The Most Effective and Non-Toxic Homemade Cleaning Supply Recipes

It becomes a bit of a habit, you go to the grocery store, head to the cleaning supply aisle and pick up your multi-purpose cleaner, floor cleaner, laundry detergent, wood polish and soaps, and it's all conveniently right there. And that aisle is usually so potent you can expect an instant headache.

Honestly, most of us don't even realize or consider how toxic these products actually are because they've been so normalized over the years. I mean, how bad can they really be when every person in our lineage has used them for years and years...and years? Well, we'll share some insight with you that blew our minds.

Here are just a few of the ingredients in some of the top major cleaning supplies sold today.

-Fragrance: We've talked ad nauseam about fragrance, but it's SO important to drive this home. Fragrance is truly so toxic in so many ways, because it is a blanket term for over 4000 chemicals. So there's really no way of actually knowing the effects it will have on you. It has been documented to cause things like reproductive and endocrine disruption, respiratory issues, allergies, skin irritants and cancer. That list unfortunately is not exhaustive.

-Ammonium Hydroxide: This is essentially ammonia. And when you spray these cleaning products onto your furniture, or into the air, you're breathing this in and so are your animals. It can cause things like eye, nose, throat and lung damage, respiratory inflammation, skin burning, liver damage, kidney failure and even congenital conditions.

-Dioxane: A super dangerous ingredient with a LOT of side effects. This is a known carcinogen that can cause things like reproductive toxicity, endocrine disruption, digestive issues and many types of cancer.

-Surfactants: Surfactants can lead to things like pulmonary hemorrhage and long term enzyme damage which ultimately effects every system in the body.

-Petroleum: We've talked about this before also! It can cause things like organ damage, cancer and allergies.

-Nitrobenzene: This is a known carcinogen that can lead to many different kinds of cancers and has been linked to DNA damage.

-Butane: A known carcinogen that has been linked to reproductive issues and developmetal issues in children.

-Ethylene Oxide: This is also a known carcinogen that has been linked to many reproductive and endocrine issues along with many types of cancer. It has also been linked to DNA damage and nervous system disruption.

This is just a SUPER short list of a few of the ingredients found in a few common household cleaning supplies. The more intense the cleaning supply, usually the more intense the ingredient list. When you're breathing these in, or touching them, or wearing clothes that were "cleaned" in them, your body is absorbing these chemcials, which ultimately is leading to those issues.

So what's the alternative? Well you can either find a super clean business that sells pre-made cleaning supplies (Watch out for green washing!) or you can make your own. We LOVE Rowe Casa Organics for our cleaning supplies that we don't feel like making. But we also have a few homemade recipes that we use and love! We'll share those below.

Multi-Purpose Cleaner

Ingredients

• 16oz Glass Spray Bottle

• 2 Cups Distilled Water

• 2 Tbsp Peppermint Castille Soap

• 15 Drops Lemon Essential Oil

Directions

1. Pour in distilled water

2. Pour in peppermint castille soap

3. Drop in 15 drops of lemon (or your preference for scent!) essential oil

4. Mix bottle by shaking lightly

5. Add cute label!

Wood Cleaner

Ingredients

• 16oz Glass Spray Bottle

• 1 Cup Lemon Juice

• 2 tsp Liquid Castille Soap

• 10 Drops Sweet Orange Essential Oil

Directions

1. Pour in lemon juice

2. Pour in castille soup

3. Drop in 10 drops of sweet orange essential oil

4. Mix bottle by shaking lightly

5. Add cute label!

Glass Cleaner

Ingredients

• 16oz Glass Spray Bottle

• 1 Cup Distilled Water

• 3 Tbsp Vinegar

• 10 Drops of Lemon Essential Oil

Directions

1. Pour in distilled water

2. Pour in vinegar

3. Drop in 10 drops of lemon (or your preference for scent!) essential oil

4. Mix bottle by shaking lightly

5. Add cute label!

Floor Cleaner

Ingredients

• 1 Bucket

• 1 Gallon Hot Water

• 2 Tbsp Liquid Castille Soap

• 10 Drops Pine Essential Oil

• 5 Drops Lemon Essential Oil

Directions

1. Pour hot water into bucket

2. Pour in castille soap

3. Drop in 10 drops of pine essential oil

4. Drop in 5 drops of lemon essential oil

5. Mix slightly with mop

As you can see, it's not only easy to make your own homemade cleaners, but it's also nice to know what ingredients are in them and that they're not toxic to you, your family or your pets! Thank you for being here and happy cleaning!!