Clean Green: Kitchen Spray
I must confess, for more than a year, my friend Elizabeth has been asking me to do a post on homemade household cleaners. As a result of her prodding, I am proud to present part 1 of a series on non-toxic cleaners for your home. We’ll start off with a cleaning spray for my favorite room of the house –the kitchen!
So, first questions first. Why make your own cleaning products? Why go through the bother? To save money and protect the environment, of course! You can pay upwards of $4 for a bottle of cleaning spray or, you can easily make it yourself for less. Below are the top ten reasons for a DIY cleaning spray:
- Save money
- Keep bottles out of the landfill -use just ONE bottle over and over again
- Conserve fossil fuel –why pay for a product that is mostly water to be shipped from miles away?
- Eliminate strong synthetic fragrances –that merely mask the dirt, doing little to get rid of it
- Make your home a non-toxic zone
- Refrain from adding harmful toxins to our waterways
- Stop supporting companies and manufacturers that produce harmful substances
- Eliminate consumption of unnecessary products from multi-national corporations
- Customize cleaning sprays with your favorite essential oils
- Make your own sprays in the comfort of your own home
I have mixed my own cleaning products for more than a decade. First, I enjoy doing so! Second, I want my house to actually be clean, not smell of strong synthetic fragrances. Third, I enjoy the scent of simple cleaners made from natural products. That’s why I created the kitchen counter spray that follows.
1 (16) ounce spray bottle
8 ounces peroxide
8 ounces water
5 drops tea tree oil
5 drops lemon oil
- Pour all ingredients into spray bottle
- Shake well
- Spray on counter surfaces and wipe with a clean rag
Below you can see the price difference between making your own cleaning product and purchasing it:
| DIY Spray (initial cost includes price of bottle) | $3.57 for 16 ounces |
| DIY Spray (refill cost) | $1.70 for 16 ounces ($.09 per ounce) |
| Fantastic All-Purpose Cleaner | $4.86 for 32 ounces ($.15 per ounce) |
| Seventh Generation | $4.19 for 32 ounces ($.13 per ounce) |
Other tips: If you have an old spray bottle lying around the house use that instead of purchasing a new one; to further save money (and trees) use rags instead of paper towels to keep your kitchen spic and span.
Easy solutions are at our fingertips. We can save money and protect the planet’s precious resources in the process, creating win-win situations that show us why the words economy and ecology share a prefix!
Now go ahead, let us know your favorite eco-cleaning tip in the comments section below!
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Subscribe by Email to elanaspantry.com:Posted on May 30, 2008 in activism and products by Elana
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Awesome post! I can’t wait to hear about your laundry tips!
How essential to the cleaning are the lemon and tea tree oils? Would it work just to mix equal parts hydrogen peroxide and water in a spray bottle?
We use my fiancé’s old, stained undershirts here as rags (we wash them first). They are also great for polishing silver. Another tip is that we use a (reusable) microfiber cloth in a Swiffer to clean our wood floors, instead of wasting money and many of the other reasons you so eloquently stated above with Swiffer cloths.
Take care, Elana!
May 31st, 2008 4:20 am
For people who use dryer sheets, you can reuse them a couple of times, and then once they get pretty worn out, they can be used to scrub the counter. They provide a little bit of abrasion to remove sticky spots.
I’ve never tried using peroxide and have always done the vinegar or baking soda based cleaners. I am sensitive to fragrance, so I’m assuming this would work just as well without the essential oils, no?
May 31st, 2008 7:08 am
This is great! Now again, like some of the others have asked, do you need the oils? I don’t have a wood counter top so I don’t know if the oils would work on a formica counter very well. Your thoughts?
May 31st, 2008 6:52 pm
~M -I do not think the oils are necessary, just very fun; tea tree oil is known as a disinfectant, however the peroxide will work on its own just as well, I think. Thanks for sharing your Swiffer use with us!
zebe -Thanks for the great tip and yes, works without the oils :-)
mama4I think the oils would be ok on a formica counter (it is 10 drops of oil –less than 1/8 teaspoon in 2 whole cups of water, not very oily, just good smelling) though works fine sans the oils…
May 31st, 2008 9:32 pm
Hi Elana, my mother in law is a devotee of baking soda and vinegar or lemon juice as a kitchen / bathroom ’scrub’ for stubborn stuff, and vinegar and newspaper for sparkly windows. And vinegar as a final rinse for your hair which is amazing, squeeky clean, very shiny and no smell once it’s dry. Baking soda is also great added to your shower gel if you swim a lot as it gets rid of chlorine smell quicker.
Your blog is really inspiring, thank you so much :o) xx
May 31st, 2008 11:26 pm
Elana Hi!
… for hardwood floors, distilled white vinegar in warm water refreshes beautifully while preserving wood’s glow.
Vinegar produces so many lovely outcomes, I wanted to learn much more about this lovely material..which inspires more doing..
hence I googled .. vinegar and cleaning..and up came a site that is an ode to vinegar and it’s sweet and current uses…here it is!
http://www.answers.com/topic/vinegar?cat=technology
Since it very doable .. i’m dreaming of making vinegar from our good local harvests . I’ve taken the step to google “how to make vinegar” . …including dandelion and clover vinegar :O)
here is a sweet resource on vinegar making
http://www.naturemoms.com/homemade-vinegar.html
I love your site Elana! And all the ways you inspire us to engage with each other, to explore..to create, to give.
xx
Shari
June 1st, 2008 8:43 am
A couple of things - I have vinegar and water with me everywhere in the house.
Instead of disposable dryer sheets, I dip a jcloth into liquid softener, squeeze and throw it into the dryer with the clothes - I reuse it until it’s shredded.
June 1st, 2008 8:19 pm
I have been contemplating for a while on making my own cleansing formula. But I dont know what works best. This is the first time I’ve seen someone use a peroxide base. What’s your take on vinegar and baking soda? I’m not too crazy about Vinegar or baking soda, but peroxide is right up the alley for me. Seems like it would do a more intense job of cleaning and killing germs. But is it really safe for kitchens? Hmm…
By the way I second microfiber cloth for cleaning.
June 2nd, 2008 11:44 am
Hello everyone. As I am reading your posts, I can only imagine what it would be like if we were all to attend an “Elana’s Pantry Retreat”. I imagine Elana in the kitchen demonstrating her all time favorites… ~M sitting with us all in the family room giving us random tips and all of us in our lab coats diving in to our next concoction! I can tell you what I would be doing… taking notes like crazy. Many of you are brilliant! Some of these ideas are so simple I am wondering why I didn’t think of that. Just yesterday I cut up the clean T-Shirts my husband no longer wears and put them in a container where the paper towels usually set. Thanks for this tip, ~M. It took a minute or two to get used to, but this paper and money saving tip proved to be no problem. I decided from there to conquer the evening. I made this kitchen spray and then I made an elegant asparagus soup. Boy am I learning some new things about my husband! I am trying to get us to enjoy dinners together and he is NOT a fan of creamy soup. He prefers substance… I learned my lesson :). Just stick to what has proven to work for right now.
June 3rd, 2008 6:22 am
Hi Elana -
Thank you for the recipe - I’m going to try it!
I’ve learned most of my chemical free ways (household, beauty, pest control) from a book called Better Basics for the Home by Annie Berthold-Bond. It’s worth it’s weight in gold.
I like white distilled vinegar for kitchen and laundry use (I add 1/2 C during the rinse cycle and don’t need dryer sheets) and apple cider vinegar for a hair rinse (diluted - a few TB in about 12 oz H2O). I stopped using conditioner on my hair b/c it leaves it so soft. Try it!
Apple cider vinegar has a lot of health benefits too - you can check out the Bragg website if you’re interested. It’s slightly kooky.
June 4th, 2008 5:29 pm
Thanks, Courtney!! It’s so nice to see someone be able to use a tip to their benefit! Sometimes, my mom wonders whether I’ve gone off the deep end in my commitment to be frugal and green, but it’s sort of a game I play with myself. :) For people who use rags (whether T-shirts or otherwise) as cloths, I’ve heard it can be helpful to toss the dirty ones into a basket or bin that is kept in the cabinet under the kitchen sink; when the bin is full, do laundry! My apartment is small enough that I just put them in a delicates bag (for easy sorting), which I store in my laundry basket. And your comment about our retreat had me laughing out loud, which is not allowed while studying for the bar! :)
Moi, I’m curious what you think could be potentially unsafe regarding peroxide…this is the same type of peroxide that is used on open cuts and scrapes and that can be gargled with (when mixed with water).
Does anyone know whether vinegar is drying to hair? I have super dry, curly hair that grows like a weed (both down and out) and soaks up tons of conditioner.
June 4th, 2008 6:07 pm
Claire -You are very welcome; glad you are finding my blog helpful. I really like your comments especially the one about baking soda getting rid of the chlorine; when we go to the pool in the summer, the boys and I smell of chlorine for days, it’s yucky. I am going to make up a shower gel with baking soda (probably use Dr. Bronner’s for the base). Thanks for the great tips!
Shari -Thanks for the vinegar info –wow that is amazing that you may make your own. If you do, please stop back over and let us know how it turns out! Thanks also for the last sentence of your comment, gave me goose bumps –is so nice to be “gotten.” xo Elana
Gizmar -Kudos to you for your household-wide vinegar and water campaign. Also, nice tip on DIY dryer sheets that are completely reusable!
Moi -I think peroxide is safe –I use it to gargle when I have a canker sore and I also bathe in it when I have a cold coming on…That’s my take. This very alternative site even goes as far as suggesting it is beneficial to take intravenously –not that I’ll be doing that any time soon!
Courtney -Thanks for another stirring and beautiful comment! We will have our own “mini-retreat” (in a commercial kitchen) here in Boulder on Saturday, June 28th 3-6 pm. I really am looking forward to meeting you in person! xo Elana
Jessica -Great tips. I am going to purchase the Better Basics Book. When you use the white vinegar in the laundry do you use it in place of detergent? Or as a “fabric softener?” I am a big lover of the Bragg’s cider vinegar; I have friends who drink it straight on a daily basis –I like it in my salad dressings and in some other dishes as well. Thanks for the great tps :-)
June 5th, 2008 12:19 am
It serves as a fabric softener - still use reg detergent. In the dryer I make sure to take out anything polyester after a few minutes and that insures no static cling. The drawback in what I do is that if I forget I have to add an extra rinse cycle and that wastes water. With a two year old running around I’m easily distracted. Gizmar’s technique may be the solution to that issue.
My husband does all kinds of vinegar shots - I am not that hard core - I add a couple tsp ACV and some agave sweetner to water and sip. Yum!
June 5th, 2008 6:42 am
Jessica- I keep a separate laundry basket in my little laundry closet for the clothing made of synthetic fabrics, do them on gentle and hang them to dry.
Even though mine aren’t 2 years old anymore, I’m still easily distracted –I totally get it!
Elana
June 5th, 2008 10:21 pm
Thanks for the great tips! Does anyone know if the peroxide is safe for granite countertops? I know I’ve read several places not to use vinegar or citric acids like lemon juice because granite is so porous, but I don’t know the verdict on peroxide. Can anyone speak from experience?
~ Erika
June 6th, 2008 1:11 pm
Hi Erika -I can speak from experience; I use it on the granite countertops in my kitchen and it works very well –no abrading :-)
June 6th, 2008 11:28 pm
Thanks, Elana! I’m anxious to try it out - good granite cleaner is really expensive, and I’m always looking for more natural alternatives.
June 7th, 2008 5:13 am
Hi Elana;
Thanks for the great recipe. I will definitely be making my first mixture. Have you tried using any other essential oils such as rosemary, or does the lemon add to the disinfecting/cleansing properties?
I have been using baking soda as a scrub in my bathroom for a while now and it works really well (seems to keep the drains clear as well). I am still wrestling, however, with finding a natural cleaner for the grout in the shower. I hate using the commercial cleaners that leave me gasping for air, but nothing else seems to get rid of the “mildew” discoloration on my colored grout. Any ideas? I hesitate to try hydrogen peroxide as it is a bleaching agent. Look forward to hearing from anyone who has a solution!
June 13th, 2008 7:32 am
Hi Everyone,
I’m so glad to have found so many people who are exploring alternatives! I have responses and questions to several of the comments here~
1) I’ve used either baking soda or vinegar for various cleaning projects with success, but never mixed together.
2) Does anyone know of a safe way to unclog a slowly draining sink? I tried baking soda and vinegar mixed together, as suggested by http://www.wikihow.com, with no success. It just foams.
3) Although this is a little off-topic, it does involve another use for baking soda and vinegar. NPR reported about a de-skunking concoction a few years back. I fortunately have not had the opportunity to try it, but NPR claimed that it worked. Mix 1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide with 1/4 cup of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of liquid soap. Apply and let stand 10 minutes then rinse off with tapwater. Mix immediately before use and don’t store it. It gives off oxygen gas and will burst a closed container.
4) Lastly, does anyone know of something to reduce the drying effects of chlorinated water on my hair? Like ~M, my hair is wildly curly and dry. Swimming in a pool makes it crispy, even when I wear a cap.
Many thanks!
June 13th, 2008 5:09 pm
Diane -I use any and all essential oils, I love to play with the different scents. Tea tree, lemon, rosemary and lavender tend to have what I think of as extra disinfectant properties. In terms of your other question, I actually do use a mixture of peroxide and water to get rid of the mildew on the shower grout and it works quite well.
Joy -For clogged drains I use 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup vinegar, let them sit for 5 minutes then pour in 1 cup of boiling water. That might work if you give it a try. Per your hair, I have a friend who has similar hair to you and she swims daily for exercise. She greases her hair with olive oil, then puts a swim cap over it which seems to do the trick!
June 19th, 2008 4:18 pm
Hi Everybody, This is Steve. I’m a single guy so I really need your cleaning help. I read your info - I’ve got 4 questions. 1 - The Countertop Cleaner - I saw the peroxide formula - is that just simple hydrogen peroxide like you can buy at Safeway? 2 - Also someone else said they use distilled white vinegar instead of peroxide for a Countertop cleaner - the site says mix 1 part vinegar with 4 parts water - another website I went to says use undiluted full-strength white distilled vinegar for Countertops? Which is correct? 3 - Do you have to use baking soda with the vinegar to clean Countertops? What are people using the baking soda for? 4 – After you use the peroxide or vinegar solution to clean a Countertop – do you have to take a separate clean rag and rinse the counter off with pure water or is it safe to leave the peroxide or vinegar on the counter.
Thanks - Steve
August 15th, 2008 6:29 pm
Steve;
I can answer a couple of your questions:
1. Yes, simple hydrogen peroxide - I saw it somewhere a while ago in a big bottle (2 l or so) but haven’t seen it again.
2. I use full strength distilled white vinegar on my cloth to clean my kitchen countertops. They are ribbed laminate and the vinegar takes all the fingerprints, dulling dirt etc out of the ribs and they look like new. I do rinse with clear water on a cloth and then dry.
3. Do not use baking soda on a laminate countertop - it will leave a “rubbed” mark. I use baking soda and water in my bathroom sinks and it acts as a cleanser and a scrubber - like a charm.
Have fun!
August 15th, 2008 8:41 pm
Thanks for your help Diane. What acidity should the Distilled White Vinegar be? 5% Acidity?
Does anybody know Which One Kills Germs and Bacteria Better? Hydrogen Peroxide or Distilled White Vinegar? Should You Clean Your kitchen counter with the Vinegar every night after dinner or just once a week? I don’t trust these multi-national companies. Most of the cleaning products don’t even list all of the ingredients in them, especially powerful chemicals like chlorine bleach or ammonia. Several popular multi-surface, antibacterial cleaners even use Sodium Hydroxide and claim that its totally safe for cleaning a countertop. Sodium Hydroxide is the chemical name for Lye. Its used in oven cleaners. Its very toxic stuff. Yes it will definitely kill germs and bacteria, and I might dilute it in water to clean a tile floor, but I have serious concerns about putting something that toxic on my kitchen countertop. Even if you rinse the counter with water, some of it is bound to end up in your food. I don’t want to allow something as toxic as Lye to end up in my ham sandwich. I went to a grocery store yesterday and bought a bottle of a popular liquid cleaner to clean my tile floors, that uses Sodium Hydroxide. The cashier was a grand mom about 60 years old who raised 5 kids. I asked her what she used her whole life, to clean her kitchen counters. You’re not going to believe what she told me. Distilled White Vinegar. I thought Distilled White Vinegar was used for salad dressing. I had no idea it could kill germs and bacteria.
August 16th, 2008 8:03 am
Hi Elana,
We just moved to Chicago! Whew! I bought a 2-pack of hydrogen peroxide and a huge bag of baking soda at Costco to make my own cleaners. However, I realized that I don’t have a glass cleaner…do you have any recommendations? I’d love to hear my household tips!
Let’s see if your blog likes my parents’ Internet provider…
Take care!
August 20th, 2008 10:01 am
Hi ~M,
I use a mixture of water and vinegar to clean the windows.
Congrats on the move!
Elana
September 4th, 2008 11:48 am