Making Your Own Cleaning Products
A Guide To Getting Started
SIMPLE + ECONOMICAL
Below you will find some information about the core cleaning ingredients, my personal recipes, and some links to solid information and websites for you to explore. Understanding the ingredients themselves will give you a foundation to build upon and you'll find yourself trying out different variations. I provide an explanation behind my personal "blends", but I hope you look into the other sites and pages that I link to.
Happy cleaning!
THE BASICS
Baking Soda: mixed with Vinegar makes for some great foaming action! Think science experiment with volcanos when you were a kid! Costco has a great deal on their big bags.
Borax: another great staple that some recipes call for. Borax works best when used with hot water because of its chemical properties. Personally, I don't use this in any of my daily cleaning supplies except my homemade laundry detergent.
Bronners Liquid Castile Soap: My NEW FAVE for cleaning my granite counter tops. Castile soap and vinegar DO NOT MIX. Bronners provides a great little explanation as to why. When mixed they counteract each other and are less effective, but when layered one after the other, they work like magic. You may find some recipes that call for mixing both in one bottle. My advice: don't do it!
Sal Suds: another cleaning option. Going Green with a Bronner Mom has great info on cleaning with this, but I have not used it yet.
doTERRA Essential Oils: of course! Your Modern Essentials book is a great resource for choosing the right oils and why. Some of my favorites for cleaning are:
- Eucalyptus
- Melealuca
- Lemon
- Lime
- Ylang Ylang
- Wild Orange
- White Fir
Dark Glass Amber Spray Bottles: dark because we want to preserve the active properties of those great oils, and glass because EO's eat away at plastics. Aroma Tools is by far the cheapest option I've found, especially if you go in and split costs with other oil loving friends.
MY CLEANING BLENDS
GLASS CLEANER
- 1 ½ C Vinegar
- ½ C Purified or Distilled Water
- 8 drops of ANY Citrus Essential Oil
Mix together in a dark glass spray bottle.
TOILET BOWL CLEANER
Add in the bowl in this order:
- 1/2 to 1 Cup baking soda
- 5-10 drops melaluca
- 1 Cup vinegar
Scrub as the toilet bubbles in the chemical reaction and let it sit for a few minutes. Flush.
VINEGAR SPRAY
For a 16 oz. dark amber glass bottle:
- Half vinegar
- Half water
- 15-20 drops of your favorite essential oil
ALL PURPOSE SPRAY
I have Granite counter tops and I know that vinegar and granite do not mix. This is my all purpose counter spray, but it's SO MUCH MORE! I love this stuff! I use it to clean my toilet seats, my bathroom counters, toys...
For a 16oz bottle:
- 1/4 Cup Dr Bronners
- Fill the rest of the bottle with water
- 15-20 drops of wild orange, lemon, OnGuard, or mix it up!
- Put on lid and shake! Shake before each use.
Use a microfiber cloth to buff off the soap. I promise it's not too greasy. This cleaner conditions the surface really nicely, leaving no residue as long as you use the microfiber cloth at the end to buff it all off.
BATHTUB CLEANER
There are MANY ways to do this one. See links below for some additional ideas.
- Optional: Use castor oil soap first if your tub has a lot of soap build up.
- Spray tub with Vinegar Spray (The castor oil soap will leave your tub with a very slippery surface. The Vinegar Spray will eat that right up and leave an extra shine. Personally, I just skip the castor oil soap but some LOVE to use it.
- Sprinkle tub with baking soda and spray one more time with vinegar solution..then scrub away. Sometimes, I'll add a few drops straight from the bottle of lemon, but other times I won't worry about it since I already have EO's in my Vinegar Spray. It's up to you.
- Rinse and see the SHINE!
In summary: SPRAY SPRINKLE SPRAY SCRUB RINSE
No more nasty chemicals in your tub...where you bathe!
DUSTING CLOTH FOR WOOD SURFACES
- 1/3 tsp. Olive Oil
- ¼ C Vinegar
- 4 drops Lemon Essential Oil
- Soft Cloth
Mix ingredients. Dab soft cloth in and reuse.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Have fun!
Kelli Tunmore
If you have any questions about the information I've shared here or if you've never heard about the amazing benefits of doTerra essential oils and want to learn more, I'd love to talk to you!
Email: tunmoreoils@gmail.com
Website: http://mydoterra.com/tunmoreoils