7/14/14

DIY All-Natural All-Purpose Cleaner


There is so much crap in our cleaning supplies you guys and we are breathing all of it in (and paying a LOT for it).  I have been playing with different recipes for cleaners, laundry detergent and dishwashing detergent and have settled on some faves that I'll share with you over the next bit of time.  Today is a breakdown on my favorite All-Purpose Cleanser which works beautifully on everything except granite and marble.  It still smells a bit like vinegar, just better, once you add all the goodies, but the vinegar smells dissipates in seconds.  It is SO much more healthy than the bleach and other chemical laden ingredient and WAY cheaper.  One batch of concentrate is good for 4-5 bottles of cleaner.  I found my recipe at The Yummy Life and she has other recipes you could do instead so check it out!  

You'll need
*4-5 lemons
*3-5 sprigs of herbs (rosemary, sage or mint)
*vanilla
*white vinegar
*airtight jar to put it in


I was juicing so I had a bunch of orange peels, and a couple of orange peels, gathered up so I figured it was a good time to make another batch of the concentrate.  I just leave the stickers on as you can see.


Throw all of of the peels in an airtight jar


I grabbed some rosemary and sage from my garden but you can throw any herbies in there - wash them off first of course


Add the herbs to your jar of citrus peels


Add 1-2 tsp of vanilla


Cover with vinegar



Let it sit for 2-4 weeks (yep, 2-4 WEEKS) and strain it - it'll end up looking like the jar on the right.


Run one of your existing spray bottles (or buy a new one) through the dishwasher to get all of the chemicals out (thank you Method).
Then pour in 2 parts water for 1 part vinegar concentrate.
Start cleaning!

2 comments:

  1. I've been a DIY / natural cleaning agent fan for over a decade... did you know that if you follow your vinegar cleanser with a hydrogen peroxide wipe down (or vice versa - but not mixed together in the same bottle) that it will eliminate something like 99.99% of germs? Pretty fabulous!

    And for those who don't know the wonders of baking soda and need a hard core scrubbing, sprinkle the baking soda first, spray on the vinegar, and scrub away! (but I'm sure you knew that trick already Erina ;-) )

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    1. Yes to all of that Donia! I think you can even just use Hydrogen Peroxide on its own - do you need to do an "undercoat" of vinegar first? If so that is new info for me! And yes to baking soda and vinegar - love that! xoxo

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