergamot oil (Anti-septic and smells lovely).

The oils are a little pricey (~$20 for the bergamot, and $9 for tea tree, although I always get 3 for $18 at the Body Shop, because I use it for so much stuff - bug bites, cat scratches, pimples etc.) but a little bottle will last a long time - I think I've got third of my bergamot bottle left, and I bought it like 2 years ago. And I go through about a normal sized spray bottle every month or so.

This works just fine on soap scum (with a stiff bristled cleaning brush thingy.)

Anything it's not strong enough for, baking soda paste will usually clear up.

[4alpacas]

Ive used an olive oil vinegar mix for furniture polish, but wasn't particularly pleased. The wood looked good but was still a tad oily after cleaning. I felt like it actually got dusty faster too. (perhaps because the dust stuck to the oil?) I was also worried about the oil going rancid and smelling. Any advice? 

The obvious answer is to just dust and not "polish" the wood at all, but it's kinda dry where we live and I'm afraid the wood will dry out. I want to take care of our stuff, particularly since we inherited much of it from grandparents.

I don't know about the dust sticking to the olive oil.  I use mineral oil (bought a few years ago at IKEA) to treat any wood that I worry will dry out.  I buff it in with a microfiber cloth.  I haven't noticed any dust issues.  I also dust using one of those oddly shaped, washable duster that we received as a gift. 

I'm a fan of the Clean My Space Blog.  She has a post about wood cleaning http://cleanmyspace.com/wood-furniture-cleaning-secrets/ 

[Lizzy B.]

I don't know about the dust sticking to the olive oil.  I use mineral oil (bought a few years ago at IKEA) to treat any wood that I worry will dry out.  I buff it in with a microfiber cloth.  I haven't noticed any dust issues.  I also dust using one of those oddly shaped, washable duster that we received as a gift. 

I'm a fan of the Clean My Space Blog.  She has a post about wood cleaning http://cleanmyspace.com/wood-furniture-cleaning-secrets/ 

Thanks for the info and link. It seems like the answer to the oily buildup is to just not do it as frequently. I'm always up for bring lazy!

[4alpacas]

I don't know about the dust sticking to the olive oil.  I use mineral oil (bought a few years ago at IKEA) to treat any wood that I worry will dry out.  I buff it in with a microfiber cloth.  I haven't noticed any dust issues.  I also dust using one of those oddly shaped, washable duster that we received as a gift. 

I'm a fan of the Clean My Space Blog.  She has a post about wood cleaning http://cleanmyspace.com/wood-furniture-cleaning-secrets/ 

Thanks for the info and link. It seems like the answer to the oily buildup is to just not do it as frequently. I'm always up for bring lazy!

Laziness is my secret to saving money ;)

[justajane]

I tried to put essential oils in a spray bottle with diluted vinegar and it clogged the bottle. Any suggestions from people?

[4alpacas]

I tried to put essential oils in a spray bottle with diluted vinegar and it clogged the bottle. Any suggestions from people?

1. How much essential oil?  Did the amount of oil clog the spray bottle?
2. What type of spray bottle?  I reuse old cleaning product bottles, and I've never had an issue

[justajane]

I tried to put essential oils in a spray bottle with diluted vinegar and it clogged the bottle. Any suggestions from people?

1. How much essential oil?  Did the amount of oil clog the spray bottle?
2. What type of spray bottle?  I reuse old cleaning product bottles, and I've never had an issue

1. About 10 drops for the whole bottle.
2. I used some empty spray bottles I bought from Walgreens - you know the ones that you always see on a professional cleaning cart in an office?

I'm guessing it clogged in the spray part. Since then I have one sprayer with just diluted vinegar and another with a very small amount of Mr. Clean in water. It's amazing how little actual cleaner you need and conversely how much residue probably resides on peoples' counter tops because they use cleaners that aren't diluted enough. I know a professional cleaning lady, and she said that usually she has to spend a fair amount of time with a new client getting all the residue off of surfaces.

If you use olive oil on your wood, you have to be sure to wipe off as much as you can. Otherwise the dust will stick to it. 

[freeazabird]

I'm all about diy cleaners. They work better and save you a lot of money. I use 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of vinegar and water with essential oil added for smell ( I hate the smell of vinegar). I use this for everything except marble countertops and toilet. For those items I mix 1/4 cup grated kirks Castillo bar mixed with boiling water in spray bottle. The best organic laundry recipe is here, it's safe for washing baby items but string enough for adult stuff http://bmorebungalow.blogspot.com/2014/02/diy-how-to-make-quick-homemade-laundry.htm

[Primm]

I've been thinking about doing this for a while, I think I might change over as I run out of cleaning products. I dust with a microfibre cloth that's been dampened already, using vinegar and baking soda is only a small step after that, isn't it?

[justajane]

Has anybody tried to clean with just steam? I've thought about buying a hand held steam cleaner to eliminate products altogether, but I haven't pulled the trigger, mainly because of the cost of the device.

[AllChoptUp]

Has anybody tried to clean with just steam? I've thought about buying a hand held steam cleaner to eliminate products altogether, but I haven't pulled the trigger, mainly because of the cost of the device.

We use a steamer to clean our tile floors.  First vacuum then steam.  Mix a little vinegar plus a few drops of dawn and lemon essential oil with water in the "solution" container to help out cleaning and add a nice scent.  Works very well.  The steamer was about $80 on amazon.

[Emilyngh]

Has anybody tried to clean with just steam? I've thought about buying a hand held steam cleaner to eliminate products altogether, but I haven't pulled the trigger, mainly because of the cost of the device.

Yes.   It is excellent for a deep cleaner and in little cracks (eg doing all the little cracks and crevices a couple of times a year in kitchens and bathrooms, you'd be amazed how much gunk can be steamed away).   Also, a large steam cleaner works very well on tile floors.   However, IME, it's not something that's the best for just whipping out for little spills and quick wipes (which is how I prefer to do most of cleaning).   It must be filled with water, plugged in, left to heat up, and the little ones run out of water a little quickly (at least what we used).   So, if you like to clean in more like hour chunks and get things super-duper clean, a steamer may work well.   If you prefer to wipe up here and there, it's not the best, IME.

[Eric]

2. What type of spray bottle?  I reuse old cleaning product bottles, and I've never had an issue

We currently have our vinegar/water solution in an old Febreeze spray bottle.  I personally think it's hilarious.

[meadow lark]

My spray bottles clog too, but it is because we have super hard water, and the calcium in the water clogs everything.  I never dilute my vinegar, because of this.  I like the laundry recipe!  I may try that if we move to a different area.

Move your cleaning supplies, whatever they are, and lock them up away from your little one.  Use the more dangerous stuff up fast.  You'll be amazed how much you can clean with dish soap and water.

[deborah]

Has anybody tried to clean with just steam? I've thought about buying a hand held steam cleaner to eliminate products altogether, but I haven't pulled the trigger, mainly because of the cost of the device.

It works. My neighbour told me one day that she was changing to "just steam" because she had tried out her friend's steam cleaner, and it cleaned things she thought were clean. And it's easy.