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TUTORIAL: HOMEMADE CLEANING PRODUCTS (WITH FREE LABEL DOWNLOAD!)

homemade cleaning products
Sometime right after Henry was born I came across the book Clean House Clean Planet by Karen Logan and fell in love with making my own cleaning supplies. Not only are these better for the planet and your family, but they are much more cost efficient than buying many of the "green" products on the market. All of the recipes below are from Karen's book (I have adjusted the amounts slightly to fit the container sizes I suggest here).

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Materials:

*One box Borax Laundry Powder
*One large bottle of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap in your choice of scents (or other castile soap).
*One large (or a few small) box of baking soda
*white vinegar
*distilled water
*essential oil (in your choice of scents--I used Tea Tree this time)
*two one-quart Mason (available at the thrift shop if you don't want to buy a whole case)
*two empty 32 oz. spray bottles (either new or one you have washed and are reusing)
*funnel for pouring ingredients into containers

A NOTE ABOUT BORAX:
*Borax is a commonly used household product, but can be extremely harmful to children and pets if ingested, so please use caution to mark all products containing Borax carefully and to store them away from kids and animals. Some people experience skin sensitivity to Borax, as well, so it is best to wear dishwashing gloves when using these cleansers.

*OPTIONAL: Print my little labels on sticker paper (I use this one--it's great!) to put on your containers:
Homemade Cleanser Labels

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Label your containers before you start, and then mix everything up right in its own bottle.


COUNTER SPRAY RECIPE

Ingredients:
A clean 32 ounce trigger spray bottle
2 teaspoon borax
4 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 cup Dr. Bronners soap
Essential oil of lemon, tea tree or lavender
Hot water (enough to fill bottle)

Instructions:
Fill bottle 1/4 full with hot water then add borax. Shake to completely dissolve borax. Next add vinegar, home soap, and 20-25 drops essential oil. Fill the rest of the bottle with hot water. Gently shake mixture. Ready for use.


SOFT SCRUB CLEANSER RECIPE

You can use this cleaner really anywhere in your house. Common places include the tub, bathroom sink or on kitchen counters. It also works well on floors and garbage cans – basically on any surface that becomes greasy or grimy.

Ingredients:
1 clean Mason jar with lid
3 1/3 cups baking soda
1 cup of liquid soap
1 cup water
4 tablespoons vinegar

Instructions:
Mix baking soda and liquid soap in your jar. Dilute with the water and add the vinegar last. Stir until the lumps are gone. If it's too thick, add more water. Keep the lid on the jar because this mixture will dry out. Stir or shake well before using. For future uses, add more water if cleaner seems dry.

GLASS CLEANSER RECIPE

Ingredients:
2 cup white distilled vinegar
2 cup distilled water
6 drops essential oil of your choice

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients together. Pick an oil you'd like, or just skip.

POWDER CLEANSER RECIPE

Use just as you would any other household cleanser.

Ingredients:

1 cup baking soda
2 cups Borax

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To make the "shaker" lid for this, trace a circle slightly larger than the lid of your jar onto a piece of cardstock or cereal box. Use a hole punch to perforate the cardboard circle. Mix together the baking soda and borax in your jar, place the piece of cardstock on top and screw on the lid ring.

Now, enjoy your spring cleaning!

xo

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow this is really neat! Thanks for sharing!! Once I get my own place I'm definitely going to have to try this out! :)

http://velvetbirds.blogspot.com

mrs boo radley said...

Hey, I should have just linked to you when I did my vinegar cleaning solution post a few hours ago. This is fabulous! Do you mind if I link to you?

Jaimie said...

Thanks for this! I hope I remember this the next time I think about buying more Windex.

Lauren @The Little Things We Do.... said...

this is genius! the labels are so pretty that they might actually make me enjoy spring cleaning...at least a little :).

Luloveshandmade said...

Great great great! What a perfect idea and I love the labels you've designed! :)

jo_annie said...

THANKS FOR SHARING THIS!!!! And I love the labels!

Anonymous said...

so neat, thanks for sharing! i'm always looking for natural ways to clean... with baking soda, vinegar, lemon & the like.

i actually just started using apple cider vinegar as conditioner! it's working out great :]

Ruby said...

I feel like I just won something :) Another blogger who is pretty famous recently posted about homemade cleansers, but her post was to advertise that she had recipes and labels for sale so this is very generous of you and I appreciate it, thanks!
~Ruby

Nishant said...

I remember this the next time I think about buying more Windex.
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Tiff :o) said...

Great recipes...I will be putting these together soon. Tahnks!