Cleaning Products: DIY

Before running to the store to buy the latest and greatest in green home cleaning products, consider that the greenest, safest cleaning products can be made by you. With simple everyday items and some reclaimed spray bottles, you can make your house squeaky clean without spending a lot of money.

We recommend mixing your cleaners in reclaimed and cleaned Windex bottles, but if you don’t have any, you can find plastic spray bottles at your local Dollar Tree for, you guessed it, $1. Also, save yourself some money and visit your local dollar store for all of your cleaning supplies, from dusters, buckets, and sponges, they will have everything you need for a $1. You can’t beat that.

Floors

Mix one cup of white vinegar to one gallon of hot water and scrub.

Mix one cup of borax in one gallon of hot water. This also makes a great all-purpose kitchen cleaner. Simply fill a cleaned and reclaimed Windex bottle with the mixture and spray away.

Bathrooms

Clean out and old Windex bottle and fill it with half a cup of Dawn and then pour in white vinegar until the bottle is full. Mix well and use as an all-purpose tile and tub cleaner.

In a reclaimed Windex spray bottle, mix one cup of water with 1/3 cup of rubbing alcohol. Use this as a daily shower spray and don’t worry about harsh chemicals.

Toilet cleaner

Carpets

For stinky carpets, sprinkle some baking soda on the rug, let it sit for 15-20 minutes and then vacuum. Great for getting rid of pet odors.

Furniture

Mix one cup of vegetable oil with ½ cup of lemon juice. Rub lightly on furniture with a rag, and wipe off.

Kitchen

Oven cleaner

To shine up your stainless steel appliances just clean them with soap and water and then rub them with vegetable oil. Put a little bit of vegetable oil on a clean dry cloth and rub your stainless steel appliances until they shine.

What’s your favorite DIY cleaning tip? Have you tried any of the ideas above? Let us know how it went.