In my quest for budget friendly natural cleaners I set out to make my own natural all-purpose cleaner. I came across a good all-purpose cleaner in my allyou magazine a couple of months ago and I thought I would give it a try. As a side note - you can get an allyou magazine subscription for $1 per issue and it is full of great coupons and good tips - you save more in coupons than the magazine costs.
Like my other homemade natural cleaners found here, this one is easy as well. It does require a couple more ingredients than the other cleaners I have made. The upfront investment is more than if you were just to go buy a natural all-purpose cleaner in the store, but you will be able to make many many batches of this and you can use these ingredients in other cleaners as well. It will end up being much cheaper than buying the cleaners in the store.
Ingredients:
1 tsp washing soda
2 tsp borax
2 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
2.5 cups hot water
5 drops lavender essential oil
7 drops lemon essential oil
1/4 cup liquid castile soap
I used an old 32 oz spray bottle that had housed a natural all-purpose cleaner in the past. Using a funnel I poured the washing soda, borax, vinegar, water and essential oils into the spray bottle. I then shook the bottle well to make sure everything was completely dissolved. Then I added the soap and shook the bottle once again. And then it was ready to use.
The essential oils make the cleaner smell good. Lemon is also known for killing bacteria and degreases- which makes it good as an all-purpose grease cutter. Borax and washing soda are also good ingredients to include as they cut dirt, stop the growth of mold and mildew and act as a powerful scourer.
