Slowly but surely, I am turning my family crunchy, granola, hippie, whatever you want to call it. One of the ways we are going 
green is by reducing our exposure to chemicals found in everyday household products. Many commercial household cleaners are filled with harsh chemicals that are not good for our children to be exposed to and harmful to the environment. The safest cleaning products are usually homemade. At first, I was intimidated by the thought of making my own cleaner. However, once I realized how easy and effective it was, I took the plunge and have not looked back.
This easy recipe has been a staple in our home care products for over 3 years now: it smells great, works wonderfully and is free of any hard-to-pronounce, dangerous chemicals.
In fact, all you need are four items:
- A spray bottle that holds at least 32oz
- 32oz Hot Water
- 2 Tablespoons Baking Soda
- 2 Teaspoons Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap (available at Winn Dixie, Whole Foods, and Amazon.com)
Combine hot water and baking soda in bottle; shake to dissolve baking soda. Add teaspoon of Castile soap and shake lightly. Dr. Bronner’s makes several different scents; I use lavender for its nice smell and antibacterial properties, but any will work. Also, feel free to adjust the amounts slightly to your preference. We have experimented with different soap/water ratios, and the above works best for us, but you might find a little more or less soap or baking soda works better for you. H you might find a little more or less soap or baking soda works better for you. This cleaner can be used on countertops, stovetops, kitchen and bathroom sinks, pretty much anywhere except glass and carpet. Happy cleaning!
Myndee Corkern
When she’s not working as an Office Manager at a local university, Myndee is mom to 3 children all born within 4 years (Kadence 4, Gavin 2 and Dylan 9 months). Married nearly 8 years, Myndee writes about her family life and journey to being more eco-friendly at Fresh GraNOLA Family. She lives just outside New Orleans but considers herself a NOLA girl through and through. Myndee loves spending time with her kids, taking pictures and writing/blogging.
can this be kept on hand or needs to be remade each time due to an ingredient being hot water or is hot water for initial disolving of other ingredients?
Hi Allison. Great question. It can be kept on hand..I’m way to lazy to make it each time. 😉 The hot water is just for helping to dissolve the baking soda. You can also use distilled water, but I have used regular hot water from my Kentwood dispenser and it has worked just fine.
That looks like a great formula. I will have to try it. I’m experimenting with lots of green cleaning methods trying to find the most effective ones.