Two Awesome Homemade Cleaning Products

Tips from a toxic-free product expert on how to make two awesome homemade cleaning products. Super easy and they smell great!

It’s pretty simple to make your own cleaning products but, it seems, a little tougher to create ones that actually get the job done! So, I knew I needed to go to the expert for the best recipes. I reached out to my friend Jill – the founder of Essentials By Nature and she has kindly provided us with two of her best homemade cleaning product recipes. I use both of these in our home and they work well and smell great!

In addition to the two recipes below, I also keep vinegar and baking soda under the kitchen sink for many different cleaning purposes. Every dishwasher load in our house includes a little vinegar and I add baking soda in with it to get those crusty burn stains out of my pots and pans. In our house, we also use Hydra Chem – a locally-made, heavy-duty organic all-purpose cleaner for bigger jobs.

Lemon All-Purpose

1/4 bottle white vinegar
10 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops orange essential oil
2 tsp castile soap
purified water
500 ml bottle

Directions: combine the first four ingredients into your bottle and top with purified water. Other oils to try: tea tree, lavender, or lemongrass. Another great product to add to cleaning products is D-Limonene. (Limonene is an essential oil found in citrus fruit peels. It belongs to a class of compounds called terpenes.)

Note: If you have pets make sure to check with your vet first see what oils you can and can’t use.

Fruit + Veggie Wash

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (you can use white vinegar if you prefer)
2/3 cup purified water water
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
a pinch of salt

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a smaller bottle. With this product containing fresh lemon juice, it has a shelf-life of three weeks to a month. It’s best to make this in small batches.

To use: Spray veggies and let sit for a few minutes. Rinse off and dry.

photos: Dallas Curow