Homemade cleaners

A few years ago i started to read online about how to make my own cleaners cheaply and with as few ingredients as possible. A world opened up to me. At the moment i’m still in a transition phase. I still have some old products, there are still some cleaners i buy. On the whole i use less products and most of my cleaners are mild and multipurpose.

My current cleaner stuff

  • Driehoek soda – any supermarket
  • Sunlight soap – i bought this at a large AH
  • white vinegar – any supermarket
  • baking soda – any large toko or foreign supermarket
  • Castile soap – an ecological supermarket (like the Gimsel)
  • lemon toilet cleaner – supermarket
  • Froggy dish detergent – Marqt

Laundry detergent
Since a year i’m making my own laundry detergent. I found an easy recipe on the dutch website Genoeg. I only make half the amount, since the old bottle i use is only 1.5 liters.

Ingredients

  • 20 grams Sunlight soap (available in a large AH)
  • 20 grams of washing soda (huishoudsoda – available in all supermarkets)
  • 1.25 liter water

How to make

  1. grate the soap
  2. put the grated soap in a pan with 0.25 liters of cold water
  3. heat this up while stirring
  4. add the washing soda
  5. put this in a closable bucket or old washing liquid bottle
  6. add 1 liter of warm water and shake or stir till it’s all
  7. leave for a day, it’ll set

I use an old plastic ballshaped thing to fill up and put this with my laundry. For my whites i add some cleaning vinegar as a fabric softener.

You may use this detergent for any laundry you have, whites, colors, black, wool and delicates.

Bathroom cleaner
Baking soda and white vinegar is doing wonders for my bathroom. I simply throw baking soda on the floor and towards the wall of my shower. I add a bit of vinegar and start scrubbing.

You will find many many recipes for bathroom cleaners. I don’t use them myself at the moment, but one day that might change. Ooh, i don’t want to use Google whenever possible, so here is a duckduckgo search page.

Toilet cleaner
Yes, i still use a store bought toilet cleaner. I do need to work on that!

I did find an good way to clean your toilet. Simply put baking soda into the toilet bowl, add some white vinegar. Let it sit in the bowl for half an hour, scrub it with a toilet bowl brush and flush. Easy! I will start to use this method after my current toilet cleaner is empty.

Window cleaner
The simplest recipe for a good window cleaner is to use a 1/2 cup of white vinegar mixed with 1 gallon of warm water. Use a sponge or spray the solution on the window, clean with crumpled newspaper to prevent streaks. That’s it.

Kitchen cleaner
I use the dishwasher liquid Froggy for most of the cleaning i do in the kitchen. Hot water degreases the sink perfectly well. But if you need some more power, use baking soda mixed with hot water, put it on a sponge and scrub away. If you want to spray a cleaning liquid, make one yourself with a bit of baking soda, some dish soap and two tablespoons of vinegar. Mix this in a spray bottle, let it sit for a minute and fill up the bottle with warm water, shake. Done!

You clean up your oven with water and baking soda. Spray your oven with water. Add the baking soda over the water. Leave overnight. The next day you simply wipe away the baking soda and the grime with it. You can use a dish detergent and scrub away afterwards for some more cleaning if you think it’s needed.

Floor cleaner
To be honest, i simply use hot water to clean up my floor. I have this floor wiper with a washable thick cloth over it, which i make wet and clean up with. It’s good enough for me.

.. and more?
As i said in the beginning of this post, i’m still in a transition period. I have my periods of doing research and reading articles online – other periods i simply use what i have. Writing this article was a good way to do a bit more reading. Getting my toilet cleaning done with the cleaners i have in house already will be a good move!

This way of cleaning up is cheaper compared to all the store bought cleaners. Together with the missing packaging it’s more gentle on the environment too. If you want to read further, you can check this search page for homemade cleaners. Enjoy!

Published on February 18, 2015 at 6:00 by

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