We love natural winter recipes and we’d like to share our Top 4 Natural Recipes with 4 ingredients or less!
#1 Sugar and Spice Natural Room Spritzer from Small Measures at Design Sponge
Ingredients (4)
- 3/4 cup of ethanol
- 10 drops clove or nutmeg essential oil
- 10 drops cinnamon or anise essential oil
- 10 drops vanilla essential oil
Place the essential oils in a 4- to 8-ounce jar. Add 3/4 cup of ethanol (I used vodka), and top off the bottle with distilled water. Shake, spritz and enjoy!
#2 Vanilla and Orange Simmering Potpourri Recipe from Tipnut
Ingredients (2)
- Vanilla (a few drops)
- Orange peels
Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add the the vanilla drops and orange peels, boil for a few minutes, then turn the heat down to simmer all day. Set a timer for 30 minutes so that you remember to top up water as needed.
If you like the simmering potpourri and the room spritzer, you might like our other posts on Homemade Scents.
#3 Homemade Hand Sanitizer from Homemade Mommy
Ingredients (4)
- 2 Tbsp Aloe Vera gel
- 1 Tbsp filtered water
- 1/8 tsp Vitamin E oil
- 5 drops Thieves Oil
Combine the ingredients in a 2 oz. squeeze bottle adding a bit of water to thin the mixture out. You want the mixture thin enough to coat your hand. If you have any empty Hand Sanitizer bottles, you can store your homemade sanitizer in those. They’re also great for travelling with.
#4 Homemade Grout Cleaner from A Mom’s Take
Ingredients:
- 4 cups water
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup vinegar
Directions:
- Combine lemon juice, baking soda, and vinegar in a spray bottle.
- Stir in water to the mixture.
- Spray solution onto tile and grout.
- Allow cleaning solution to sit for 5 minutes.
- Scrub dirt/grime away using sponge or large scrubber.
- After scrubbing, wash with water.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on these and other natural recipes we’re collecting and sharing:
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One of our first posts was a recipe for homemade soft-scrub. We are pleased to introduce a new variation on soft-scrub to our all natural house cleaning recipes. This recipe is designed to make the the toughest house cleaning jobs go quickly.
This recipe’s biggest difference for our original soft-scrub recipe is the addition of Borax, and the omission of white vinegar. We found that the vinegar broke down the baking soda over time, compromising the cleaning power of the scrub. Our new recipe works great for scrubbing out showers, sinks, and tubs, anywhere you would normally use Softscrub in your housecleaning routine. To add extra kick and some fizz, use in tandem with our Lemon Lift Off! counter top spray. Here is the recipe:
The Cleaning Crew Soft Scrub II
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Borax
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 1/4 cup liquid Castile soap
- 3-4 TBS of water, or enough to make a paste
- 15-20 drops of essential oil of your choice. Some nice options are: lemon, orange, pine, bergamot.
Stir all ingredients, and store in a tightly sealed jar or container
All Natural Cleaning Product Recipe from The Cleaning Crew: Elisa’s Minty Multipurpose Glass & Surface Cleaner
This recipe is a the latest version of the Homemade Glass Cleaner we shared a few months ago. It has quickly become one of our favorite all natural homemade cleaning products. Easy on the environment, your health and your wallet.
Not only does it work wonders on glass and mirrors, it’s a great disinfecting all-purpose cleaner in the kitchen and bathroom and other high traffic areas in need of germ busting action. The addition of mint essential oil leaves behind a refreshing and invigorating scent, and makes cleaning more fun.
You will need:
32 oz spray bottle
If you are re-using a bottle, make sure it has been well rinsed (how to clean used bottles).
Add the following ingredients:
- 1/8 cup rubbing alcohol (70% or higher isopropyl content)
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 3 to 10 drops of mint essential oil, depending on how much minty freshness you want.
Fill the rest of the way with water, shake well.
Optional:
Mark the bottle to each fill line as you add each ingredient, this will make refilling the bottle much quicker the next time. Or, simply add the recipe to the label.
We really like peppermint or spearmint essential oil, but of course you can add whatever essential oil you like.
To spread the minty goodness, spray and wipe with a dry or slightly damp cloth. Use in the kitchen on counters, sinks, appliances, and linoleum or tile floors. Use caution on wood floors, as the alcohol may dry out the wood finish over time. Use a mild solution of plain old white vinegar and water on wood floors, instead. The same thing applies to wood cabinets, or any other wood surface. Using this once in a while for spot cleaning is fine, but repeated use over time can cause the wood to dry out.
Elisa’s Minty Multipurpose may also dry out unfinished slate or stone surfaces if used to often, but we have found it to be REALLY effective at pulling off build up on these types of surfaces. We suggest using it occasionally, when you want a really good, deep clean. For daily cleaning, use a mild all purpose soap, such as Mrs. Meyers, diluted BioKleen, or vinegar and water.
For the bathroom, use on mirrors, chrome fixtures, sinks, counters, tub and shower, toilet, and linoleum or tile floors.
We do not suggest using this solution on delicately painted or lacquered surfaces, it is best on nonporous and durable surfaces. Keep in mind the drying properties of rubbing alcohol when deciding what surfaces to use this on. Feel free to post a question on our blog if you would like advice, as well!
A great big Thank You to Elisa for creating this wonderful recipe for our clients!
Happy house cleaning from all of us at The Cleaning Crew!
We are always looking for the most eco-friendly house cleaning products possible and we have a wonderful new recipe to share!
Our latest homemade all natural cleaning product recipe is a bleach free version of Soft Scrub. We could not believe how quickly it cuts through soap scum and grime, and it rinses much quicker and cleaner than the store bought versions, which usually sticks to the surfaces and requires rinsing and wiping repeatedly, a huge waste of water and time.
I added tangerine essential oil, and it was like scrubbing my shower with a big juicy tangerine. So lovely I was sad when the job was over! You can use whatever essential oil you like, or none at all. Here is the recipe:
All Natural Soft Scrub
- 1 1/2 cups baking soda
- 1/2 cup BioKleen All Purpose Concentrated Cleaner (or liquid castile soap like Dr. Bronners)
- 2Tbls white vinegar
- 10-15 drops of essential oil
Mix the baking soda and BioKleen in a bowl until it is thoroughly blended. I found that a fork is the best option for this step. Do not add the vinegar until the soap and baking soda are thoroughly mixed, or it will explode with fizziness!
The next step is adding the white vinegar and mixing until you have a nice creamy paste.Finally, add the essential oil of your choice, but keep in mind the scent of the liquid soap you are using. Because BioKleen has a light citrus cent, a citrus oil like lemon, tangerine, orange, or grapefruit will blend nicely.
If you want a different type of scent like peppermint or tea tree, I would suggest using an unscented liquid castile soap. If you do decide to make this with BioKleen, make sure it is their concentrated all-purpose cleaner, not the all-purpose they sell in a spray bottle. Most health food stores carry it in the household supply section, but if you can’t find it a good liquid castille works great too.
The final product, ready to scrub!
This recipe does not create a lot of suds. This was a little strange when I first started cleaning my shower, but my misgivings were quickly laid to rest, as the built up grime came right off. (I had been saving it up for just this occasion;).
Almost all of the recipes that I found online also added 2 tablespoons of water; I opted not to do this because I like a thicker paste. Also, I like to store my scrub in a glass Mason jar, as essential oil will break down the polymers in plastic. Adding water does make the scrub looser which allows it to be stored in a plastic bottle with a squirt top, but I just scoop a bit out of the jar when I am ready to use it.
Many of recipes I have found for this stuff use liquid castile soap, but as I did not have any on hand I used one of our favorites, Bi-O-Kleen All Purpose Concentrated Cleaner. This stuff rocks! By far the best grease buster I have ever used that does not have nasty chemicals in it. Also has a nice light citrus scent, and this worked great paired with the tangerine essential oil. I made this recipe for the first time years ago with castile soap, but I don’t remember if there are any differences. Maybe the next batch I will try out the castille again, but I think it would be hard to beat the scrubby wonderfulness of this recipe.
If you decide to try this out, we would love to hear about your experiences! Also, if you would like to see a recipe or idea covered in our blog, let us know. Better yet, please feel free to share your favorite recipes or tips with us, we love to hear from our readers!
Update: We are learning that shelf life is limited by the interaction of baking soda and vinegar. The two ingredients counteract each other over time, making it less and less effective the longer it is stored.
