Natural Homemade Cleaning Products!

In the past year or so I have noticed some allergies that I have developed in my old age. It started with candles several years ago, and then just a year ago I started getting headaches from even using my scentcy. (Flame-less candles.) In the past several months it has gotten worse and I have noticed that anything unnatural in the air either gives me a headache, sore throat, or makes my eyes water. (If you ever see me in Walmart and I am crying it's just from their weird cleaners they use.)

Just this past week I was cleaning my bathrooms with the usual...store bought chemical cleaners. I got the worst sore throat! I am pretty careful with chemicals and always try to not use too much, and I try not to breathe them in. Well the burned throat has continued for several days now. I decided I wasn't ever doing that again! It is time to go natural. I don't know what took me so long. That is how it works with me though...I get hint after hint after hint, and then since I'm obviously not getting the hints I get a big punch in the stomach (or wherever.)

So I did some research and found a few recipes that I wanted to try. I thought I would share them and check in later with how I like them. So here you go:

Pretty much all you need to clean ANYTHING is this:
White Vinegar
Baking Soda
Dish Soap (Dawn works best)
Borax
Water
Essential oils (For smell and disinfecting)

In the past I HAVE tried natural cleaners, specifically baking soda and vinegar. I didn't like them because the baking soda left white film everywhere, and the vinegar made my house smell like a giant pickle. However, the essential oils can cover the pickle smell, and there are ways around the white film.

So last night I thought I would try it on my oven. My oven was HIDEOUS! I hated even preheating it because even without food in it, it smelled like I was burning something. So I found a recipe that really did work!! However it didn't clean the glass so I have a separate recipe for that.

Natural Oven Cleaner
1. Sprinkle the entire oven with lots of baking soda.
2. Combine
1 Tbs Borax
1/2 Cup White Vinegar
1 Cup boiling water
Mix well and put in a spray bottle. Spray onto the baking soda. (I ended up taking the nozzle off and dumping it on after awhile. Use the whole thing.)
Leave it on over night. It will dry on the sides, but once you wet it again it isn't a problem. Scrub it out the next morning with hot water and a rag.

It actually worked as you can see in the pictures above. It took some elbow grease on the sides, but where the liquid pooled at the bottom I could just wipe it out with a paper towel!

As I said before the glass window didn't come clean like the rest so I used the following recipe for that.

Oven Door Cleaner
1/4- 1/2 Cup baking soda mixed with enough water to form a paste. Wipe it on and leave it for 20 min. Then scrub. I promise it will come off! I had to use elbow grease but it came off.

Ok, on to household cleaners. I found a few that I wanted to try. So far (after one day) I like them.

All Purpose Cleaner
1/4 Cup White Vinegar
2 Tbs Baking Soda
1/4 Gallon Hot Water
A few drops of essential oil (I used Tea Tree)
Combine and stir. Allow to cool and put in a spray bottle


Glass Cleaner
2 tsp vinegar
1/4 gallon water
a few drops of lemon essential oil
Combine in a spray bottle.

I also did a furniture polish last night with equal parts olive oil and lemon juice (I used concentrate but fresh lemon juice would work too.) Just whisk it together and dip your cloth in and rub! It worked like a charm. The furniture looked great afterwords.

The Verdict (So Far)
I like them! I cleaned both of my upstairs bathrooms with it and guess what...no throat burning!! They both smelled really good...so no pickle smell. The Tea Tree oil smelled nice and clean. The Lemon oil was very faint. I thought the glass cleaner cleaned my mirrors better than the commercial stuff actually!! The all purpose cleaner DID leave little white specks when it dried, but I could only see it on the chrome of the sinks, and a wet cloth with just water took them right off, and then I dried them to make them streak free. So if all I ever have to worry about having streaks is the chrome on the sinks I'm in pretty good shape! Better than getting throat cancer from all of the harsh chemicals! :)

Next I might try toilet bowl cleaner, but I don't mind using the bleach kind in there, because after all it IS a toilet bowl, and it's not a spray so it has never bothered my throat or given my headaches. So we'll see!

HERE is where I got the cleaner labels.