A Guide to Homemade Cleaners

Index:

Safety Tips

General Uses For

Helpful Hints

Formulas :

Recommended Websites

Some safety tips: 

  1. NEVER MIX BLEACH AND AMMONIA TOGETHER!! This combination is deadly! Also, never mix products together that contain bleach with products that contain ammonia! This includes dishwasher detergent (contains bleach). I would even go as far as storing them in different places just as a precaution. 

  2. ALWAYS check labels on products before combining ANYTHING! It's not worth making these cleaners if you wind up in the hospital or the morgue, so PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!!!
  3. KEEP ALL CLEANERS AWAY FROM KIDS- even though these are environmentally friendly, they are still not safe for children , so please keep these away from your kids!

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General Uses For: 

Ammonia-good grease cutter, wax stripper, and window cleaner. NEVER MIX WITH BLEACH!!!

Bleach-great for whitening anything, removing molds and mildews, and general cleaning. Best used diluted with water. DO NOT MIX BLEACH WITH VINEGAR, TOILET BOWL CLEANER, OR AMMONIA. The combination of bleach with any of these substances produces a toxic gas which can be hazardous. We want to save money without jeopardizing our lives! Not too sure about this one.... I am sensitive to bleach so I alway use vinegar to rinse my hands off when using bleach. Vinegar neutralizes bleach.

Baking Soda- Extremely versatile, baking soda is an all-purpose, non-toxic cleaner. It cleans, deodorizes, scours, polishes and removes stains. There are entire books out about the zillions of uses of baking soda, and the best thing about it is that it's cheap!

Borax:(sodium borate) It deodorizes, removes stains and boosts the cleaning power of soap. It also 
prevents mold and odors. Great alternative for those who do not want to use bleach.

Cornstarch: cleans and deodorizes carpets and rugs, you can use this to replace expensive "baby powders" also. 

Ketchup-great for cleaning copper

Lemon juice-great for whitening items, but vinegar is cheaper . It also cuts through grease and stains on aluminum and porcelain

Pure Soap: cleans just about anything and is mild 

Salt: believe it or not, regular table salt makes an abrasive, but gentle, scouring powder. Who would have known?

Washing Soda:(sodium carbonate) Cuts grease and disinfects. It will also increase the cleaning power 
of soap. 

White Vinegar -very cheap and versatile, great for whitening, also fantastic for cleaning hard surfaces, windows and shining up metal surfaces. Removes mildew, stains, grease and wax buildup. This is another natural cleaner that whole books have been written on!

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Some helpful hints: 

1.Make your cleaners ahead of time.

2. Organize them according to location they are used in, keeping out of reach of children. I like to keep all kitchen items under the (baby-proofed) sink, in a caddy (recycle a detergent box or milk jug for this) so they are handy. I make extras of items for the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms.

2.Buy your ingredients in bulk. This way, you save money twice! You save by buying in bulk (on sale of course!) and you save because you have what you need on hand, avoiding a trip to the store!

3.Store your ingredients in reusable airtight containers. I like to purchase spray bottles in bulk for this purpose, since it is not safe to reuse bottles that had commercial cleaners or chemicals in them. Milk jugs are great to use too.

4.Make large batches of several cleaners and store them in recycled milk jugs.

5.Wear rubber gloves when you clean to avoid skin irritation (and chapping in my case!) 
 
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Formulas: 

All Purpose Cleaner (From Rodale's Book of Practical Formulas)

2 cups rubbing alcohol (70% isoprophyl)
1 tablespoon mild dishwashing liquid (for handwashing dishes, NOT dishwasher detergent-it contains bleach!)
1 tablespoon ammonia
2 quarts water

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl. Fill a CLEAN spray bottle (not recycled one) with cleaner and store the rest tightly sealed in a large bottle. Use with a cloth or sponge to clean the bathroom fixtures, kitchen fixtures, appliances, chrome, plastic countertops, and painted surfaces. Rinse with a clean cloth or sponge after cleaning. 

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All purpose quick shiner

This shiner is mild and safe to use for all surfaces.

1 1/4 cups white vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
22 ounce spray bottle

Pour vinegar and water into the spray bottle. Shake gently to combine. To use, spray on and wipe off. 

All purpose Window and Glass Cleaner

Vinegar cuts grease and leaves windows sparkling clean. Best of all, this mixture is absolutely safe, It's the best choice if you have young children in the house. 

1/4 cup white vinegar
1 quart of water

Pour vinegar and water into a bowl or container, or mix the ingredients in a spray bottle. Clean windows directly with a sponge dipped in the bowl of cleaner or spray on and wipe clean. I have heard that you can use newspaper to clean windows quite well, I have always used old cloth diapers.

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Sink Cleaner

Replace Comet and other abrasives with this homemade one. Combine baking soda and salt (I am guessing in equal amounts) to scrub stainless steel. 

Oven Cleaner

1/4 cup ammonia
2 cups of warm water

Pour ammonia and warm water in a baking dish and leave in a warm oven overnight. This will loosen the grime in the over, which you can then clean with an ammonia-based cleaner or soap and water. You can also scour with baking soda.

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Cleaning Silver

Don't buy one of those metal plates that you put in warm water to clean silver. This is the same thing! I found this trick in "Make it Last" by Earl Proulx, one of my favorite books on maintaining your home and possessions. I have done this on some silver plated forks and spoons that I got very cheap at a yardsale and they came out great! This trick works like magic and kids love it. 

Aluminum foil
Baking soda
Salt
Very hot water (can be boiling if you like)

Combine the above ingredients in a clean kitchen sink. Put your tarnished silver and silver-plated items into the sink and let set for a few minutes. Watch as the tarnish disappears from the silverware and reappears on the foil. This is a natural chemical reaction, and a great way to teach the kids some science!

Note: This trick works so well that it will clean out the nooks and crannies that give some silverware the "aged" look, so you may only want to do this occasionally. 

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More Formulas

These formulas come from an old issue of Organic Gardening. They were actually tested and compared against commercial brands. We like that! See how they performed:  

Multipurpose Cleaner 

 
Rating: Excellent. Performed as well as top-of-the-line commercial products.
Uses: Many. Tile and linoleum floors, formica counter-tops, appliances, etc. 
Hazards: Read about ammonia above.
Cost: About 40 cents a gallon (not including water)

1/4 cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) 
1 cup household ammonia 
1/2 cup white vinegar 
1 gallon warm water 

Mix ingredients and store in tightly-capped container. 

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Old-fashioned glass and window cleaner

Rating: Very good. The best commercial preparations left the window only a little shinier. Even though the cornstarch makes the mixture slightly gritty, it didn't scratch the glass. Poisonous.
Hazards: Ammonia is poisonous, so keep the mixture away from children and arrange good ventilation. Wear gloves because it's a heavy-duty cleaner and rough on the hands.
Cost: About  20cents a gallon (not including water) 

2 tablespoons cornstarch 
1/2 cup household ammonia 
1/2 cup white vinegar 
1 gallon warm water 

Mix the ingredients in a bucket and use to scrub windows. Try not to clean glass the sun is shining on  because it will dry too fast and streak. 

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Vinegar window cleaner

Rating: Very good. We'd been warned that plain water could do as well as a vinegar solution, but our  subjective impression was that the vinegar made it a lot easier to get rid of smudges. In theory, vinegar is supposed to remove hard-water spots. 

Hazards: May be hard on your hands, but safe enough to drink. 
Cost: About 7 cents a gallon (not including water)

1/2 cup white vinegar 
1 gallon warm water 

Just mix and scrub. 

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Dilute bleach 

Rating: Very good. In the ballpark with commercial cleaners, but few name-brand cleaners got rid of smudges with less scrubbing.
Hazards: Bleach is poisonous, so keep it away from children. It will bleach anything it touches, so use only on colorfast items. Check the solution first on a hidden spot. 
Uses: Same as above. 
Cost: Less than a penny a gallon (not including water) 

Mix in a scrub bucket. Moisten an old cloth with the solution and wipe onto surface. Let stand about 2 minutes and rinse well. 

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Dilute ammonia 

Rating: Very good. A few of the best commercial cleaners outperformed it. 
Hazards: Ammonia is poisonous and its fumes sting the eyes and throat. Wear gloves. Don't mix with  chlorine bleach because the combination produces poisonous gases called chloramines. 
Uses: Same as above. 
Cost: About 8 cents a gallon (not including water) 

Mix in a pail and use to scrub. 

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Metal polish 

Rating: Good. Does the job but you need to scrub more than you would with a commercial cleaner. 
Hazards: Safe enough to eat, and it's not gritty enough to scratch the metal. 
Uses: Suitable for brass, bronze, copper and pewter. Not for silver, silver plate and jewelry. 
Cost: Less than a penny for about 3 tablespoons of paste (not including water) 

Combine salt and flour in small bowl and stir until blended. Add the vinegar and mix into a thick paste.  Smear on the paste with a damp sponge or cloth and rub gently. Let the polish dry for about an hour.  Rinse well with warm water and buff dry with a soft cloth. 

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Wall cleaner 

Rating: Very good. A few commercial preparations required less scrubbing. 
Hazards: See ammonia above. Don't let children eat the borax either. 
Uses: For painted walls, not wall-paper 
Cost: About 6 cents; for 2 quarts (not including water)