DIY Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

I am a huge proponent of using as few chemicals as possible. It seems like no matter what you do, everything has chemicals added these days. One of the worst culprits has to be cleaners. We’ve talked before about making your own household cleaners, laundry supplies, and kitchen and bathroom cleaners, but sometimes you just need a good all-purpose cleaner to wipe things down.

I did a lot of research into all-purpose cleaners and tried a bunch of them to see which ones worked best, and this spray was hands-down my favorite not only because of how well it worked, but how easy it was to make! This spray is great to wipe down counters, floors, cabinets, and whatever else you need. And, best of all, if you’ve been making other household cleaners, you probably already have everything you need!

It should be noted that this spray is actually not a disinfectant. As strange as it sounds, I’m actually a believer in not over sanitizing surfaces. Most household messes you make don’t need to be disinfected with bleach and other harsh cleaners—just a bit of soap to wipe it up is mroe than enough. However, this is still an important distinction as you won’t want to use this cleaner to for food-related messes in the kitchen. For those messes, you’ll need to stick with traditional soap and water. However, for life’s little messes, this all-natural homemade cleaner really does the trick

Here is how to make some yourself:

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon witch hazel or food grade alcohol
• 1/2 teaspoon washing soda (find out how to make your own here)
• 1 teaspoon liquid castille soap
• 2 cups warm distilled water
• Lemon essential oil (optional; you can use any essential oil, really)
• Clean spray bottle

Instructions

1. Add witch hazel, washing soda, and soap to a clean spray bottle
2. Dump in 2 cups of water, replace lid, and shake until mixed.
3. Add in 10-14 drops of essential oils and shake again.

As a side note, you can use whatever essential oil that you like; lavender is popular with cleaning agents. I tend to prefer lemon or orange as it just smells more clean to me. But that’s total preference.

For the spray bottle, I recommend using a new one rather than rinsing out an old bottle, just to be sure that you aren’t getting any nasty residual chemicals in your homemade solution. Glass is the best, but if you want to use plastic, you can find empty bottles in most supermarkets. Just look in the cleaning aisle.