Best DIY Items For Cleaning
It’s 2022, and we are all trying to make a difference in this world, but when it comes to sustainability, it can become a little confusing. We’re rarely told how to recycle, what products to use or not to use, or even what we’re supposed to do with our carbon footprint. In this article, we will go through the best recipes for cleaning your home with safe and nontoxic chemicals – which in the end, are good for you and our planet. After all, who doesn’t love a good DIY cleaning project?
Before we jump in, let’s answer the big question: Why would I care about nontoxic cleaning products? The normal ones get the job done, smell good, and are less work. Well, there are quite a few reasons to think about.
Your family’s health: There are so many risks when cleaning with chemicals that no one goes over with us. By mixing two simple products (bleach and ammonia, which can be found in cleaners), there is a chance you could make chlorine gas right there in your kitchen sink – which has happened a few times with TikTok cleaners.
Saving Money: Who doesn’t love to save a few bucks? This can be especially true with the rising prices of everything around us, from our cleaning products to our food. Buying store-bought cleaning products can cost more money than buying nontoxic ingredients yourself. Instead of going out and rebuying your all-purpose cleaner, you will have the ingredients at home in your kitchen! You just refill your spray bottle and get to cleaning.
Helping The Earth: By swapping to nontoxic cleaners, you protect our planet and home. So many dangerous chemicals could get into the water and affect aquatic life or be dumped outside, harming the wildlife in our backyards. And creating your own products can help you steer clear of items that aren’t cruelty-free.
Here are a few simple recipes below:
1. Club Soda Window Cleaner
It really can’t get any easier than this: there’s only one ingredient. And, you guessed it, it’s Club Soda. Just pour your club soda into your choice of spray bottle, and you have a one-ingredient glass cleaner. Not only can it clean your glass surfaces, but it can be used for all kinds of cleaning tasks. For example, it can be used to clean wine stains, pet accidents, or even loosen up rusty screws.
2. Air Freshener For Your Garbage
Here’s another simple recipe: baking soda and essential oils. That’s it! You will take that box of baking soda and add about 40-50 drops of your chosen essential oil. You can go for whatever scent you’d like, whether that scent is lemon or lavender. It’s entirely up to you.
Once you’ve created this mix, sprinkle it in the bottom of your trashcan and let it sit. Baking soda is an excellent deodorizer. You can sprinkle plain baking soda in your cat litter or let it sit in your fridge.
3. Cleaner for Tubs and Tiles
You need four ingredients for this recipe. This is a replacement for your tub and tile cleaner. The recommended way of storing this product is with a glass or plastic jar so that it can seal it tightly, resulting in a longer-lasting product. In addition, you’ll need liquid soap, baking soda, white distilled vinegar, and water. This is a longer recipe than the others, but it’s some easily attainable ingredients.
Here’s how to mix them: 1 2/3 cups of baking soda and 1/2 cup of liquid soap will go in a bowl together to be mixed up, and then you’ll add two tablespoons of water. Lastly, add your vinegar to the product and mix it up again. Now, you can scoop your product into your choice of storage, and you’re ready to clean those tiles!
4. Floor Cleaner Replacement
Here is another recipe with that white distilled vinegar and your essential oils. You’ll need another container to put it in; a squirt or spray bottle will work fine. Add equal parts vinegar and water in your container, with about 10-20 drops of essential oils (or more if you want a stronger scent). Once you’ve made it, give it a little shake, and it’s good to go! Just pour it on your floors and get to cleaning.
5. All-Purpose Cleaners
Here’s one last recipe to replace those toxic all-purpose cleaners. You will need liquid soap, white distilled vinegar, borax, and purified water for your ingredients. Then, just reuse those essential oils from the other recipes to add a pleasant little scent. As you may have noticed, these ingredients have been mentioned a few times, so you can keep using that vinegar and scents. Being able to reuse these ingredients helps when it comes to saving a little money. Lastly, you’ll need another spray bottle, like your glass cleaner.
To start making this recipe, mix two tablespoons of vinegar, and one teaspoon of borax, and fill the bottle with hot water. With these three ingredients together, you just want to shake that bottle until that borax has dissolved to avoid clumping. Once shaken, mix 1/4 cup of liquid soap at the end. And, of course, add about 10-20 drops of your chosen essential oil. That’s that! Now you have your very own all-purpose cleaner.
The great thing about these homemade recipes for cleaning products is that you can reuse so many of your ingredients, especially that baking soda, liquid soap, vinegar, and essential oils. You have a lot of creative freedom when deciding how to store your products. You can pick any kind of spray bottle, whether it’s a statement color or you can pick classic glass bottle. Whatever aesthetic you are reaching for in your home, you can choose that!
Want more recipes to try out? This article references recipes in the book “Clean House, Clean Planet.” YOu can find this book on Amazon or by looking it up on thrift book websites. The author, Karen Logan, has countless recipes all about replacing your toxic household cleaners, pesticides, and scents to create a healthier environment inside your home.
What recipe are you going to try first? Let us know which one you try in the comments!
