DIY Cleaning Products To Keep Your House Fresh

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For about the last 8 years, I’ve been on a journey to get rid of chemicals in my home & in and on my body! It all started when my mother in law was diagnosed with breast cancer. I started with getting rid of my regular deodorant and using an all natural one instead. I have been switching out commercial cleaning products for DIY natural ones ever since. Our house is not perfectly chemical free, but when I can, I go natural.

Now, adding another member to our family, it is even more important! Little bodies have an even harder time detoxing chemicals and the less we can add to our household, the better!

a household of 5 plus our sweet cat, Fluffy, lowering our exposure to added fragrances and dyes is really important to me.

Over the last 8 years, I have switched out most of my household cleaning products and have replaced them with DIY Cleaning Products! After some research, I found out just how easy it is to put together my own cleaning products. With a basic diy cleaning supply pantry, it literally only takes a few minutes to create natural cleaning products that are effective at cleaning and leave our house smelling wonderful.

If you decide to toss out all of your commercial cleaning products, make sure to have on hand some essentials of natural cleaning products so that you can be ready for any mess that comes your way!

Here are a few products that I like to have on hand as a natural cleaner pantry to create my natural cleaning products with:

Lemon Essential Oil: Ahhhh! The smell of pure lemon oil is one of my favorite oils in the world! Did you know that it not only smells delicious, but it also has cleaning properties? Lemon oil cuts through grease and sticky residue like none other! It also has anti bacterial and anti fungal properties.
Vinegar– Because vinegar is so acidic, it makes a great cleaner for hard water stains, soap scum and glue residues. When added to baking soda, it creates a chemical reaction that can unclog drains and make ovens squeaky clean.
Baking Soda- It is a great abrasive and useful for cleaning anything you might need some extra elbow grease to clean, like a toilet or inside of an oven. It also is a natural odor absorbent!
A Natural Dish Soap- There are tons of brands out there- I get mine at Target in the dishsoap section. I add from just a few drops to a few tables spoons, to some of my recipes to add the extra oomph of elbow grease that I need for floors, counter tops and showers.
Spray Bottles- (pick these up for $2 in the cleaning aisle of Target) I have a little addiction to spray bottles. I love that I can just keep all of my different cleaners ready to go in them.
A Stiff Scrub Brush- We can’t be afraid of using a scrub brush to get stuff clean. Some of the extremely toxic de-greasers out there have fumes so bad that you need to have window open for ventilation when using them. This stiff brush, will now be your new best friend. Mine is perfect for scrubbing the soap scum off the bottom of my shower pan!

DIY Cleaning Product Recipes

All Purpose Lemon Oil Cleaner

This all-purpose cleaner is perfect for cleaning doors, windows, floors, any hard surfaces.

8 oz. water
6-8 oz. white vinegar
25 drops lemon oil
2 tsp. natural dish soap

Add all ingredients to spray bottle and shake well.

Lemon Kitchen & Counter Spray

I literally use this spray every single day! I keep some lemon oil in my kitchen cabinet, so that I can make a quick batch easily when I run out. It smells so refreshing- just like a fresh-cut lemon!

8 oz. Water
25 drops essential oil
1 tsp. natural dish soap

Add all ingredients to spray bottle and shake well.

DIY Bath & Shower Cleaner

When I found this recipe I thought,”there is no way this is going to clean the nastiness off of my shower floor!” And I had a nasty shower floor. I can promise you- this recipe, plus my trusty stiff brush and a heap of baking soda cleaned my plastic shower pan floor better than any commercial cleaner I’ve ever used. I LOVE this stuff!

10 oz. White Vinegar (warmed in the microwave for 1 minute)
10 oz. Natural Dish Soap

Pour into spray bottle and shake well.

To Clean the Shower: Spray a thick layer over the shower pan. Sprinkle with baking soda and allow to sit for 30 minutes (or more, depending on the shower. Scrub, scrub, scrub and rinse!

Litter Box Refresh

One of the things I also like to do about once a year is to refresh my cat’s litter box. It keeps my garage smelling fresh and my kitty is happy too! It was that time of the year so my sidekick and I headed over to Target to pick up some Purina® Unscented Cat Litter-New TIDY CATS® Free & Clean™ Unscented Clumping Litter.

I found TIDY CATS Free and Clean on the Cat Litter aisle at Target! I also found a few other goodies too. I love using Tidy Cats Free & Clean because it is free of extra fragrances and dyes. Our Kiddos take turns cleaning out the litter box and I love that this unscented litter is free of extra stuff that my kids and cat doesn’t need. It uses the odor absorbing properties of activated charcoal (love this stuff!) to eliminate the odors of a litter box. It still keeps its clumping ability for easy clean-up, without added chemicals or fragrances. It comes in lightweight or traditional clump! Try Tidy Cats Free & Clean for a litter box refresh today!

I also picked up this cute little set for $4 too! It is a cute little broom & dustpan & litter scooper! I love that it keeps everything together in one place so the kids have no excuse for not cleaning up the litter from around the box! We hang this on the shelf next to our litter box.

I also picked up these little toys for my kitty- Target’s prices were so affordable, I couldn’t pass these up! Little catnip filled mice! My cat is a mouser so I just had to get these!