Natural All-Purpose Cleaner
This is our go-to cleaner that we use for 95% of our household cleaning needs. I keep one bottle downstairs and one upstairs for all our work surfaces, floors, windows, toilets, the bathroom and any other day-to-day spills.
It has replaced tonnes of other bottles of bright green and blue liquids full of chemicals that we apparently ‘needed’ to keep our home clean. By going as chemical-free as we can the house is now safer for us and our children and we have more space due to fewer bottles cluttering our shelves. It has also saved us a lot of money as this recipe is super cheap, quick and easy, and uses every day, safe, household items.
A quick disclaimer: I do still use carpet cleaner for big stains, dishwasher tables (I have tried a few natural homemade options but haven’t had much luck with them so far) and Vikal for tough limescale on taps.
I like to make our cleaner citrus scented with old peels saved over the winter. It takes a bit longer to make as you will see but means the spay smells of oranges (or lemons) instead of vinegar and in my opinion is well worth the extra time taken.
Ingredients:
- Citrus peels (oranges, clementines, lemons etc)
- White wine vinegar
- Filtered water
Method:
It really couldn’t be more straightforward; to create your spray simply measure equal parts vinegar and water in your spray bottle, give it a good shake and you are good to go!
To make a citrus-scented cleaning spray I fill a jar with old clementine peelings and once full I top it with vinegar, pop it under my sink for 2 weeks and then use this scented vinegar along with the filtered water, again at a 1:1 ratio.
This gives the spray a much nicer smell without adding any unwanted extras – if you find that after 2 weeks your vinegar doesn’t really smell of citrus yet then just pop it back under the sink to soak for a bit longer.
If you are in a rush and need it today then you can use a few drops of essential oil to help mask the vinegar scent. Below are the ones I use, I’ll be honest in that I don’t know how ethical they are, but I’ve had them for years and want to use them up before buying more.
Do you have any safe, quick, frugal cleaning tips to recommend? We are always looking to use fewer chemicals in our home and would love to hear your alternatives.
Livvy and Summer
