Our kitchen is absolutely the heart of our home. It's where we greet each other in the mornings and get ready for our day, and it's where we end up after a long day at school or work. We have two really active kids with lots of friends that stay over as well, so to say that our kitchen gets used a lot would be the understatement of the century. I am constantly cleaning up a mess, whether it be my own mess from prepping dinner or the kiddos cereal messes, so it's extremely important to use an all natural cleansing spray. I don't want to constantly ingest chemicals while I'm cleaning, and I certainly don't want my kids lying something on our counter that has been sprayed with chemicals...bleck! Not too long ago, I made the decision to replace as many of our cleaning supplies as I could with all natural cleaning supplies. I did some research and found some great brands, but shew...they were expensive. It makes it tough, you know. Trying to do right by your family as far as clean eating and all natural cleansers is expensive, so I thought I would do some research and find out how to make my own. After researching, I decided to try it out and tweaked a few recipes to come up with my own, and it works like a charm! Here is how I made our All Natural Cleansing Spray...
It's so incredibly easy to make your own! You only need a few ingredients, and those ingredients will last for such a long time and yield many bottles of cleaner :) Plus, you can use them for other things as well!
You will need:
An empty spray bottle
3 cups of water
½ cup of white vinegar
2 teaspoons of baking soda
10 drops of essential oils (optional) I used lemon.
Add the vinegar to the bottle, then the water. Next, add the essential oils, then the baking soda. Mix gently. Be sure to add the ingredients in that order, or you will have a fizzy overflow from the vinegar and baking soda mixing together. Simply spray down your countertops, tables, sink, toilet, whatever you like, then wipe clean with a paper towel or clean cloth.
The vinegar has a high acidity level which helps to kill bacteria. The baking soda also acts as an antibacterial, and mixed with the vinegar, it's a really powerful cleanser. The lemon essential oils act as an additional antibacterial, and also as a degreaser, plus it smells super fabulous!
This is the first of many cleansers that you can make using vinegar or baking soda...I can't wait to share more! I mean, shouldn't we all be trying to clean more naturally?
Susan says
Thanks! That's something I can do. So far, looks like I need about a gallon of vinegar and a huge box of baking soda. =) Plus some citrus oil.
Kala says
How long can one batch keep in a bottle?
Jessica says
To be honest, Kala, I really don't know. I use mine so frequently that I wouldn't have to worry about that. Wish I had a better answer for you :)
Julie says
Sorry, but it doesn't make sense to me to mix an acid with a base for a cleaning product. They just neutralize each other, although with your mixture there would be some acidity left I did a little research, and here are two of the articles I found which shed light on the science of this: http://www.crunchybetty.com/diy-101-baking-soda-vinegar-not-so-much and http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/science/vinegar-baking-soda-the-ultimate-cleanser. It's not that this wouldn't have some cleaning power, but I think the bottom line is that it wouldn't be as effective as a vinegar/water solution by itself. When mixing vinegar with baking soda is effective, it's for things like cleaning drains when the bubbling action of the reaction is desirable. At least that's what I take away from the reading I've done..... hope this is helpful.
Becky says
Thanks, Julie! That's what I was thinking.
Julie says
Would like to edit those remarks above, if I could, by adding a period between "some acidity left" and "I did a little research..." Sorry, but the print one can see while typing a comment is small and faint, so I missed this typo. Thanks for fixing!
marge underhill says
Love all your cleaning hacks, and in my older age, i need all the help i can get without much muscle work.Love your site. Marge
Jessica says
Thank you so much, Marge! I'm happy to help in any way I can!
Toni says
What is the best way to clean wood surfaces like wood kitchen table and chairs and wood furniture?
Thank you for all your tips and recipes.
Joan raymond says
How too get yellow stains off floors