Time for a confession before we dive into this post about homemade all purpose cleaner – I’m not the best housekeeper. 😁 I’d love to be, I have every intention of doing better on my cleaning & deep cleaning, but honestly, after a day of working & taking care of kiddos, there’s usually more work to be done and I only manage to quickly tidy things, if that. And then it’s on to trying to squeeze in more work after the boys are in bed or being too tired to even move. And I’m pretty sure it’s a proven fact, that while kids are living in your house, it will never, ever be clean! So chances are, if you stop by my house, you’ll find some dusty things and the floor will probably need to be swept. So, there’s that and now you know!
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Now, onto this delicious smelling natural cleaner that I’m hoping gets me a little more excited about doing some actual cleaning around my house! 😉 I’ve been trying to use more natural products when I can – they’re safer for us, usually quite a bit cheaper to make on your own, and I think fun to make! Vinegar is all natural, inexpensive, and cleans grease, dirt and mildew. This spray is really nice for letting the boys help with cleaning, I don’t worry about them using something filled with chemicals and it’s pretty safe on most things (but there are some things you shouldn’t use vinegar on, like granite and marble and not all wood, since it can eat through some finishes), so when their spraying gets out of control, as it always does when it comes to my boys and spray bottles, it doesn’t matter that it’s all over the house! 😉.jpg)
This natural, all purpose cleaner contains just three simple ingredients and is so easy to whip up! It contains water, vinegar, and some essential oils. (I love my essential oils, especially for homemade beauty & cleaning products, if you’d like to know more, you can check out this page). There’s a number of different oils you can use for this, both to boost the antibacterial properties of the spray and to give it a nice scent. I used lavender, lemon and purification for this spray. Here’s a few essential oils that can add extra cleaning power and a fresh scent to your homemade cleaner:
- Tea Tree
- Lavender
- Lemon
- Thieves
- Purification
- Eucalyptus
- Orange
- Grapefruit
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Homemade All Purpose Cleaning Spray
1 cup water
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar*
20 drops of desired essential oil
Combine all ingredients in a glass spray bottle and shake well. (My bottle is a reused one that I cleaned out, you can find similar ones on Amazon). Spray on surface and wipe clean with cloth or paper towel. Shake before each use.
*A quick note about using vinegar as a cleaner – vinegar is acidic and can cause “etching” on granite countertops. You can sub rubbing alcohol for the vinegar for cleaning granite, marble, or stone countertops. Please also note, I haven’t personally tried this, as I sadly don’t have that type of counter (one day hopefully!), it’s just what I’ve read after a lot of researching on this subject. With this cleaner, and any, test an inconspicuous place first..jpg)
If you’re feeling the spring cleaning vibe, check out our Closet Purge Tips and Minimal Challenge for some extra motivation!
-Manda
