recipes for homemade cleaners????

Question

I am looking for any and all recipes for homemade cleaners. could someone please help me out on this?????

Answer 1

umm just curious, do you have something against buying them already made?

Answer 2

White vinegar is the best homemade cleaner around. In a spray bottle, mix 1 part WV with 3 parts tap water. Shake. Clean to your hearts content. The Ph balance in the vinegar helps break up grime. It really does work.

Answer 3

Sugar Pie pretty much covered it all. You can also use Oxyclean.

Hydrogen peroxide is a gentler cleaner than bleach, but very effective for disinfecting. If you are asking your question out of ecological concern, then hydrogen peroxide is what you're looking for. I would just use it straight.

Hope that helps!

Answer 4

I will tell you what the head cleaning lady for a property management company told me. Hot water is the best cleaning agent out there.

Vinegar works well to clean stuff, so does baking soda if you need something abrasive. Don't mix them together.

Answer 5

Vinegar and Water (50/50) for windows and surfaces

Clorox and Water (50/50) in spray bottle for mold &mildew in tubs, stains in porcelain sinks

Baking soda and a tad of water as an abrasive cleanser

Answer 6

OK - here are a few great sites for ideas. Congratulations for taking a step to not only save money, but saving the planet.

http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/homemadehouseholdcleaners.htm

http://www.stuffinanutshell.com/make/cleaners.html

http://www.mormonchic.com/dealdiva/homemade_cleaners.asp

Answer 7

Koolaid cleans toilets.
You put the whole package in the water and then scrub it around then flush it and then it's clean. Also Simple Green works too.

Answer 8

Go to Barefoot_Lass.com! You will love this website, it has everything on it.Enjoy!

Answer 9

Baking Soda - Extremely versatile, baking soda is an all-purpose, nontoxic cleaner. It cleans, deodorizes, scours, polishes and removes stains. There are entire books out about the zillions of uses of baking soda, and the best thing about it is that it's cheap!

Borax - (sodium borate) It deodorizes, removes stains and boosts the cleaning power of soap. It also prevents mold and odors. Great alternative for those who do not want to use bleach.

Cornstarch - cleans and deodorizes carpets and rugs, you can use this to replace expensive "baby powders" also.

Ketchup - great for cleaning copper

Lemon juice - great for whitening items, but vinegar is cheaper . It also cuts through grease and stains on aluminum and porcelain

Pure Soap - cleans just about anything and is mild

Salt - believe it or not, regular table salt makes an abrasive, but gentle, scouring powder. Who would have known?

Washing Soda - (sodium carbonate) Cuts grease and disinfects. It will also increase the cleaning power of soap.

White Vinegar - very cheap and versatile, great for whitening, also fantastic for cleaning hard surfaces, windows and shining up metal surfaces. Removes mildew, stains, grease and wax buildup. This is another natural cleaner that whole books have been written on!

Some helpful hints:

1. Make your cleaners ahead of time.

2. Organize them according to location they are used in, keeping out of reach of children. I like to keep all kitchen items under the (baby-proofed) sink, in a caddy (recycle a detergent box or milk jug for this) so they are handy. I make extras of items for the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms.

3. Buy your ingredients in bulk. This way, you save money twice! You save by buying in bulk (on sale of course!) and you save because you have what you need on hand, avoiding a trip to the store!

4. Store your ingredients in reusable airtight containers. I like to purchase spray bottles in bulk for this purpose, since it is not safe to reuse bottles that had commercial cleaners or chemicals in them. Milk jugs are great to use too.

5. Make large batches of several cleaners and store them in recycled milk jugs.

6. Wear rubber gloves when you clean to avoid skin irritation (and chapping in my case!)

Formulas:

All Purpose Cleaner (From RODALE'S BOOK OF PRACTICAL FORMULAS)

2 cups rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl)
1 tablespoon mild dishwashing liquid (for hand washing dishes, NOT dishwasher detergent-it contains bleach!)
1 tablespoon ammonia
2 quarts water

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl. Fill a CLEAN spray bottle (not recycled one) with cleaner and store the rest tightly sealed in a large bottle. Use witha cloth or sponge to clean the bathroom fixtures, kitchen fixtures, appliances, chrome, plastic countertops, and painted surfaces. Rinse with a clean cloth or sponge after cleaning.

Homemade Dust and Furniture Polish

I tried this one and it is not only easy, but cheap and very effective. No more pledge for me! I have a lot of woodwork in my home, and was very excited to find a cheaper polish!

1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup lemon juice

Pour oil and lemon juice into a squirt bottle or jar. Stir to combine. To use, dip dust cloth or rag into oil, blot the oil by folding the cloth together, and then dust your furniture. Leaves a beautiful finish!

All Purpose Quick Shiner

This shiner is mild and safe to use for all surfaces

1-1/4 cups white vinegar
1-1/4 cups water
22 ounce spray bottle

Pour vinegar and water into the spray bottle. Shake gently to combine. To use, spray on and wipe off.

All Purpose Window and Glass Cleaner

Vinegar cuts grease and leaves windows sparkling clean. Best of all, this mixture is absolutely safe. It's the best choice if you have young children in the house.

1/4 cup white vinegar
1 quart of water

Pour vinegar and water into a bowl or container, or mix the ingredients in a spray bottle. Clean windows directly with a sponge dipped in the bowl of cleaner or spray on and wipe clean. I have heard that you can use newspaper to clean windows quite well, I have always used old cloth diapers.

Sink Cleaner

Replace Comet and other abrasives with this homemade one. Combine baking soda and salt (I am guessing in equal amounts) to scrub stainless steel.

Oven Cleaner

1/4 cup ammonia
2 cups of warm water

Pour ammonia and warm water in a baking dish and leave in a warm oven overnight. This will loosen the grime in the over, which you can then clean with an ammonia-based cleaner or soap and water. You can also scour with baking soda.

Cleaning Silver

Don't buy one of those metal plates that you put in warm water to clean silver. This is the same thing! I found this trick in Make it Last by Earl Proulx, one of my favorite books on maintaining your home and possessions. I have done this on some silver plated forks and spoons that I got very cheap at a yard sale and they came out great!

This trick works like magic and kids love it.

Aluminum foil
Baking soda
Salt
Very hot water (can be boiling if you like)

Combine the above ingredients in a clean kitchen sink. Put your tarnished silver and silver-plated items into the sink and let set for a few minutes. Watch as the tarnish disappears from the silverware and reappears on the foil. This is a natural chemical reaction, and a great way to teach the kids some science!

Note: This trick works so well that it will clean out the nooks and crannies that give some silverware the "aged" look, so you may only want to do this occasionally. I had to include these formulas from Homemade Cleaners because they were actually tested and compared against commercial brands. We like that!

See how they performed:

MULTIPURPOSE CLEANER

Rating: Excellent. Performed as well as top-of-the-line commercial products.

Uses: Many. Tile and linoleum floors, Formica countertops, appliances, etc.

Hazards: Read about ammonia above.

Cost: About 40 cents a gallon (not including water)

1/4 cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1 cup household ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water

Mix ingredients and store in tightly-capped container.

OLD-FASHIONED GLASS AND WINDOW CLEANER

Rating: Very good. The best commercial preparations left the window only a little shinier. Even though the cornstarch makes the mixture slightly gritty, it didn't scratch the glass. Poisonous.

Hazards: Ammonia is poisonous, so keep. the mixture away from children and arrange good ventilation. Wear gloves because it's a heavy-duty cleaner and rough on the hands.

Cost: About 20 cents a gallon (not including water)

2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup household ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water

Mix the ingredients in a bucket and use to scrub windows. Try not to clean glass the sun is shining on because it will dry too fast and streak.

VINEGAR WINDOW CLEANER

Rating: Very good. We'd been warned that plain water could do as well as a vinegar solution, but our subjective impression was that the vinegar made it a lot easier to get rid of smudges. In theory, vinegar is supposed to remove hard-water spots.

Hazards: May be hard on your hands, but safe enough to drink.

Cost: About 7 cents a gallon (not including water)

1/2 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water

Just mix and scrub.

DILUTE BLEACH

Rating: Very good. In the ballpark with commercial cleaners, but few name-brand cleaners got rid of smudges with less scrubbing.

Hazards: Bleach is poisonous, so keep it away from children. It will bleach anything it touches, so use only on colorfast items. Check the solution first on a hidden spot.

Uses: Same as above.

Cost: Less than a penny a gallon (not including water)

2 tablespoons or 1/8 cup liquid bleach
1 quart cold water

Mix in a scrub bucket. Moisten an old cloth with the solution and wipe onto surface. Let stand about 2 minutes and rinse