Newlywed Hares: Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

Yesterday I was doing some cleaning up around the kitchen and realized that I was about out of my homemade cleaner. I have been using this cleaner for over a year and have only bought 1 other cleaner since I started using it. (That one other cleaner was a Clorox foaming cleaner for our nasty tub. I don't recommend the foaming kind by the way; it wasn't very helpful.) I found this recipe on Dr. Oz's website, so yes, it's doctor approved! It's great because there are no toxic chemicals, which means it's ok to breathe into your throat and lungs. Also, since you aren't buying a million bottles of different types of cleaners, it reduces waste. Sounds pretty good, huh? Here's what you will need.

1 empty spray bottle (I found mine in the dollar section at Ace Hardware last year. I'm sure you can find them at the Dollar Tree, Walmart, etc), 2 Tbsp of Borax, 6 Tbsp of white vinegar, 4 cups of water, 2 Tbsp of dish soap (I use Ajax cause it's the cheapest at my grocery store), and 2 drops of essential oil (optional, for fragrance if you don't want it to smell like vinegar. Peppermint essential oil would be a good, clean scent.) Not pictured: funnel.

I acually cheated a little bit on the essential oil part. This is what I use for $1.00 from Dollar General. It's not technically essential oil, but it's an oil that's scented. :) You can make several batches of cleaner from this tiny bottle.

They have different scents. The one I am using is called Ocean Breeze. If you are trying to find Borax, it looks like this and can be found at Ace Hardware and other home improvement stores. I would say you could also find it at Walmart.

Using a funnel, measure and pour the ingredients into the empty spray bottle. Make sure you use a funnel, otherwise this is going to make a big mess and most of the products won't go into the spray bottle.

Make sure you put the products into the bottle in the order that they are listed in the ingredients above. If you put the dish soap in before the water, then you will have a big bubbly mess when you put the water in. :) After all of the ingredients are in, screw the lid on and give it a good shake. Now you're ready to clean!

Don't forget to label your bottle. I just put some clear tape on the bottle and wrote "All-Purpose Cleaner." That way everyone in the house knows what it is and what it is for (basically anything). I use this cleaner for daily kitchen cleaning, daily bathroom cleaning, etc. If you need something more heavy duty if the tubs get bad or if someone has been really sick, then I would go for something with bleach in it to get all the nastiness out.