Household cleaners can make a massive dent in your monthly budget. One visit to the supermarket and you will be overwhelmed with the variety of products available. You will find specific cleaning products for floors, oven, cooktop, glass, wood, and even windows and may end up buying ten different bottles of chemical solutions and pay up a hefty price for them especially if they are labeled natural cleaners.
Fortunately, you can avoid buying these expensive chemical-laden solutions and clean your house with environmentally friendly and much cheaper homemade cleaning products with essential oils. Don't worry homemade cleaners are easy to make using inexpensive natural ingredients you probably already have at home. All you will need to add is a good quality essential oil like the ones I use. Essential oils are not only great for aromatherapy; they also make great ingredients for DIY cleaning products.
Read on as we share with you some of the best essential oil cleaner recipes that are easy to make and will have your home sparkling in no time. Just a heads up, making your own cleaners and homemade products with essential oils gets addictive. I love saving money while ditching the toxic chemicals found in commercially made all purpose cleaning sprays.
Floors
Let us start with the floors. There are as many homemade floor cleaner recipes as there are types of floors. Cleaning with essential oils and vinegar works for all of them. The use of essential oils in this recipe not only helps cover the vinegar scent but they are a key ingredient to tackling grime.
Superstar vinegar floor cleaner
Ingredients
- Distilled water – 1 cup
- White vinegar – ½ cup
- Rubbing alcohol – ½ cup
- Liquid castile soap – 3 drops
- Lavender oil – 7 drops
- Lemon essential oil – 7 drops
- Tea tree oil – 10 drops
- Peppermint oil – 5 drops
Method
Mix all these ingredients and pour them into a glass spray bottle.
Spray this solution on the floor after you have it swept or vacuumed. Wipe with a microfiber mop.
You can use this homemade floor cleaner on laminate, tile, linoleum, and wood floors. Avoid using this vinegar cleaning solution for floors on natural stone surfaces, as the vinegar in this cleaner may be too acidic for marble or granite.
Some of the best essential oils for cleaning floors are –
- Lemongrass
- Wild orange
- Lime
- Orange
- Clove
- Cinnamon
- Eucalyptus
- Peppermint
You can check out more recipes for homemade floor cleaners with essential oils here.
Windows
This recipe works well not only on your windows but on other glass surfaces like shower doors, mirrors, and glass tabletops. Essential oils provide a fresh, clean scent and help disinfect and deodorize the surfaces.
Citrusy glass cleaner
Many of us do not like the strong smell of vinegar. Here’s a recipe for a homemade glass cleaner without vinegar.
Ingredients
- Hot water – 1 cup
- Rubbing alcohol – 1 cup
- Corn starch – 4 tablespoons
- Lemon essential oil – 20 drops
- Orange essential oil – 20 drops
- Spray bottle
Instructions
Pour water into a bowl and add rubbing alcohol to it. Add corn starch and mix it well with a whisk. Add the orange and lemon essential oil and mix again. Pour this mixture into a spray bottle. Shake the bottle well before every use. Speay on surface to clean and wipe with a clean cloth or paper towel.
This recipe contains corn starch which is quite useful as a cleaner. Corn starch contains fine granules, which make it a natural abrasive and effective cleaner. When used in a window cleaner recipe, it removes grime effectively and gives your windows a streak-free shine.
You can check out more recipes for homemade window cleaners with essential oils here.
Bathroom
When it comes to cleaning your home, the bathroom is usually the most challenging room to tackle. It is prone to mold, soap scum, and hard water stains. An essential oil bathroom cleaner made with non-toxic ingredients can be the best option to avoid the strong chemical smells of commercial cleaners and save money.
Essential oil bathroom cleaner
Ingredients
- Baking soda – ¼ cup
- White vinegar – ¼ cup
- Lemon juice – 2 tablespoons
- Dr. Bronner Castile soap – 2 tablespoons
- Table salt – 2 tablespoons
- Lavender oil – 15 drops
- Teatree oil – 15 drops
Method
Mix all the ingredients in a glass bowl and pour into a container with a lid. Ensure the container has extra room as a chemical reaction is produced when baking soda and vinegar are mixed. test this on a small area to insure that the recipe is not too abrasive for your bathroom surfaces.
Cleaning with essential oils and vinegar works for the toilet bowl as well. Just mix equal quantities of white vinegar and baking soda and add a few drops of peppermint essential oil to it. Pour it into the toilet bowl and clean with a toilet brush.
Check out my six best shower cleaner recipes for some other natural options to clean your bathroom.
Kitchen
Cleaning your kitchen may seem overwhelming, but with this easy-to-create essential oil cleaning spray recipe, you can clean the greasy and sticky surfaces of your kitchen in no time.
Essential oil kitchen degreaser
Ingredients
- Baking soda -2 tablespoons
- Water – 1 teaspoon
- Orange essential oil – 5 drops
- Vinegar
Method
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and combine to form a paste. Spread the paste over the greasy surface. Lightly spray some vinegar over this surface and clean.
This recipe works for cooktops, countertops, range hood, oven, and the kitchen sink.
You can check my post on 5 Natural homemade degreaser recipes for your kitchen for more homemade cleaning products with essential oils.
Dishes
This is one cleaner you need to use most often in the house. Here's an easy recipe for homemade dishwashing powder.
Essential oil dish cleaner
Ingredients
- Washing soda – 1 ½ cups
- Baking soda – ½ cup
- Lemon essential oil – 10 drops
Method
Mix all the ingredients well and store them in a glass container. Use just one tablespoon of this mixture every time you wash dishes. You can even use this powder in your dishwasher.
Best essential oils for cleaning and disinfecting
Essential oils do more than just make the cleaning process more pleasant. Their unique composition makes them effective disinfectants. While almost all essential oils have cleaning properties, some are more effective than others when it comes to using them as disinfectant sprays. So, here are some of the best essential oils for cleaning and disinfecting –
Lemon essential oil
The lemon essential oil contains limonene and b-pinene, which give it cleaning properties. It has an uplifting and energizing scent and is a very effective degreaser.
Peppermint essential oil
Peppermint essential oil contains menthol, which provides it with purifying properties. It has a refreshing scent. This oil can be used to clean and purify kitchens and bathrooms.
Tea tree essential oil
This oil is a staple cleaning product in many households thanks to its powerful cleaning properties. It is also an effective air purifier against mold and mildew smells. Tea tree oil also works well to eliminate musty smells around the home.
Clove essential oil
Clove oil contains eugenol, which provides this spicy essential oil with cleaning properties. It is very effective in neutralizing odors from the bathroom, kitchen, or trash can.
Eucalyptus essential oil
The cleaning properties of eucalyptus oil can be attributed to the presence of the compound 1,8-cineole.
Oregano essential oil
Oregano essential oil has excellent cleaning and purifying properties. It is packed with bacterial phenols that help with the cleaning.
Thyme essential oil
Thyme essential oil is an effective air freshener.
Lavender essential oil
Lavender essential oil is not only known for its calming effects, but it is also an excellent disinfectant and cleaner for the home.
Wild orange oil
Wild orange essential oil has a robust citrusy scent and can help keep your home clean.
Pine essential oil
Pine essential oil is known to kill odors and purify the air. It works well as an all purpose DIY cleaner as it helps cleanse all surfaces.
Some FAQs on homemade cleaning products with essential oils
Where to buy essential oils for cleaning?
If you are ready to start your journey with essential oils, visit By Oily Design. Sign up to become a Young Living Member with me as your enroller, and I will make getting started in oils easy and stress-free for you.
Head on over here to learn all about essential oils and to buy your Young Living's premium starter kit.
How do I make my own cleaning products with essential oils?
Making your own cleaning products with essential oils is easy, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly. You can choose any of the recipes mentioned above to make your own cleaning products with essential oils. You can even tweak the recipes a bit to suit your needs. Let me know which one worked for you.
Can I put essential oils in cleaning products?
Avoid putting essential oils in store-bought cleaning products. However, you can put essential oils in the cleaning products that you make at home. They are naturally antibacterial and smell incredible.
Is it safe to mix vinegar with essential oils?
Yes, you can mix vinegar with essential oils. Mix equal quantities of vinegar and water and add a few drops of essential oil.
What is the best vinegar for cleaning?
White distilled vinegar is the best vinegar for cleaning. It does not contain any coloring agent, so it won't stain the surface you are cleaning.
Do essential oils dilute in vinegar?
No essential oils do not dilute in vinegar. No matter how well you shake the two together, they will separate after some time. So it would be best if you shake the cleaning solutions with these two ingredients before every use.
What do I mix with essential oils?
Essential oils are generally mixed with a carrier oil like coconut oil or jojoba oil before being used on the skin.
However, if you make cleaning products with essential oils, you can mix these oils with products like vinegar, distilled water, dish soap, rubbing alcohol, or castile soap. Follow the recipes mentioned above.
What kind of Cleaner bottles do I use to store my natural cleaning products?
When creating your household cleaner using essential oils it is best to use a glass bottle to store your all purpose cleaner recipe. A plastic bottle over time can be broken down by the essential oils and cause harmful chemicals to leach into your natural cleaning recipe. I like to store my DIY products in 20z amber glass spray bottles. I label each bottle with the cleaner name and the cleaning recipe to make it easy to make a refill the next time.
Final thoughts
You don't have to use toxins to keep your home clean. You can make a whole range of cleaning products at home with a few essential ingredients. They help you save time and money and are healthier for your family and the environment.
So which essential oils do you like to use in homemade cleaning products?