Chemical Free Cleaning Products for Spring Cleaning

I did a crazy amount of cleaning yesterday.  I call it my “spring clean”.  On top of that I even organized our storage room!  It feels good to get some stuff done.  I love how my house smells when the windows are open and everything is clean.  The past couple of years I have been making my own cleaning products that were chemical free.  It wasn’t until I started doing this that I really knew what “smelling clean” was.   When I use the traditional cleaning products I now feel like our house smells like “chemicals”. My very skeptical mother and grandmother tried out my products and approved.  That is big coming from two women who are seriously picky about sanitizing.  On top of that my mom even called asking me what kinds of essential oils she should buy for her cleaning products.  I guess that mine met the approval of the clean police.

There are a ton of PROS to making your own products but here is my favorites: 

1. Chemical Free – Keeping those icky chemicals out of the house is great for everyone living in the house.  When I disposed of my old cleaners I had to dispose of them at a special waste facility for hazardous chemicals!

2.  Money Saving – I literally have to buy a few basic ingredients to clean my entire house and it lasts forever.  I never have to walk down the cleaning products aisle at the store anymore!

3.  Things are really clean – You no longer see that film left on mirrors or tables that your chemical filled cleaners leave on them.

To clean my entire house I only have to buy a few things.  

1. Vinegar

2. Essential Oils

3. Detergent (I use our organic laundry detergent)

Yes those few ingredients I use to clean my entire house! I obviously use my vacuum and dusting rags but these are the main “products” that I use!

General All-Purpose Cleaner – This is a big one because it can be used for so many things.  I use it to clean the refrigerator, counters, bathroom counters, and to wipe down different surfaces throughout the house.

1 Part  Vinegar

1 Part Water

8-10 Drops of essential oils of choice – I like to use lemon in the kitchen and will use lavender or tea tree throughout other parts of the house.

Window Cleaner

I finally found a recipe that works!  I’ve tried several but this literally is the best.  I simply put it in a spray bottle spray on windows or mirrors and wipe.

2 cups of water

1/4 cup of vinegar

1/2 teaspoon of detergent (dish or laundry)

Cleaning The Microwave

I literally hate how I have to scrub the stuck on food from the microwave.  This little concoction has made it a breeze.  You literally get the bowl nice and hot and it magically makes the food so easy to wipe off.  I wipe through with a rag afterward and done!

1/2 cup of vinegar

1/2 cup of water

Heat in microwave 2-3 minutes

Cleaning The Floors

Exact same as the all-purpose cleaner, it just gets it’s own bottle in my house.  I just simply put it in a spray bottle and spray and wipe the floor with a mop or if I am ambitious on my hands and knees.

1 part water

1 part vinegar

8-10 drops of essential oils

Toilet Bowl – This one is my favorite because I really don’t have to do anything.  Right before we go to bed I pour in about 2 cups of vinegar into the toilet and I go to bed.  When I get up in the morning I quickly run the toilet bowl brush around the toilet and it’s done and really nice and clean!  As long as a couple of hours pass it should work great!  Getting cleaning done while sleeping is fabulous!

 

Okay let’s really make this SIMPLE now.  Here is what I have for cleaning products.

Main Floor

Kitchen – All purpose cleaner (lemon scent) – I use this on counters, floors, and refrigerator

Bathrooms and other surfaces – Bottle of all-purpose cleaner (lavender or tea tree scent) in my closet.

Windows – Bottle in my closet on main floor.

Bottle of Vinegar

Upstairs

All-purpose cleaner for bathrooms and other surfaces (lavender or tea tree).

Bottle of Vinegar

Bottle of Window Cleaner

So I make 2 bottles of Window Cleaner, 3 bottles of all purpose cleaner, and have a bottle of vinegar on hand.  Makes it so I’m not running between floors and everything is on hand.  I fill up spray bottles for all my products and re-make when out.  It works so well and takes care of all my basic cleaning! 

 

I was really excited about these two products and wrote about them previously:

Toy Cleaner

Garbage Disposal Cleaner

Another website I love that I am a big fan of where I like to find my different cleaning ideas with Vinegar is Vinegar Tips.  Vinegar is my go to cleaning product as you could tell!

What great chemical free cleaning product do you use?  Is their one you can’t live without?