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More and more people are becoming aware of how toxic and wasteful most common cleaning products are. Many liquid-based cleaners are mostly full of water, which is heavy and requires additional fuel and resources to transport. Plus, you’re mostly paying for water, which hurts your wallet. Additionally, they include excessive and unnecessary chemicals that pollute the air and water, getting into your skin and lungs, too. These environmental and health side effects are too much to ignore, which is why people are moving to natural cleaning ingredients and products. Here is what to use for your DIY recipes.
Baking soda is one of the most common ingredients in natural cleaning recipes, and, lucky for all of us, we already have some in our pantry. It is a multipurpose ingredient, but it is primarily known for its deodorizing properties. You can sprinkle it in countless places by itself, like carpets and even in litter boxes. It is also mildly abrasive, so you can use it for scrubbing grimy sinks and bathtub basins if you want.
It naturally absorbs and neutralizes unpleasant smells, and you can also use it in other cleaning recipes. The beauty of baking soda is that it is nontoxic and biodegradable. This way, you don’t have to be anxious about using it.
Distilled white vinegar is another amazing, all-purpose, and eco-friendly cleaner. It is inexpensive already, but it also works diluted with water, because you can still capitalize on its incredible disinfecting and deodorizing properties. Instead of disinfectants with tons of other chemicals that could damage your furniture or harm your pets, you can use distilled white vinegar and water in a spray bottle.
If you didn’t know, vinegar is fermented plant-based material, so it is renewable and biodegradable, harming the environment far less than bottles you find on store shelves.
Hydrogen peroxide, while it sounds like a toxic chemical, is actually a much safer alternative to bleach. It is highly effective at higher levels of disinfection, making it ideal for surfaces that get a lot of traffic, like cutting boards and counters.
Because it has lightening properties, it can also remove stains. This means you can safely use it on your clothes without worrying about inhaling any of the harmful chemicals in bleach. Save your lungs and your clothes from the stress, because, at the end of the day, it’s only hydrogen and oxygen.
Fewer things smell better than fresh lemons. Not only are they all natural, completely biodegradable and compostable, and delicious, but they also deodorize, cut through grease, and give your furniture a nice shine. Use it to clean a stovetop or microwave, removing any buildup and making the place smell fresh again. The citric acid is potent enough that it can cut through grime effcieintly.
If you are experimental, you can turn lemons into oil. Lemon oil is great for shining surfaces like real wood and stainless steel. It can give surfaces a glorious sheen to them, while removing any signs of water droplets or fingerprints. A little goes a long way, though, so you can be thrifty — another benefit! You can also mix lemon juice with olive oil to obtain a similar effect.
Even though Castile soap comes in a plastic bottle, you can recycle it to minimize environmental impact. The contents of the bottle are what is important, because Castile soap is one of the most multifunctional natural cleaning ingredients. You only need to add a few drops to clean water to make an all-purpose spray that is great for general tidying. This can make the one bottle you bought last a long, long time.
Castile soap is inherently gentle, which makes it great for just every day washing. You can even use it on your dishes instead of more toxic, synthetic cleaners that are far more expensive.
If you aren’t sure what borax, or sodium borate, is, it is a mineral-based powder that can look similar to baking soda. It is created in nature, found predominantly out West, as a by-product of evaporated water. People have been using it for ages to accomplish tons of household cleaning tasks. If you need it to whiten your laundry, add some to the basin. If you need it to remove a smell from an area rug, it will do that, too.
Much like baking soda, you can also use it for scrubbing. It can remove grease from pots and pans and other finicky places in your kitchen. While this is naturally occurring, some people may become slightly irritated after prolonged exposure, so be sure to wear gloves or protect your eyes from the debris.
Essential oils are not essential, but they are a nice finishing touch on any DIY natural cleaning recipe. They add a beautiful smell to almost everything, and you can have your pick of the countless scents. These include:
This is only scratching the surface. These are created by extracting oils from natural, biodegradable ingredients. So long as you purchase them from a reputable company, you are supporting a sustainable industry. They are great as a general air freshener as well — which you may already use a diffuser!
While many scents are nontoxic, given the sheer variety and origins of smells, you should be sure they are not harmful to your pets. Even though you only put a drop or two in whatever you’re using it for, the smells are powerful and can still have an impact.
Switching to natural cleaning products could be one of the best ways to preserve your health and the environment’s well-being. Even though corporations have normalized the use of these toxic cleaners, the public can rewrite expectations to something that is more practical, organic, and inexpensive. These ingredients are versatile and can be used in countless types of cleaners. Try your own mixture this week, and nix the plethora of plastic bottles littering your cabinets for something greener.
