DIY All Purpose Cleaner Recipe

I bought a book full of eco-friendly recipes a while ago called Clean House, Clean Planet, by Karen Logan.  My main reason for doing so is, obviously, to make more eco-friendly products.  I recently watched a documentary on Netflix (Chemercial: Redifining clean for a new generation) about a family who gave up all chemicals.  They had the air quality within their home tested before they changed products, and had alarmingly high rates of VOC's in the air. After they had converted to homemade eco-products for some time, they had their air quality tested again, and the VOC rate was next to nothing. Watching this documentary got me thinking about all the pollution that I probably have within my own home.  

My second motivation for making my own products is to save money.  Who doesn't want to save money?  Seriously?  For the most part, most of these ecofriendly products can be made with a combination of vinegar, baking soda, borax, and castile soap. My preferred castile soap is Dr. Bronner's.  These are all inexpensive and easily attainable products. I happen to already have all of these things on hand, but I'm pretty sure you can pick them all up for less than $25. If you are willing to spend more initially, you can buy larger quantities and save money in the long run. But, if you just want to dip your toe into making your own products, you can get small quantities of all these products for an affordable price. 

Now, dont get me wrong, it's not like I hadnt thought about going green before seeing this documentary. Of course I have already thought about it, and I even tried replacing my usual cleaning products with their eco-friendly counterparts years ago, but I found them to not be nearly as effective. Also, I found it to be MORE wastefule to use the eco products since I had to use more to get the same results, which then caused more plastic waste and more spending. 

Since I've resolved to make 2013 a healthier year, I figured there is no better time than now to whip out this book and make something!  The first thing I made was all purpose cleaner.  It only took the 3 simple ingredients, plus some hot water!  Quick and easy!  Check it out...

Oh, and don't mind the bowl of baking soda in the picture. I put that in the line-up by accident, and didn't feel like taking a new picture once I realized!  Yes, I can count, and no the recipe below is NOT lacking a measurement for baking soda :)

All Purpose Cleaner

24 oz. spray bottle

1/2 tsp. borax

2 tbsp. white vinegar

Hot water up to ~20 oz. fill line

1/2 c. castile soap (I used Dr. B's peppermint)

10 drops essential oil (optional for fragrance)

1. Combine borax and vinegar in the spray bottle, then fill bottle up to the 20 oz fill line. Shake until borax is dissolved.  Then pour in the castile soap and essential oil and shake gently to combine.  
2. Clean some shit!  Enjoy knowing that your skin won't melt off!

It's really that easy to have a homemade, eco-friendly all purpose cleaner!  It literally took me less than 5 minutes to make this.  The best part is that it actually works!  And I don't have to worry about getting bleach on my clothes if I bump against the counter while I'm cleaning.  Maybe it's just me, but I used to ruin a lot of shirts that way.  Yea, probably just me...