Written by Erin Odom, Contributing Writer
As we near the end of our "Spring Clean the Toxins" theme this month, let's develop a recipe for a toxin-free kitchen. After all, the kitchen is often the center of the home, and it's where we homemakers spend much of our time.
We know that making ingredients from scratch and getting rid of hidden food/food prep toxins is a great start. And by using simple, natural homemade cleaners, we can eliminate many other toxins that could otherwise leach their way into our systems.
From the endocrine-disrupting phthalates that hide away in conventional dish soaps to triclosan-laden hand soaps which can promote the growth of drug resistant bacteria (source), toxins may be lurking in our kitchens under the guise of cleaning products.
Without further ado, here are 10 recipes for homemade kitchen cleaners that are sure to keep the toxins at bay.
1. Homemade Liquid Dish Soap
Conventional dish soaps can contain phthalates, which can lead to reduced sperm count in men and possibly even liver cancer (source). It's really quite easy to make your own. I make mine using liquid castile soap, all-purpose citrus cleaner, and essential oils.
2. Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
I will admit that one of my favorite things about homemade cleaning supplies is that I don't have to go to the store as often if I keep a good supply of key ingredients to make my own. Stacy's recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent just requires salt, borax, baking or washing soda and lemi-shine! Four natural ingredients that leave no toxins, like triclosan, on your dishes!
3. Homemade Liquid Hand Soap
I don't know about you, but when I'm dealing with raw meat or even eggs, I wash my hands incessantly! When I started reading about the dangers of antibacterial hand soap, I couldn't wait to find an alternative.
This homemade foaming hand soap couldn't be easier to make. My husband and I re-use old mason jars to store the soap, and we gave a peppermint version as Christmas gifts to female friends and family this year! This recipe is so mild that we even use it as a homemade body wash/shampoo for our toddler and preschooler!
4. Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner
I have previously used a simple vinegar-water solution for cleaning my countertops, but I recently discovered Lexie: Natural's all-purpose citrus cleaner and fell in love!
This cleaner is SO easy to make. All you need is orange peels, salt, vinegar, and water! The best part is that the citrus scent helps masks the strong vinegar smell, which makes my hubby one happy man! I use this cleaner on my countertops, stove, sink, and even on my floors!
5. Homemade Disinfectant Wipes
When I was a newlywed, I used Clorox disinfecting wipes meticulously! I loved the ease of the cleaner already made into the wipe. Boy, how things have changed!
But I still enjoy using homemade disinfectant wipes on occasion. They really aren't hard to make yourself, and you can use old T-shirts to cut down on waste. Emily has an excellent recipe, and here's the version I use.
I'll be honest--I rarely clean my oven. I guess it's part laziness and partly the fact that I just hate exposing my home to chemicals like the eye/skin-burning Sodium Hydroxide--which is a part of most conventional oven cleaners.
But Anne of Quick and Easy, Cheap and Healthy has several great ideas for non-toxic oven cleaners using supplies that most homemakers keep on hand anyway!
Image by LuMag00
7. Homemade Natural Ant Killer
Thankfully, I've never had to deal with ants in my kitchen. But growing up on six acres in the country, I watched my mom battle the tiny insects almost daily. It seems that it only took one crumb on the floor for a whole army of ants to invade her kitchen.
Instead of using harsh insect repellents/killers, I'm suggesting my mom use Stacy's recipe for a homemade natural ant killer. It uses white sugar, but, hey, it's the ants eating it, not your kids...right?
8. Homemade Green Drain Cleaner
Nothing seems worse than a clogged drain--especially when you are trying to get dinner in the oven! Jen at This Gal's Journey has an easy-peasy, green drainer cleaner recipe that sure beats Drain-O (and is much cheaper as well!).
9. Homemade Produce Wash
Despite any debates about how to wash produce, I err on the side of caution and wash my produce well--especially if it's not organic. TipNut's recipe just requires water, baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice!
Image courtesy Lexie: Naturals
10. Homemade Soft Scrub
A little over a year ago, Sharon shared this homemade soft scrub recipe with Keeper of the Home readers. Using just baking soda, laundry soap and grapefruit seed extract, Sharon says this is a "better, safer, cheaper alternative" to scrubbing your sink with conventional cleaners!
Bonus: Norwex Cloths
Now, I do NOT want to purchase expensive cleaners or cleaning supplies--not when I know I can make my own! But a few months back, Gloria asked if I'd like to review her Norwex cleaning cloths. She claimed the colloidal-silver-laced microfiber could actually clean up raw chicken with nothing else than water and the cloth! I can say that, in the long run, using these or a similar product would cut down on toxins without burdening your budget on pricey "green" cleaners.
Now, do I personally ALWAYS use homemade or even green cleaners? I want to be transparent with you. Yes, 99% of the time I do. However, a few weeks ago I actually broke down and purchased some bleach and lysol.What? Am I actually admitting that in this post?! Yes, I am. My family suffered for three weeks from the norovirus, and it finally took a bleach solution to kill it. However, I think those times should be very few and far between!
Looking for more homemade cleaning recipes or still new to making your cleaners instead of buying them? There's an ebook called Simply Clean: DIY Solutions for a Naturally Clean Home, which includes a wide variety of ideas for homemade cleaners to use not just in the kitchen, but in all areas of the home (laundry, bathroom, floors, walls, windows and mirrors, etc.). The ingredients are simple, non-toxic and frugal. It's $4.95, which is well worth it for the money you'll save making your own.
Quick comment on household chemicals when you had the virus. Consider using Shaklee's Basic G (germicidal) instead of bleach/Lysol. This has a longer lasting surface time ( Lysol, bleach, etc. maybe 24 hrs.) Their products are natural based & non-toxic. I use the Basic G in between bed sheet changes and especially when there's been colds/flu. After cleaning sinks, tub/shower I spray and leave it, and on floors. I even just spritz it in the air when we've had illness in our home. It's very concentrated and a bottle will last a very long time. I'm a garage saler and everything I buy gets disinfected. I'm not a seller of their products, but have been very satisfied with this and not having the choking fumes of bleach, Lysol, etc.
I just wanted you to know that I have linked your site to my blog 'Frugal for Everyone'. My blog is about cutting grocery costs but since April is spring cleaning time and also Earth month, I thought is would be interesting to combine being frugal with being environmentally smart.
Using natural cleaners allows you to be both but since natural cleaners aren't really what my blog is all about, I thought I would forward my readers to your site for the needed information.
I just wanted to let you know the links for the All Purpose Cleaner no longer work.
Sarah, it should be working now! Sorry! I was getting my site swapped over and I had to redirect all my links. :)
Thanks for the great recipes! I especially liked the handmade liquid soap, so easy, and homemade dish detergent. Tea tree oil soap from Trader's Joe's is a cheap way to get tea tree oil. It even worked on my toe nail problem. I had some sort of growth on my toe nail. My doctor told me it was fungal and there were 2 ways to treat it: laser it for $$$ or file it back myself and apply tea tree oil. I took the file and tea tree oil route and it took just a little while to heal (approx. 2 to 3 months). I used Trader Joes Tea Tree Tingle. body wash.
I just filed the deformed toe nail with a metal nail file, then slathered on the body wash.
Good luck and Thanks
Dr. Bronner's also offers a product called Sal Suds which is meant to be used for laundry and cleaning but not on the body because it can be drying. I use it as well as castille for shampoo and body. To the person who mentioned how expensive the soap is, you should know that Dr. Bronner's is very concentrated and is meant to be diluted at different ratios depending on what you are using it for so it really goes a lot further than most other products. Borax receives a grade F from the Environmental Working Group. It is NOT a safe product. Household product grades can be checked at http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners . Beauty product grades can be checked at http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/.
Regarding mixing vinegar and Dr. Bronner's, apparently they make a great team but mixing them defeats the purpose. I just came across this yesterday as I am just now delving into my all-natural household transformation! Here's what Lisa Bronner says:
http://lisa.drbronner.com/?p=292
I was wondering if the orange peel in your all purpose cleanser could be replaced by lemon peel??
Please let me know by email.
Peace to you,
Gina
Any citrus peel will work. I've used lemon and a lemon/orange mix and they work equally well.
I made my own dish washer soap and it left soap residue on all the dishes tried the second time with heated dry off with the same result. I used the recipe from chemerical using vinegar castile soap water and lemon juice. Do you have any suggestions?
I made my own dish washer soap and it left soap residue on all the dishes tried the second time with heated dry off with the same result. I used the recipe from chemerical using vinegar castile soap water and lemon juice. Do you have any suggestions
Great page great ideas. We ONLY use green products for cleaning that my wife and I make ourselves. Check out our site for all natural beauty products... Thanks again for the great info ...
I read in many articles that Borax harms the reproductive tract especialy in children as well as the skin and respiratory system. I stopped using Borax.
Erin, I am very interested in home made products and your recipes are being very useful! Starting to try some things and I love the idea. Though I just read about this norovirus, Im a little concern, are these cleaners not enough to clean completely well the surfaces? Or lets say, is this soap foam for hands good enough? I would like to hear your comments. Thankyou
I would like to know what size pumps you bought for the foaming hand soap please. There are several different ones on the site you referred to. Thanks!
I see that a lot of homemade recipes use castile soap, I've never seen castile soap on shop shelves where I live and an online search of suppliers in NZ showed it is quite expensive. is there an alternative I could use instead?
I think it depends on the recipe. Which one do you want to try? You can also try making your own Castile soap, but I've never tried it.
Someone commented on another post that they use natural dish soap instead of castile soap.
I have made several batches of castille soap. It is easy and fairly inexpensive.
Where did you find the soap pump topper for the mason jars? Love it! Thanks for all the great recipes!
We bought the top at Walmart in the canning section and the pump from here: http://www.bottlesandfoamers.com/cart/!
I have bought a sensor waste bin which is an amazing product perfect for a clean, smell free and easy-to-excess solution for disposing of kitchen waste.
When my son was a baby I made my own baby wipes using a dilution of a few drops of gentle liquid soap and water in a sealed, plastic container (such as the kind commercial baby wipes come in). Mix until foamy and add as many paper towels as will fit. The paper towels keep their shape and don't disintegrate. They were so much cheaper than buying commercial wipes and I knew exactly what I was putting on my baby's bottom.
Great idea! We use baby wash cloths and wash them with our diapers.
Borax is supposed to be dangerous.
love this pos! and made my own batches of several of these yesterday! Just wondering though about them mention of tea tree oil and its use. I've heard many things about this not being good for boys, because of unnatural breast growth. Have you heard anything about that?
This momma is so thankful for the softness that the hand soap produces! I wash my hands so many times a day and my hands are still so soft now! Thanks!
**oops! meant to say 'love this post!!!
I love this list! I've switched over to non-toxic everything except the dish soap and dishwasher detergent. The dish soap is next on my list, and all my dishwashing detergent attempts have failed. :( I have one more recipe I'm going to try that I found; we'll see how it works!
Dish soap is next on my list, too. :)
i have an all purpose cleaner i made with 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water, and a few drops of both tea tree and lavendar oils. it is awesome!
I love the scent of tea tree & vinegar mixed together!
Whoa. Aaannnnndd....bookmark placed. :)
:)
I love this Erin! Thank you!! One on the first things on my to do list when I'm a stay at home wifey is to convert my home to non toxic cleaners and products!! I'm no where near there yet but it's on my to do list ;) thanks for sharing this great list. As soon as I'm back on my computer I'm going to pin this for later lol!!
I'm taking it one bite at a time. I'm so excited you get to be a sahw very soon!! :)
I've been cleaning with vinegar and water for 2 years now, and contantly battle the smell thing. Not me. I like it. Smells like Easter :) But the hubby always complained. I've used lavender stems right in my bottle, and that helped a lot, but the stems will eventually break down and clog the bottle, so I started looking for other alternatives. About 2 months ago we started soaking the vinegar in peels for 2 weeks before using and the difference is amazing.
I enjoy your blog and only wish I had your counter space :)
Thank you, Christine! It's funny because my hubby is the same way! He hates the smell of vinegar, but even he will use the citrus cleaner! It does still have that slight vinegary smell, but, for the most part, the citrus shines through! I'm glad you've found the same solution!
Best post ever! This is just what I was looking for. What a huge blessing!
Thank you so much, Vicki! I hope it truly does bless you! :)
I generally just use vinegar and baking soda, but now I'm going to have to try some of these recipes especially the citrus cleaner.
Vinegar and baking soda seem to be the homemade cleaner staples! The citrus cleaner is so easy to make...it's my new favorite!
Hope you love it!
I loved this list Erin. I usually use a vinegar/water solution on my counters but am going to make it with citrus this time. I'm excited to make it. Thanks!
Thank you, Diana! I hope you like the citrus cleaner as much as I do! There is still a slight vinegar smell, but it's not anywhere near as strong as straight vinegar water. I think the longer it sits, the better it gets. I always have about 2 going at once. I always save my orange peels, and just keep them in the freezer!
GREAT list! I'm looking forward to trying the dish soap and drain cleaner! I LOVE my foaming hand soap. It's all we use anymore!
So glad you like the soap! It's our favorite for sure!
Great recipes - I'm going to try the hand soap this weekend! I posted yesterday about some ways to be more "green" easily and included my super easy window cleaner (Tip #3).
http://behealthybehappywellness.com/blog/2012/04/ten-easy-ways-to-be-a-little-greener
Thanks for the recipe, Pam!! That soap is our absolute favorite--and so easy! The link is for the peppermint version we use around the holidays, but you can use any combo of essential oils you like! We enjoy using lavender and tea tree or orange for a citrus scent!
Thanks for admitting that 1% of the time when you go conventional. I must confess that while in the process of selling my house I just ran out of the time to make my own cleaners (not to mention that I was going through cleaners left and right). I broke down and bought commercial dishwashing detergent with a smile on my face. We women just can't do everything all of the time.
I'm especially looking forward to trying out the liquid dish soap, the one cleaner that I usually buy. (That and laundry soap, which a friend of mine makes in her kitchen.)
Thanks, Elizabeth. I feel like we have to be "real" and admit we aren't super women!
I've got a questions about the Lemi-shine. The ingredients list "fragrance" as the third item; does anyone know if this is naturally or chemically derived?
Great question! I will ask Stacy and get back to you asap!
If I compare this recipe to others that I've used, the Lemi-shine is to provide citric acid. You can use a Fruit Fresh type of product, 10 packets of Kool-Aid (although this makes it clump, so I just add a little Kool-Aid at the time), or Now Citric Acid if you prefer.
The lemi-shine is for citric acid. I buy straight citric acid in the bulk section of my local food co-op. It's cheaper and I don't have to wonder what the fragrance is in lemi-shine
Thanks for the clarification!
Hi Amanda! I think I answered your question on my blog today, but I wanted to pop in here and answer it in case you didn't see it. :-)
Lemishine says: "You will be pleased to know that Lemi Shine® is comprised of 100% all natural fruit acids and oils. That’s right, Lemi Shine® contains no phosphates or fillers."
Some people say they don't even need to use it - that the vinegar is the only thing they need to cut film. I think it's all dependent on the type of water that you have at your home.
If you'll scroll to the bottom of that post, I list tips from several readers and not all of them use the Lemi-shine. Some just use lemon kool-aid and some use lemon juice. :-)
Let me know if you have more questions! :-)
Thanks for clarifying!
I have had to change over to all natural cleaners and care products due to migraines from chemicals. I love finding other ideas. One cleaner that I use when we are fighting things strongly is tea tree oil. (I absolutely cannot use lysol without being in bed for a few days in pain.) We had H1N1 a few weeks ago with two our children, and the other three of us were able to not get it. I sprayed down everything with tea tree oil and water. It doesn't smell good, so this one only gets pulled out when I need something really strong.
I love the smell of tea tree, so I'll have to try that! We used thieves oil a lot while we had the norovirus--rubbed it on our feet, behind on necks and sprayed it on everything before we pulled out the lysol and bleach water. I absolutely despise the smell of lysol!! I hold my breath and wear a mask!
Great list, Erin! I just love your foaming soap and your great idea for mason jars! Now they're all over my house! :-)
Thanks, Stacy! We will never go back to storebought soap! SO easy to make.
Thanks for all the great recipes!! I've been making a change over to natural cleaners a bite at a time, and having these all in one place is so very helpful...thank you. God bless!!
You're welcome! I hope having a one-stop resource here at KOTH will help! I know I often get lost in the sea of websites out there! Be blessed! I'm taking this one bite at a time as well!
These are all great!! And thanks a million for the mention!!
Thanks, Jen! Your recipe for the drain cleaner is great! Love your blog!!! :)