Well, Spring has sprung in most parts of the Country so the Ecohousewives are in Spring cleaning mode! We thought we would be nice and share some of our tried and tested eco-friendly cleaner recipes. We’ve been able to rid our homes of the chemical and petroleum-based ingredients found in most household cleaners by using some very common household ingredients.
Here is a list of ingredients and what their role is in our recipes:
1. Baking Soda: cuts grease, deodorizes, lifts dirt and whitens
2. Borax: Disinfects, fights mould and mildew,whitens
3. Essential Oils (e.g. lemon, lime, grapefruit, tea tree, lemongrass, lavender and eucalyptus): antibacterial, anti-fungal and/or cuts grease:
4. Lemon juice: Disinfects, whitens
5. Liquid Castille soap: Cuts grease, lifts dirt
6. Salt: fights mould and mildew
7. Olive Oil: lifts dirt
8. White vinegar: cuts grease, deodorizes, disinfects
9. Washing Soda: cuts grease, softens water, whitens
NOTE: Borax and Washing Soda are less toxic than commercial products, but are not harmless, so should be used with caution and only for heavy duty jobs.
We will try to hit everyone area in the house, but a lot of our cleaning is done with a simple all-purpose cleaner!
Kitchen
All Purpose Spray (use on tubs,tiles, counters, microwave, floors etc)
Andrea’s Recipe
1 gallon hot water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup liquid castille soap
1 Tbsp borax
10 drops essential oil (optional)
Aubrey’s Recipe
1 part vinegar
2 parts warm water
A small squirt of eco-friendly dish soap
5-6 drops tea tree oil (could use lemon instead, but she likes tea tree).
Mix well in spray bottle. Mixture needs a light shake before each use. I have tried using Castile soap instead of dish soap, but it reacts to the vinegar and gets clumpy and oily.
Nicole’s Recipe
2 cups warm water (I use filtered water that I boil)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp liquid castille soap (dr bronner’s is what I use)
15-20 drops essential oils as preferred (She uses lemon for it’s disinfectant properties
Dish Soap
Liquid castille soap, and a vinegar rinse to sanitize.
Cutting Boards/Butcher Block
1 part vinegar
1 part water
Dishwasher Soap
1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup white vinegar
Add dry ingredients to soap dispenser and vinegar to rinse dispenser
OR an Eco-friendly product such as Bio-Vert
Stainless Steel Cleaner
Andrea’s recipe
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp white vinegar
Drip olive oil onto rag. Rub surface to get rid of smudges. Drip white vinegar on the other side of rag. Wipe and let dry.
Nicole’s Recipe
1 part water
1 part vinegar
Ceramic Stovetop Cleaner
Wipe first with a General-Purpose Cleaner to remove loose dust and food particles. Sprinkle with baking soda. Mist with warm water. Let sit, then scrub in circular motions with a damp (use HOT water) dish cloth. If any burnt residue remains, scrape carefully with straight razor blade, then repeat cleaning.
Garburator
Sprinkle with baking soda, allow to sit and then pour some vinegar down there, let it sit longer then add boiling water to finish. Finally sprinkle some essential oils down there.
Bathroom
All-purpose Scour (for tile, grout, tubs, sinks etc)
1 2/3 cups baking soda
1/2 cup liquid castille soap
1/2 cup water 2 Tbsp white vinegar
Toilet Scrub
Andrea’s Recipe
1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup white vinegar
(sprinkle dry ingredients onto surface, scrub, and chase with vinegar)
Aubrey’s Recipe
Sprinkle baking soda, pour in 1/4 cup vinegar. Let sit 10 minutes, scrub .
Glass and Mirror Cleaner
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
*Before switching to this cleaner, I had to clean up the waxy residue traditional brands leave behind with a 5% rubbing alcohol-to water-solution.
Dusting
The three of us use microfibre cloths or the Norwex dusting mitt
OR
1 Tbp Apple Cider vinegar
2 cups water
1 dust rag
Jetted Tub
2 cups of white distilled vinegar
1 cup of salt
Fill tub with warm water about an inch about your highest jet. Add vinegar and salt to the warm water and run the jets for about 15 minutes. Drain the tub, then rinse the surface and jets. Wipe dry with a clean, microfiber cloth
Liquid Laundry Soap (use 1/2 cup per load)
7L hot water
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castille soap
1/3 cup coarse salt
or an eco-friendly brand such as Eco Max orange laundry detergent or Eos
Carpets and Upholstery
Deodorize using baking soda mixed with a little essential oil. Sprinkle it over the carpet, let it sit for at least half an hour then vacuum up.
Floors
Use a one part vinegar, one part water solution (with essential oils is desired). If extremely dirty use water with some dissolved baking soda first. Once a month wash with a hydrogen peroxide and water mixture.
Well that about covers it. Happy Spring Cleaning everyone! Oh, and if you have a favourite eco-friendly recipe, we would love it if you shared it with us!
– Collaborative post, written by Andrea
The Eco Housewives 