If you want to save money and live a greener lifestyle, you’ll want to consider making your own products, products that you can’t go without, like cleaning products. Before you go out to the market, stop and think, what if you can make them at home? Here are 10 ways you can make eco-friendly cleaning products at home.
1. All-Purpose Cleaner
Ingredients required:
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 cup water
- A few drops of essential oil of your choice
How to make it?
In a clean spray bottle, add vinegar and baking soda. A glass bottle is the most eco-friendly option here. Gently mix water and essential oil into the mixture. To achieve your desired scent, add essential oil. Spray the surface and use a cloth to wipe it dry.
A great cleaner for all kinds of hard surfaces. Got a stubborn spot on your kitchen counter? Don’t worry. This DIY cleaning solution will get that off for you.
2. Reusable Disinfectant Wipes
Ingredients required:
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 1 tsp liquid dish soap
- 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
- 10 drops of essential oil
- Pieces of cloth (old dishtowels or unused clothes)
- Empty wipe container or an old coffee canister
How to make it?
In a small bowl, mix the vinegar and water. Add a few drops of essential oil, and stir it well. Fold square cloths into squares and place them in another container. Pour the mixture into the container and over the clothes, let them soak overnight, and then they are ready to use. Wash them and reuse them.
Reusable disinfectant wipes can be both your money and time saver. And, also less garbage.
3. Glass Cleaner
Ingredients required:
- 1 cup vinegar
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- Essential oil (optional)
How to make it?
Mix the above ingredients and then pour the mixture into a spray bottle. Add essential oil or lemon juice according to your preference. And then use it to clean and make the stained glass sparkly again.
4. Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Ingredients required:
- ½ cup baking soda
- ¼ cup castile soap
- ¼ cup hydrogen peroxide
- 1 cup hot water
- ¼ cup vinegar
- Essential oil (optional)
How to make it?
Take a bowl and mix the baking soda and castile soap in it. Next, add essential oil, and then slowly mix hydrogen peroxide and hot water. Now, stir the mixture. Then, add the vinegar and keep stirring until the foaming stops. And there you go, your toilet bowl cleaner is ready to use.
5. Hard Water Stain Remover Scrub
Ingredients required:
- 1 cup Epson salt
- ½ cup baking soda
- ¼ cup dish soap
How to make it?
Mix all the ingredients and then gently scrub the mixture in a circular motion on the stain. Let it for a couple of minutes, and then clean it with warm water. Voila, the stain is gone now.
We know the struggle of removing those hard water stains. But this DIY scrub can ease that struggle.
6. Clothing Stain Remover
Ingredients required:
- Vinegar
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Water
How to make it?
Vinegar can be used to clean most stains, including sweat and food. Spray vinegar over the stain thoroughly before putting your clothes in the laundry. You can also use hydrogen peroxide and water in a ratio of 1:1 to clean off the stain.
7. Laundry Detergent
Ingredients required:
- ¼ cup borax or (grated) Fels-Naptha
- 4 cups hot water
- Essential oil (optional)
- ¼ cup washing soda
- ¼ cup castile soap
How to make it?
Take a saucepan, add all the above ingredients, heat them until the borax or Fels-Naptha dissolves, and add essential oils (according to your liking). Let the detergent cool for a bit, transfer it into a container, and let it sit overnight.
8. Oven Cleaner
Ingredients required:
- 1/3 cup salt
- 1/3 cup water
- 3/4 cup baking soda
How to make it?
Add the above ingredients to a bowl and mix them into a thick paste. Spread the paste throughout the oven interior, excluding any opening or bare metal. Let it sit overnight. Then spray vinegar on it until baking soda foams and then wipe it off with a cloth.
9. DIY Liquid Dish Soap
Ingredients required:
- 2-½ cups boiling water
- 1 tablespoon borax
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 tablespoon washing soda
- ½ castile soap
- Essential oil (optional)
How to make it?
In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except the water. Then slowly add the boiling water until all the ingredients are combined. Let the mixture cool and thicken, then pour it into a pump bottle.
10. Air Freshener
Ingredients required:
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- Essential oil (optional)
How to make it?
In a spray bottle, mix all the above ingredients, and add essential oils according to your preference. There you go! Your air freshener is ready.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of pollution in the world. There are so many things we can do to help the environment and reduce our carbon footprint on the earth. But sometimes it can feel as though we are just one person, and what can we do to make a change? We can all do our part by making small changes in our daily lives that will add up to big differences in the end. We hope that this article helped you find some new eco-friendly cleaning products to try around your house and make that change.
