How can you make your home brighter and healthier as summer approaches? By cleaning your home with an all-natural, homemade green cleaning solution!

 

Recently, I got to help deep-clean a home in an older part of my community that is going to be used for an outreach program. As we scrubbed, swept and dusted the beautiful old home to prepare it for the program, I put green cleaning into action.

 

I used the following homemade natural cleaner with essential oils, which was provided by Erin’s Meadow Herb Farm. This natural cleaning solution worked great on windows and countertops. While intended as a kitchen cleaner, this natural cleaner would work great on many different hard surfaces throughout your home.

 

All-Natural Cleaner With Essential Oils Recipe 

• 1 TSP Liquid Castile Soap (optional, great if you want a sudsier solution)
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup distilled water (but if tap is all you have, it works too)
• 15 drops lemon essential oil
• 15 drops tea tree essential oil

 

Steps to Make Your All-Natural Cleaning Solution

 

1. Measure out your white vinegar

 

2. Squirt your castile soap into the vinegar (if you choose to use soap)

 

3. Add 15 drops of each essential oil to the soap and vinegar mix

 

4. Pour the vinegar, essential oil and soap mix into the spray bottle

 

5. Add the distilled water to the spray bottle

 

6. Shake up the ingredients and you're good to go

 

Green cleaning really is that easy. You can also try different essential oils in the all-natural cleaner recipe like lavender, peppermint, rosemary, orange or thyme. Many of these essential oils are natural antibacterial ingredients and they smell great!

 

More Green Cleaning Tips and Facts

 

Natural ingredients like vinegar, baking soda and different herbs are effective cleaning and healing solutions and they have been used for centuries. Erin’s Meadow Herb Farm has provided us with some expert herbal housekeeping facts and tips to help you keep your home happy and healthy.

 

Household Cleaning Facts & Tips

• The average U.S. home uses 25 gallons of hazardous chemicals each year
• 15% of the U.S. population is sensitive to common household cleaning product chemicals
• Vinegar is a natural disinfectant because of its acidity
• Rubbing alcohol is a great stain remover and can cut through grease
• You can add vinegar solutions to your laundry as a cleaner
• Mint and lavender sachets are a great way to make clothing smell fresh and repel moths
• Basil can be used to repel flies and mosquitoes
• Catnip can be used to repel cockroaches and ants
• Baking soda and borax are both useful abrasives for tough cleaning jobs

 

Try these natural repellants and cleaners to keep your home clean, happy and healthy. It’s easy, affordable and keeps harmful, harsh cleaning chemicals out of your family’s daily life.

 

Want to find out how to keep out bugs and pests the green way?

 

Topics Going Green