Homemade All purpose cleaner
The very effective "spray and wipe" style cleaning spray is very simple to prepare - and it's only made of 3 ingredients!
When I first started making my own homemade cleaning products years ago, I didn't really know where to start. Well, I had been making laundry detergent for 8 years by then, but after my son was born I decided to try other products to make my household as healthy and environmentally friendly as possible. I knew I wanted mainly multi-purposes usage of my products, so I decided to try an all-purpose cleaner.
I tried a few different recipes but finally settled on the simplest one. It's made only with 3 ingredients that I always have in my home so I can make it whenever I need it. It's great for cleaning bathroom and kitchen surfaces and along with microfiber cloths, it can clean even very tough dirt. Plus, it makes me feel good that I'm not inhaling weird chemicals with every spritz.
Another homemade non-toxic products that I use:
What do you need for making this all purpose cleaner at home?
For this homemade all purpose cleaner you need just a few things:
- water - ideally boiled and cooled to room temperature
- vinegar - I recommend using a white distilled vinegar (12%) with no added coloring. It is the best and most effective vinegar for cleaning purposes as it contains no coloring or flavoring. It may be more expensive than an ordinary kitchen, wine or apple cider vinegars, but it is pure vinegar and works really well.
- essential oil or oils - a combination of tea tree and lemon is excellent, or lemon eucalyptus has worked well for me, but you can make it only with lemon essential oil and it's great.
- a glass spray bottle - glass is ideal as it won't get ruined by prolonged exposure to vinegar, but you can also use a thick plastic bottle.
Essential oils can add a pleasant scent to the spray, partially overpower the smell of vinegar, and have cleaning, bleaching and disinfecting effects. However, even after using essential oils, you can still smell the vinegar. Some may find this unpleasant, but in my experience it is just a habit. After a few days of use, you will get used to the "new smell" and you will be comfortable with it.
If you need to clean up more dried-on dirt or limescale, use my Liquid scrub cleaner. It works like magic!
What materials is this spray suitable for?
This all purpose cleaning spray is suitable for most materials. Works great on laminate and various plastic surfaces, glass and mirrors. However, do not use it on wood or stone countertops (marble, etc) as the vinegar in the spray could damage it.
If you are unsure about the suitability of using the spray on any surface, test it first on the least visible area.
Instructions
500 ml spray bottle
Homemade All purpose cleaner
Ingredients:
- 120 ml white distilled vinegar 12%
- 360 ml water
- 30 drops essential oils (Tea Tree, lemon, lemon eucalyptus or a combination of them)
Instructions:
Mix everything and pour into a glass spray bottle. Use as needed. Just spray and wipe with a microfiber cloth.
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