On a daily basis I use natural cleaners and disinfectants. These are my recipes for natural cleaners and disinfectants:
Favorite Disinfectant Cleaner Spray
12 oz water
20 drops lavender essential oil
20 drops Tea Tree oil
20 drops Rosemary or Thyme essential oil
Shake and pour into a spray bottle.
Antiseptic Spray
A handful each of dried lavender, rosemary, sage, rue and mint
A large glass jar
1/2 gallon organic cider vinegar
Place the herbs in the jar, cover with the vinegar. Cover tightly and let sit for about 6 weeks. Strain into a spray bottle. Be sure to label the bottle. It will store indefinitely. Use this spray to disinfect clean surfaces.
Lavender Antibacterial Spray
1 cup warm water
1 tsp pure lavender essential oil
pour water into a spray bottle, add essential oil. Shake gently to mix. Spray surfaces and allow to sit for 15 minutes before wiping or rinsing.
All Purpose Cleaner and Disinfectant
- 1 teaspoon borax
- 1/2 teaspoon washing soda
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice 1) In a spray bottle that will hold at least a pint, combine the ingredients. Add 1 cup very hot water and shake well, mixing and dissolving the dry ingredients.2) To use, simply spray and wipe. This can be stored indefinitely.
Homemade Soft Scrub
1/2 cup baking soda
Liquid soap
5-10 drops pure antiseptic essential oil such as lavender, tea tree oil or rosemaryPlace the baking soda in a bowl. Slowly pour in liquid soap, stirring constantly, until the mixture resembles frosting. Add the essential oil.
If you have hard water, use a liquid detergent instead of a soap. I use a ‘green’ product because it has no synthetic dyes or perfumes. If you have soft water, you can use castile soap.Store this mixture in a jar. Scoop out some on a cloth and scrub surfaces, then rinse.
Heavier Duty Soft Scrub
Straight washing soda mixed with a little liquid soap is a good heavier duty scrub.
You will need to use gloves with this because it is quite alkaline
Mirror and Window Cleaner
Use a pure cotton cloth so that you won’t get lint on mirrors and windows when cleaning them.1/4 tsp all purpose liquid detergent ( a pure, non-synthetic soap is best)
1 cup waterJust combine the water and soap in a spray bottle. Spray on the surface and wipe clean with a cotton cloth.
Be sure to label the bottle. It keeps indefinitely.Tile and Glass Cleaner
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp mild liquid detergent
2 cups very hot tap waterCombine all ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray onto tiles and glass surfaces, rinse with a sponge. Label the bottle. Keeps indefinitely.
Another Glass and Mirror Cleaner
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 cups warm waterPut all ingredients in a large spray bottle. Shake well to dissolve the cornstarch. To use, spray liberally on the glass, wipe with a clean cloth. Buff to a streak free shine with a wadded up piece of newspaper.
Mildew Cleaner
1 tsp tea tree oil
2 cups waterCombine in a spray bottle. Spray onto the mildew, don’t rinse. Label and store indefinitely.
Clean The Toilet
Pour about 1 cup borax into the toilet and let it sit for a few hours.
Scrub the inside of the bowl using a toilet brush.
Spray straight 5% vinegar onto the toilet rim, seat and top. Scrub the rim. Wipe the seat and top.
Periodically, spray the toilet rim with your antibacterial spray and let it dry naturally.
Another Toilet Bowl Cleaner
1 cup borax
1/2 cup white vinegar1) Flush the toilet to wet the sides. Sprinkle the borax all along the sides of the inside of the bowl.
2) Drizzle the vinegar over the borax and leave over night.
3) Next day, scrub with a toilet brush and flush.Hard Water Stains and Scale Cleaner
Use an acid like vinegar or lemon juice. Just spray on, let sit for 10-15 minutes, then wipe off. For large areas, soak a wash cloth in vinegar and then lay it on the stained area overnight. Next morning, the scale should be easy to scrub off.
Soak shower heads in vinegar to remove hard water buildup. Use an old toothbrush to scrub it away.
Damp/Dust Mop
One part vegetable glycerin
One part vinegar
One old, clean, dust free clothMix the first two ingredients. Soak the cloth in the mixture until it has absorbed all it will absorb.
Take the cloth out of the liquid, and gently squeeze an excess liquid from the cloth. Cover a mop with the cloth and use all over your hard floors, ceilings, walls and woodwork to pick up dust, dist mites and to repel mites, neutralize allergens.
Natural Cleaners and What I use Them For3 percent hydrogen peroxide
good for lightening stains and as an antibacterial agent on clothing.
Baking soda
Good for gentle abrasive cleaning. Can also be used as a mild bleach and can neutralize acid based stains.
Citrus solvents
All purpose stain removal. Don’t use if you have cats.Cornmeal
Good for absorbing oily, messy stains.Enzymes
I use digestive enzymes like pepsin or papain. They are good for getting out milk and formula stains. Really any kind of carbohydrate stain.The Freezer!
Freeze gum and candle wax before attempting to remove it, works better.Glycerin
softens old stainsLaundry Detergents
There are some stains that I just can’t get out with natural stuff, like lipstick and makeup or other oily stains. Sometimes nothing works on ring around the collar except detergent.Salt
salt kills some bacteria and is good to add to your cleaners to make a mild abrasive.Soap
All around good cleaner but don’t use it on fruit stains of any kind, it can set them! (wine, jam, juice….)Washing soda
I love this stuff. Its one of the heavy duty natural cleaners.White vinegar – 5%
Good way to remove stains, deodorizes.
I use most of these cleaners on a weekly basis, but with a house full of children and a few pets, I find that every now and then I need to pull out chemical cleaners for a major cleaning. Be sure to check labels on commercial cleaners and do your research to see if they are acceptable for your home. I like the new Clorox Green cleaners, but when I look at the label….. I realize that its just about exactly what I’ve been making here at home!
Hello and welcome! I'm Sylvia Britton, and I've been online since 1996 offering encouragement and help in the spirit of Titus 2 and Proverbs 31 at Christian Homekeeper. CHK is the original Homekeeping site on the internet
Thank you for sharing this, I hope on weekends I can make this homemade dissinfects , it was good that all ingredients ha no harmful chemicals.
With natural based solution use for home remedies then I think you can never be wrong on it. If you are more particular with your family’s welfare then I strongly suggest that you may also have the same thing as my mother had started having it on our home. She even says that she enjoyed it a lot and furthermore let her save the budget.
Akhira recently posted..tea tree oil acne treatment
Could someone tell me when you would use her disinfectant cleaner spray vs. the all purpose cleaner and disinfectant?
Its the essential oils that provide the disinfectant action. If you use the disinfectant cleaner, which also has soap in it, you get some disinfectant qualities. But, if you use the disinfectant sprays like the mildew cleaner or the Antibacterial spray, and leave it on to air dry, you get the most disinfectant action.
Thanks. Could you tell me what would you recommend for mopping a kitchen floor?
I use the All Purpose Cleaner, above. Every now and then though I use a solvent cleaner like 409 or Spic and Span for greasy floors because I have teens who use the kitchen 🙂
I cannot seem to find the vinegar article. Is there a new address?
Angie, I think I left that article at the old blog. I will go look for it this week and try to repost it. Thanks for the heads up!
Its no longer on the site, Angie.
Thanks Sylvia for the useful tips!
A quick comment about lime scale: this is a great treatment for the symptoms of lime scale, but if you have serious lime scale problems (buildup on sinks & appliances, itchy skin, etc), it’s good to treat them at the source – the water coming into your house. This eliminates all your hard water problems at once. I found a great product for only $199 at http://www.smallwonder.info. You just wrap a simple electrical coil around the incoming water pipe, and it sends a current that prevents minerals from building up inside your pipes and water heater.
Thank you Stephanie for that interesting information!
Thanks for the great recipes! Where is the best place you know of to get essential oils inexpensively?
I think the best place to look is in your city or town. Try checking the phone book first for shops that may carry essential oils. Herbal medicine shops, nutrition stores, ayurvedic stores and craft stores are all good places to start looking.
I have never purchased essential oils online, but I have a few friends who think this is a good place to buy them online:
http://www.brambleberry.com
One of the best online sources is brambleberry.com