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Making your own multi-purpose cleaners puts you in control of what cleaning agents are welcome in your home, allowing you to use powerful yet nontoxic ingredients for every job in the house.

How to make your own household cleaning supplies

You can concoct your own cleaning solutions with just a few simple household ingredients. Once you make your mixtures, be sure to label them with the names and amounts of ingredients used. Below is a list of the cleaning supplies that you can make at home.

All-surface cleaners for kitchen and bath

Vinegar is the best all-purpose household cleaner. With the active ingredient acetic acid, vinegar dissolves buildup, eats away tarnish, and removes dirt and grease from both porous and nonporous surfaces. White vinegar, while not a true vinegar but rather diluted acetic acid, is preferable, as true cider vinegar can stain light wood and fabrics. The acid in vinegar can kill 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, and 80 percent of germs in one application.[1] Do not use vinegar, however, on marble or granite, as it may etch the stone surface. To use vinegar as an all-surface cleaner:

• Fill several small spray bottles with straight vinegar, or dilute it with no more than 50 percent water so it will last longer. Alternatively, just wet a rag with vinegar and directly wipe down household surfaces.
• Use vinegar for regular cleaning of your fridge, cabinets, shelves, sinks, countertops, and gloss-painted surfaces.
• Spray the shower and tub with vinegar after each use to protect against mildew and soap scum.
• Soak a washcloth or rag in vinegar and wrap it around shower fixtures for a few hours to loosen scaling and mineral buildup for easy scrubbing.
• Clean persistent gunk, especially in the garage or basement, by wetting down the area with straight vinegar, waiting until the spot has softened, and scraping or wiping it away. No need to rinse.

Window cleaner

To clean windows inside and out, mix 2 cups of water, 1 teaspoon castile soap, and 3 tablespoons vinegar in a spray bottle. Shake well before each use and experiment with ratios until you get it right: If the spray leaves streaks, increase the amount of vinegar a tablespoon at a time. If one application still leaves dirt, even when left to sit a few minutes, increase the soap content.

Soft scrub

Baking soda, made from soda ash and slightly alkaline, will neutralize strong acid odors such as perspiration and pet urine. Follow these tips to use it in homemade soft scrubs:

• Use baking soda right out of the box on a moistened sponge and scrub soiled area.
• For a creamy soft scrub, mix a paste of one cup baking soda with a quarter cup of castile soap. Add more soap if necessary, until the mixture is the consistency of toothpaste. Store in a wide-mouthed jar or old shampoo bottle.
• For tough jobs in the house, such as the oven, or in the garage, substitute washing soda (available in the laundry aisle) for baking soda. Leave overnight for added power. When using washing soda, be sure to wear gloves, avoid prolonged skin contact, and do not use it on aluminum surfaces.

Dust repellent

• Use a rag dipped in vinegar to effectively dust plastic surfaces, ceiling fan blades, grimy dust-collecting areas like radiator grilles, the top of the fridge, and oven hoods.
• Clean mini-blinds with a 2-inch house-painting brush moistened with vinegar. Brush away dust in long strokes following the length of the slats.
• Clean the hard-to-reach keypads and crannies of electronics with cotton swabs dampened with vinegar. Use a rag dipped in vinegar and thoroughly wrung out to clean the TV screen, touchpads, keypads, keyboards, and plastic mouse pads.

Glass, china, and crystal cleaner

• Wipe down streaked or scummy surfaces with a rag dipped in straight vinegar, or for tough buildup, use a spray bottle to wet down area, wait a few minutes, and wipe away dirt with the excess. No need to rinse, but be sure to soak up drips and dry with newspaper or a rag.
• Delicate vases and china can be dipped in or filled with a mixture of up to 50/50 water and vinegar, then inverted and set to air dry on soft cloth without rinsing.

Furniture polish

Buff away dullness, surface clouds, and water rings on furniture with this homemade polish recipe:

1. Mix equal parts white vinegar (or lemon juice) and olive oil in an old shampoo bottle.
2. Shake well and apply to a rag (old undershirts make great cleaning rags), working first in long strokes following the grain, followed by circular buffing.
3. Rub the mixture into the wood until it is absorbed, using a clean rag to wipe off excess, if any.
4. Untreated raw wood, like cutting boards, may be "thirstier" and require a bit more. When the oil begins to bead, wipe off excess and you're done, thus keeping the wood from drying and cracking.

To make a large batch with a long shelf-life, try a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and jojoba oil, a liquid wax that won't go rancid (olive oil and lemon juice can both go rancid over time). Though touted as a sealant and polisher of wood, linseed oil often has added synthetic drying agents and isn't recommended. If you're working with wood pieces used to serve food (like bowls or serving platters) olive oil and walnut oil both work well as they're food grade options.

Air freshener

• Freshen the air, laundry, trash, or carpet anytime with a misting of vinegar, or try mixing a tablespoon of vinegar and 5 drops of essential oil, such as lavender, or spice extract in a small perfume atomizer to personalize your airspace.

Making your own household cleaning supplies helps you go green because...

• Even when properly used, household cleaning agents can make their way into the air, water, and our bodies when they evaporate. Even mild petrochemical detergents persist and travel through the environment long after they are rinsed down the drain.
• They reduce allergies, headaches, irritability, toxicity, and "sick house syndrome," conditions exacerbated by common household chemicals and cleaners.
• They do not create Household Hazardous Waste, which pollutes the environment.
• They remove the risk of accidental ingestion of deadly poisons by avoiding them altogether. According to the National Capital Poison Center, 89 percent of all poison exposures occur in the home, and most poisonings involve everyday household items, such as cleaning supplies.

The necessity of a clean home, and the use of chemical-laced cleaners, is often at odds with our own health and that of the environment. The very supplies used in our struggle to keep dust, grime, and germs at bay may be polluting the water as we rinse, unbalancing our immune systems as we disinfect, and persistently irritating our eyes, skin, and lungs long after their initial use. The effects of chemical buildup in the air, water, and our bodies has become its own epidemic. It is estimated that each American household contains 63 synthetic chemical products, adding up to roughly 10 gallons of harmful cleaning products and pesticides.[2] These harmful chemicals build up after repeated use in our homes, which is why the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that the air inside our homes can be two to five times more polluted than the outside air, and in extreme cases, the level can reach 100 times that of the outside contamination rate.[3] Wood polish, specifically, can contain artificial fragrances, flammable toxins, petroleum distillates, and solvents that are highly neurotoxic. Exposure to these chemical vapors can alter the nervous system's normal activity and can lead to headaches, loss of memory or vision, cognitive or behavior problems, and may lead to serious disorders for children and other vulnerable people.

Conventional household cleaners often contain chemical cleaning agents like alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), which do not easily break down in sewage treatment after they are washed down the drain. APEs are among the most widely used groups of surfactants, with about half a million tons produced annually worldwide.[4] The EPA has identified APEs as endocrine disrupters, which can affect the reproductive systems of birds and mammals and disrupt the ability of some fish to reproduce. Measurable levels of APEs have been found in US lakes and streams.

The EPA lists drain cleaners, toilet cleaners, bleach, and shower cleaners on its list of common household items containing potentially hazardous ingredients. If these products are improperly disposed of—including pouring them down the drain or toilet or putting them out with the trash—they are considered to be "hazardous household waste," or "HHW." Americans generate 1.6 million tons of HHW per year, which pollutes the environment and threatens human health.[5]

Glossary

• castile soap: Made from vegetable oil as opposed to animal fat, castile soap can be used as an effective cleaning agent, from floors to dishes.
• essential oils: Extractions of a distinctive scent, or essence, from a plant, used to create a pleasant aroma.
• washing soda: The chemical neighbor of baking soda that is more than double its strength and is perfect for heavy-duty cleaning, especially on petroleum products, such as floor wax and oil spills.

External links

• The Vinegar Institute - Uses and Tips
• Green Home Living - Make Your Own Household Cleaners
• Care2 - Green living: Make Your Own Nontoxic Cleaning Kit
• Thrifty Fun - Poisons Under Your Sink: Hidden Dangers of Cleaning Products