Chemical Products vs Natural DIY Cleaning Recipes - we have actually tested!
7:05 PM EST, January 20, 2020, updated: 12:41 PM EST, January 22, 2020
Research from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a widely-respected organization doing intensive research to help us rid our lives of toxins, shows that common cleaning products can cause all of the following:
- Asthma and other respiratory problems
- Exposure to known chemicals that cause cancer in humans
- Increased risk of birth defects when used by or around pregnant women
- Chemical burns, poisonings, allergies and irritations
So we have tried a completely natural stuff that you can make at home and see if it even works! Well, they worked for us amazingly!
1. Natural glass cleaner
Soooo easy and cheap to make! All you are going to need is water and distilled white vinegar. Add two cups of water into an old bottle and a quarter cup of distilled white vinegar. Because vinegar is so acidic, it breaks down build up and dirt and obviously it is natural.
We tested it out on windows... with fingers all over the place and yes, you can really smell the vinegar, but as soon as it evaporates, you can't smell it anymore. Then we washed another window pane with just a traditional window cleaning product as basically we wanted to see which one out of these two products worked the best.
Once we have washed two equally dirty windows, you couldn't really tell which product had cleaned which. Neither one really had smears, they were very much like for like, so this one is a real win for us and it is extremely cheap to make!
2. Natural Toilet Cleaner
Toilet cleaners have so many harmful chemicals in them ! So we made a natural one! For this recipe, you just have to combine half a cup of baking soda and half a cup of vinegar and you will notice a reaction between them two. Then add 10 to 15 drops of the essential oils like lavender or pine.
Pour it into your toilet bowl, let that sit for a minute and then use your toilet brush to scrub the toilet bowl. And it does work really well!
3. Natural Multipurpouse Surface Spray - we are slightly addicted to it as it works amazing!
All you need to do is combine a quarter cup of vinegar - yes again, then a tablespoon of baking soda, a liter of warm water in a bowl and those three ingredients seem to be the bases of any good natural cleaning products. Mix them together, take the rind off of the lemon and put it into the spray bottle. This will add scent but it also looks really pretty.
Also try to add a few springs of rosemary, again, because it looks really cool but it will also add scent to the product. Take half of the lemon that you have just used and squeeze it into the mixture. This has loads of natural cleaning properties in it and it will smell so nice.
Add your mixture to your spray bottle. And you will love the way it looks! Over time it gets a little bit more yellow. We were blown away with this product!
No smears, you couldn't really smell the vinegar - we guess the lemon counteracted it. And this is the product we could really use every day! Using pink grapefruit will be perfect as well!
4. Upholstery Refresh Spray
This is a trend and we love so many brands that do this, so we thought we would try out a natural one! You will need a quarter cup of baking soda, about 10 to 20 drops of essential oils - we tested it with lavender, and then a cup and a half of water. Mix that all together, put it into a spray bottle and then you can just spray this onto your upholstery.
Baking soda is a deodorizer. Moms can put it on the kids beds if they ever wet the bed, because it takes odors away so very well. Spray this over your couch and you can't believe how much smell comes from just 10 drops of essential oils. We did really like this one.
5. Furniture Polish
All you going to need is 1/4 cup of olive oil and 10 drops of essential oil - we chose a wild orange one. Add ingredients to a mason jar and mix well. Add a dime-size amount to a cloth and rub on furniture to remove smudges and dust. It adds a nice, shiny, protective layer... and smelt divine! Deffinitely recommend this one!
6. Dish Soap
We also tried a dish soap, and yes it does work and is most of the natural DIY cleaning products. Btw... it smells amazing! You will need a spray bottle, a half cup of castile soap - castile soap is gentle, safe, and leaves surfaces squeaky clean. Castile soap is highly concentrated making it cost-effective because you only need a little bit each time you clean, and each bottle will last you a long time, 10 drops of wild orange, 10 drops of lemon and 10 drops of lime. Add essential oil and castile soap to spray bottle and top off with water. You can add 1 tablespoon to a sink of warm water or spray one time on each dish to wash individually.
Let us know which one works for you and maybe you have your own tested DIY products that you can share with us?