To wrap up this week of homemade cleaners week, I will be concluding with several homemade cleaners you can use around the house. Each ingredient serves a different purpose and basted on cost and the type of clean you want you can choose to add each ingredients. I am going to start off with a homemade cleaner that is a great multi-purpose cleaner for bathrooms, appliances and other small messes around the house.
Homemade Cleaners
Vinegar is the best to use for homemade multi-purpose cleaners. It is acidic enough to be a sanitizer, stain remover and safe for most surfaces.
Water is just to dilute the mixture a bit
Lemon Juice add a great scent and is an additional acid to help sanitize surfaces.
Orange Oil – Great for its fragrance as well as a natural cleaner.
Tea Tree Oil is the best thing to have around the house. It for its antiseptic qualities for cleaning surfaces. This is great to use for minor cuts and things around the home. If you don’t have some, get some!
Ingredients for Homemade Cleaners:
1 cup Vinegar (goes on sale around Easter) STOCK UP
1 Cup Warm Water
3 Tablespoons Lemon juice
10 Orange Oil
20-30 drops Tea Tree Oil
1. Measure one Cup Vinegar and pour into spray bottle.
2. Measure and pour 1 cup of warm water into the bottle. You could stop here and you have homemade cleaner as a great multi-surface cleaner for your home. But then we have the whole smelling like salad issue again. I know I want something that smells a little better than vinegar.
3. Add three tablespoons of Lemon Juice to the container to help freshen up the scent.
4. Add around 10 drops of Orange Oil. Up to this point it is safe to use on counter tops and food preparation areas.
4. Add around 20 to 30 drops of Tea Tree Oil to the mixture. Then shake the container to mix up all the ingredients. It is a good idea to shake before each use to make sure everything is well mixed. Tea tree oil is not meant for consumption. I would use caution if using on counter tops.
These homemade cleaners are not recommended for granite countertops. Depending on which salad dressings homemade cleaners your choose to make for cleaning around your house, you have several options to choose from. Don’t really eat it, Tea Tree Oil is not to be eaten and is considered toxic if ingested. But this homemade cleaner (s) are great for cleaning most of the surfaces in your home.
Since I have been making everything homemade, it seems like my kitchen gets used the most. I need a good cleaner to disinfect and clean well. We have granite counter tops, so a vinegar or acid solution is not good for a granite surface. A non acidic solution is needed to prevent the white build up, but it still needs a disinfectant to get rid of bacteria and other nasty stuff lurking in the kitchen.
Homemade Granite Cleaner:
1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol
4 drops of Dawn or other dish soap (or soap)
Water
5-10 drops essential oil (optional for a lovely fragrance. I use orange oil)
1. Pour the rubbing alcohol or vodka into a spray bottle.
2. Add the dish soap, essential oil to the alcohol. I like Orange Oil
3. Fill up the rest of the bottle with water and shake to mix ingredients well.
This is perfect for granite counter tops, since it disinfects with the alcohol. The Dawn acts as the perfect degreaser and tough spots. I know I have been looking for a great granite cleaner and this seems to be the ticket to leave a streak free shine to the top of the counters. This is safe and I don’t have to worry about loosing the shine off my counters with this homemade granite cleaner.
I hope you try these homemade cleaners out in your home. Let me know how these homemade cleaners work for you. Here is a free printable with 7 homemade green cleaning products for you to print and keep on hand. Check out these other Homemade cleaning products to make yourself:
Homemade Crystal Fabric Softener
Find out more information about using Essential oils in my starter guide to find out how you can start using essential oils everyday.
I am also doing a homemade cleaners series at my site. I am loving learning about it and how to make them as I am going along. I will never go back to store bought again! I like your how to up there I will try yours out as well!
Thanks so much Susie! I have been looking for a good granite counter cleaner, since I heard vinegar was not a good option. I will check yours out too!
i recently bought Heinz Cleaning Vinegar to use instead of regular vinegar. it’s a great buy considering all the stuff you can clean with it.
I will have to look for that. I wonder if there is anything different about it or it is just the same stuff in a different bottle. LOL
Oh, I like the extra oils in there! I just use vinegar and water, but yours must smell so much better 🙂 Thanks for the tips!
You are welcome. I hope you try this soon.
Do you know if this is also not good for quartz countertops?
I think this is safe for all rock and porous materials.
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Loving the looks of your first recipe. The multi-surface cleaner with orange and tea tree oils is right up my alley. I’m gonna make it up and use it in on surfaces in my kitchen and bathroom. I already use a homemade degreaser with orange oil for my countertops, so I’ll be using your cleaner on the stove, fridge, and tub. Thanx for the recipe(s).
Can fragrance oi(oil for oil warmers)l be used instead of essance oils?
I say no. These oils are used for their cleaning properties, not just fragrance. I am not sure what other chemicals may be in a fragrance oil.