When my oldest daughter Joy was born, that’s when it started for me. You know how babies put their mouths on everything? I remember cleaning a toy that she promptly put in her mouth and feeling really freaked out. Did I rinse it well enough, or was she now chewing on bacteria-killing cleaning agents? Yuck, I felt like she might be better off just chewing on the germs!
 
That’s when I really got interested in homemade cleaners. Well, that and the fact that I stopped working after Joy came along, which meant we had just cut our household income in half! Being frugal while also making something non-toxic to my family and friendly to the earth? Yes, please!
My natural cleaner repertoire began with a simple multi-purpose spray of 1/3 parts vinegar + 2/3 parts water + a few drops of essential oil, and that is still my go-to cleaner. I’ve branched out over the years to find other great homemade recipes for cleaning just about everything, and thanks to Pinterest, it’s gotten super easy to find new ones!
Keeping new recipe ideas on a pinboard is a great way to organize them. But, I find that when I need to mix up a batch of my favorite cleaners, I have a bit of a mess on my hands. I have various print-outs from blogs, along with a few hand-written notes on scraps of paper. Aby came up with the idea for this great printable, which I just love. How easy is it to jot down the few ingredients and instructions for these cleaners? And now, my cleaning recipes will be together in my Command Central Binder. (Plus, they will look cute! I love that!)Â 
So I’ve solved one problem. But putting my cleaner recipes together has reminded me of my struggles to find recipes for laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. I have tried three different variations of laundry detergent but haven’t found the magic combination. It’s especially frustrating because I’ve got friends who just loved those recipes. I think I may have a tall order when it comes to laundry, though. We have seriously hard water. We are very active (a polite way to say there are super sweaty and stinky clothes in the laundry bin). Plus, my daughter Faith is a dirt and stain magnet. Oh, and I really dislike having to hunt through dirty clothes for spots to pre-treat. So I’m looking for a detergent that will do the dirty work for me!
As far as dishwasher detergent, total no-go there. I’ve only tried one recipe, and I felt like the dishes may have gotten cleaner if I’d just rinsed them off with a hose! And, I know that Aby tried a recipe for this that turned into the consistency of concrete. Not good!
So we are on the hunt for new cleaning recipes. Do you have a terrific recipe for dishwasher or laundry detergent you could recommend to me? Would you be kind enough to leave it or link to it in the comments below? Or if it’s something you’ve pinned on Pinterest, recommend it to me there. Thanks so much for your ideas!
Happy Cleaning & Organizing!
I’ve gotten into homemade cleaners too lately! I wish essential oils were easier to find here. I tried a vinegar and citrus peel cleaner that I found through pinterest and wasn’t super impressed with the residue.
I’m sure you’re probably already tried this laundry soap recipe. I love it! (but we do have a water softener and I pretreat all stains right away and add aspirin to the whites to help with underarm stains)
1 part fels naphtha grated soap
1 part washing soda (in the yellow box, NOT baking soda but also made by arm and hammer- I think the washing soda is sodium carbonate rather than sodium BIcarbonate like baking soda)
1 part borax
Use 1 tablespoon or more for soiled loads.
I add the soap to the empty washer and let it fill up with water and completely dissolve before adding clothes. It also works better if the load isn’t super packed (which I am guilty of sometimes, from my days of doing coin op laundry ha). Occasionally there are stains that need to be retreated (I always check before sticking anything in the dryer, the heat sets the stain in and makes it harder to remove). Most of the dirt and grime from my husband’s job and from working in the yard comes out in one wash. Also, most food spills from my daughter and grease from me not wearing an apron come out in one wash. I keep meaning to try adding a little bit of oxyclean to stubborn loads but keep forgetting to buy it. ha.
Maybe you can add extra borax to your laundry to soften the water?
I use homemade cleaners almost all the time (except the bathroom where I use bleach). I have yet to try the citrus/vinegar mixture but I’m working on it. Since we moved I no longer have a dishwasher but the one I use to make wasn’t so much as homemade as it was just making the store bought last much longer.
1 cup borax
1 cup store bought detergent (I used Walmart brand)
1 cup baking soda
Mix really well in a ventilated area because of the dust and then put a tablespoon or two into your dishwasher.
I never had any issues with spots and my dishes were almost always clean. There was the occasional stuck on stuff but my dishwasher was really old so that could have been some of the reason. If you don’t want the regular detergent in the recipe just omit it but I noticed a film on my dishes (again might have been from the age of the dishwasher). I always bought the smaller box of detergent for like a $1.00/box and it would last me almost 2 months!
Very nice article, thanks for sharing.
@Tabatha, thanks for sharing your recipe. That sounds like a great compromise between store-bought and homemade!!
I have had a seriously ineffective time finding a natural dishwasher soap! I had to go back to cascade before I lost my my mind and wasted more money. I’d love to find a better WORKING alternative!