One of the ways I save money is by not buying too many cleaning products. It’s not only less expensive, but often it’s better for the environment to avoid harsh chemicals. And with the right mix of ingredients, homemade cleaning solutions often work just as well, and sometimes better, than their store bought counterparts.
The three ingredients I always have on hand for cleaning are baking soda, vinegar, and Dawn dishwashing detergent.
You can clean almost anything with these three items.
- To clean windows, mix 2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar, and up to 1/2 teaspoon of Dawn in a spray bottle. It cleans windows beautifully!
- For floors, add 1 cup vinegar to 1 gallon hot water and mop away!
- My favorite bathroom cleaner is a spray bottle filled with 1/2 cup Dawn and as much vinegar as the bottle holds. It works better than any commercial tub cleaner I’ve ever tried!
- For cleaning toilets, mix 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup Dawn, and 1/4 cup water. Let sit on the toilet bowl for a couple of hours, swish with a toilet brush, and flush.
- Plain baking soda works just like scouring powder. It’s also great for deodorizing carpet. Just sprinkle on the carpet, let sit for a while, and vacuum up!
Here is a video of me showing you how to make a batch of bathroom cleaner with Dawn and vinegar.
Have you ever tried homemade cleaners? What is your experience? Do you have any great recipes? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
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I like to use lemon Joy to clean windows, you can add to a bucket of water if you’re doing alot or put some with water in a spray bottle, cuts all the film off and you have sparkling clean windows. Used this in my housecleaning business when doing windows.
Thanks! It’s crazy how many, sometimes expensive, chemicals we use everyday. I decided to make my own when my sensitive cuticles started to bleed because I didn’t have gloves.
Hello! I have found that when you are wearing cleaning gloves, your hands tend to sweat inside them. I used to work at a meat packing plant and that is where I learned this: When wearing rubber cleaning gloves purchase gloves that are a size larger than you need. First, you put on white cotton gloves and then over the cotton gloves you put the rubber gloves. Insulates your hands against heat and the strength of your cleaners; you can make your water as hot as you want! Great for dishes!
Window or glass cleaner used by my mother for years and now by me.
Equal parts of white vinegar, methylated spirits and water. Shake well before each use. Keeps well. Rub on and then “polish” off with a dry cloth.
I like to use lemon juice to clean hard water build up in the sinks. I just let the juice sit there until the stains start to break up and then rinse it away. Plus, there’s nothing more fresh and clean smelling than lemons!
And another tip…for jewelry…I scrup rings and such with toothpaste to bring back that like-new luster!
Do you think lemon juice will work on bathtub stains. I have like white bulid up rings around the tub that no matter how hard I scrub it will always come back once I’am done.
how do you clean granite and natural stone surface.
i have been buying a really good cleaner made by METHOD HOME.
They have a website, a company based in Boston. They are available
at Lowes, Target. I just buy the REFILL bottle around $ 7.
I would really love to cut the cost of cleaning the GRANITE counter
top, and the Natural Stone floor to the bare minimum, if I could…
any suggestions of successful trial in the past?
Lynnae, thanks for this website. I will copy and paste some
of the suggestion above. Yes, indeed, cleaning supplies are the
most expensive items when I do my grocery, and the cost seems to be
going up. I almost fainted the other day, CVS has PALMOLIVE with
OXY for $ 1.00 (special price), the bottle seemed very small, its
a 10 oz indeed. I will def try to do my own cleaning supply in the
future…
Any suggestion on Granite and Natural Stones?
Thanks a lot!
Ams
Now, is this Dawn you use the ultra formula or the “original” original?
Leslie said:
“has anyone ever thought of making it into one product and adding some scented oils to it or even lemon juice. All three would clean, deodorize and sanitize!”
What quantities of each would you use?
I had to clean my apt kitchen today and what better way to clean than to use Vinegar and baking soda. I liked the way it cleaned. I thought I was the only one but has anyone ever thought of making it into one product and adding some scented oils to it or even lemon juice. All three would clean, deodorize and sanitize!
You reminded what a great product Dawn is (I’m a waitress and grease stains come right out of my uniforms) It also reminded that newspapers work great on windows instead of paper towels and peroxide is a great pretreater for clothes (it can yellow whites if it sits too long). Rubbing alcohol can also remove ink stains.
Great site. I enjoy being told how to save money.
I live in the southern California desert and the concrete deck surrounding my swimming pool is stained with a white chalky substance.
Any suggestions to clean that stuff?
Thanks,
John
I paid a company to come out and clean my windows. I found that when they got there, they had an oblong sponge on a stick plus a squeegee. I asked the man what solution he used. He has been doing this many, many years and this is his only business. His answer surprised me. He said he puts a few drops of DAWN dishwashing liquid into water, applies it with the oblong spong on the stick, then squeegees the window. That’s all he uses!
He made my windows crystal clear.
Rust Stain Removal: i have a pool with a deck that had some rust stains on it from patio furniture and other stuff….i found that rubbing a vitamin ‘C’ tablet on the rust stain works great! had to look a bit to find the ‘larger’ tablets as the small ones are hard to rub in as they crumble immediately….i wore gloves after scraping my finger tips a few times…..
also works on rust stains in your pool, just rub it in the best you can and while pretty tricky, try and lay one on the spot (this can usually only be done on your steps or hot tub as the motion of the water will move it very eaily
I’m so glad I found this post! I made the bathroom cleaner last night and cleaned my tub with it…it worked great! I’m going to try some of the other ideas from the comments, too! Thanks so much!
Nothing is wrong with making your own products. All you need is two basic ingredients as you said: vinegar and baking soda. They can handle almost any household cleaning task you can think of.
Peroxide works great on fresh blood stains. Pour and scrub, then wash as normal.
hey here in Australia we get Dawn if that helps..
Been using some of your “recipes” since August and I love em. Thanks for the info!!
Olive oil and lemon juice work well as an alternative to Pledge or other dusting sprays for wood.
Rubbing alcohol and water is great for getting spots out of carpet. It works faster and better than Resolve, and it dries quickly too.
I am curios. Do you really have to leave the cleaner on the toilet for two hours? Is this only for staining or does it take that long to disinfect? Is there a faster way, I have a four year old with a teeny tiny bladder and there is no way our only toilet could be unusable for two hours not even at night! Thanks in advance.
Many tasks are fine with just vinegar alone…. but obviously baking soda is another thing that is just as versatile….
I like using vinegar to clean glass… the smell makes me wanna clean glass all day (weird I know!!)
Just found out how to get oil/grease spots out of my shirts from cooking. A little dab of Dawn dish detergent, rub in and wash. Spot GONE! I couldn’t believe it! The oil/grease spots wouldn’t come out with Shout or other spot removers typically available at the grocery store. Dawn works like a charm every time and saves me money too!
Another homemade cleaner is lemon juice. I use lemon juice in my garbage disposal for the scent or you can add a little of it anywhere you want a nice lemon scent. ALSO, lemon juice works wonders on RUST STAINS. I use a small amt of lemon juice on my clothes that are stained with rust (and may work on other stains too) and let the garment set out in the sun. Wash / Launder as usual and rust is gone. I even used lemon juice on my patio furniture this spring to remove rust circles from cans, etc.
I’m so excited to have found this site! I plan to try all these wonderful formulas. Thank you! Everyone calls me cheap and a tree hugger… I call it monetarily and environmentally conscious.
I would like to know about Dawn.U are using this in toilet cleaning formula.
Do any other dish soaps work as well as Dawn?