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Green Cleaning

Advantages of Making Your Own Green Cleaner

Simple ingredients
Inexpensive to make
Better for the environment
Better for indoor air quality and safer for family & pets

How to make your Own Green Cleaner

Making your own cleaning products at home is easier than it sounds. Effective cleaners that are safe for people and the environment can be made from everyday items such as vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, salt, soap, and water.

Basic ingredients for DIY Green Cleaners

White distilled vinegar

Use it in a spray bottle on windows and as an after-shower spray to cut soap scum
Pour some into your clothing rinse cycle to remove odors and soften clothes
Simmer on the stove to deodorize cooking odors
Gummy, sticky mess? Soak it in vinegar to dissolve

Baking soda

Sprinkle in your garbage pail or diaper pail to deodorize
Mix with castile soap for a soft scrub in the bathroom or kitchen
Open a box in the fridge or freezer to deodorize
Sprinkle on carpet to freshen, then vacuum up

Hydrogen peroxide (3%, right out of the first aid aisle)

Use on grass or bloodstains (take care! It will bleach clothing!)
Spray on countertops and leave for 10 minutes to sanitize
Use to remove oil stains on concrete

Castile soap (vegetable-based soap)

Use anywhere you would use soap or detergent: dishes, countertops, clothing, floors, hands
Mix with baking soda for a soft scrub paste

Essential oil (try peppermint or lemon for a fresh scent)

Use instead of artificial fragrance. Caution: essential oil is powerful! Use only a drop or two at a time.

Recipes

Green All-purpose Cleaner

Purpose Cleaner Video

You can use this cleaner for just about every kind of surface, from kitchen counters and appliances to bathroom surfaces, mirrors and walls.

2 cups Water
1 cup Hydrogen Peroxide
¼ cup Lemon Juice

Keep it pre-mixed in a reused spray bottle in your home or workplace. Use only on non-porous surfaces.

Green Window Cleaner

Window Cleaner Video

Perfect for streak-free windows.

2 cups warm water
1/4 cups rubbing alcohol
1/4 cups white vinegar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Combine everything in a spray bottle, and shake well.

Disinfecting Wipes

Disinfecting Wipes Video

Large Mason Jar
Old t-shirt scraps, or rags
2 cups Rubbing Alcohol
2 Tablespoons Castile Soap
10 drops of Lemon Essential Oil

Combine liquid ingredients in a bowl and pour over cut rags in the jar.

More Recipes

For more green cleaner recipes and tips use our Green Cleaner Recipe Handout.