This year I’ve been on a mission to overhaul my bathroom and cleaning supplies with non-toxic alternatives. It’s taken a bit of experimenting and tinkering, but I’ve finally been able to replace all my store-bought cleaners and so happy to report these alternatives work just as well – if not better!

Here are just a few reasons why you may want to consider switching:

• You will greatly reduce toxins in your home that you and your family come in contact with.
• Using natural ingredients improves indoor air quality and is much safer, especially for children and pets.
• Toxins in cleaning products can also become hazardous for the environment when they are poured or washed down the drain.
• Reusing spray bottles and jars will help you cut down personal plastic consumption.

Here is the list of ingredients I always have in my stash to make everything I need for the kitchen, bathroom and beyond…

Bi-carb soda – known for its fantastic deodorizing, whitening, brightening, cleaning, and gentle scrubbing abilities. Due to its powder form, it’s also great at absorbing grease and spills.

Castile soap – A vegetable soap traditionally made from 100 percent pure olive oil, water, and lye. Castile soap acts as a surfactant and helps lift away dirt and cut through grease, and can be used in shampoos, shaving creams and body wash, and it’s ideal for washing pets.

Citric acid – A compound naturally found in citrus fruits. It acts as a chelating agent, bactericide, fungicide, anticoagulant, and hematologic agent. Because citric acid kills bacteria, mold, and mildew, it’s great for general disinfecting and cleaning. It’s also effective at removing soap scum, hard water stains, calcium deposits, lime, and rust.  

Salt – Works as an effective yet gentle scouring agent. Salt also serves as a catalyst for other ingredients, such as vinegar, to boost cleaning and deodorising action. For a basic soft scrub, make a paste with lots of salt, baking soda and dish soap and use on appliances, enamel and porcelain.

Borax – Borax is a naturally occurring mineral substance that is primarily mined from evaporated lakes in California and Turkey. It’s been used as a cleaning agent for around 4000 years. It’s an effective bactericide and deodorizer, as well as an insecticide. You can use it to feed your fruit trees, make laundry detergent and dissolve sticky messes. NOTE: Keep it out of reach of children and pets, even though it’s safe to use in doses you use for cleaning, it is regarded as mildy toxic so if you have very sensitive skin wear gloves while preparing it.  Don’t mix borax with bleach, because that mixture can potentially create poisonous gases.

Vinegar – Vinegar is an acidic, clear liquid substance derived from fermenting alcohol, usually made from fruits or grains. Because vinegar is so acidic, it can so it can cut through dirt and can kill bacteria and dissolve away soap scum, brines left by hard water, and glue left behind by stickers.

Eucalyptus essential oil – Eucalyptol has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and is well known for its anti-fungal, antibacterial, antiviral and deodorizing properties. Eucalyptus is a great grease buster, so the perfect addition to a DIY cleaner. It can also be used to combat mold, repel rates, relieve skin irritations, soothe insect bites and help relieve sinuses.

I buy these ingredients in bulk from Pure Nature, which saves on packaging, and saves me money. I like to use recycled jars and spray bottles to give them a second life, and I feel so much better that I’m not flushing nasties into our waterways and spraying chemicals around where we eat and bathe!

All Purpose Cleaner

I’ve been using this All Purpose Cleaner for a while now, and it really does work! The only gripe I’ve had is it does has a slight vinegar smell, and while I’m not bothered by it (small price to pay for not spraying chemicals around where I prepare food!) boyf isn’t such a fan.

The good news is that the vinegar smell does evaporate after a minute, and it cleans so well!! I’ve been using it on benchtops, the stove, bathroom & it cleans just as well as any commercial cleaners I’ve used. The only place it doesn’t do a great job is windows – for this, I use a mix of equal parts vinegar and water.

Here’s how to make it:

• Soak lemon or other citrus peels in an airtight jar filled with vinegar for up to 2 weeks (you can use after 2 days if you wish, but the longer you leave it the more potent it will be.
• Strain the mixture using a piece of muslin cloth, and pour this with equal parts distilled water into a spray bottle (I rescued this one from the recycling bin!)
• Add a tbs of liquid Castile soap.
• Add 5-10 drops of eucalyptus essential oil.
• DONE!!

DIY Dishwasher Tablets

I was a little skeptical as to whether these home made dishwashing tablets would actually work BUT OMG THEY DO & THEY’RE AMAZING! 🍋

They cost less than $0.03 each to make, and they work just as well – if not better – than any store-bought variety. Oh and they’re really fun to make, kids love to make these. Since I’ve made the video below, I’ve started adding 1/4 cup of borax, and it’s really upped the cleaning power of these.

Watch the video below to learn how to make them, and check out my recipe for DIY Dishwasher tablets for more detailed information.

Powder Scrub

I’ve always been a huge fan of Jiff, for the bathroom, walls and everything else. So it was tough to give it up, but happily, I’ve found something that does the job just as well. This DIY Powder Scrub It’s great to clean showers, sinks, ovens and anything else that needs some extra power. Just sprinkle it over your surface, supercharge with a few blasts of the DIY All Purpose Cleaner, leave for a few minutes, then scrub. Finish by pouring over boiling water if it’s safe, or rinsing off with water.

Here’s how to make it:

Simply mix the below into an airtight jar, and you have a ready-made powder that will tackle the toughest jobs.

• 1/4 cup bicarb soda
• 1/4 cup borax 
• 1/4 cup citric acid
• 1/8 cup salt

TOILET BOMBS

These toilet bombs make cleaning so much easier. Kids will love sending one of these down the loo after they’ve finished their business. These have a great deodorizing action which is perfect for bathrooms and toilets with limited ventilation.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1/4= cup bicarb soda
• 1/8 cup citric acid
• 1/8 cup salt
• 1/8 cup borax 
• ½ – 1 tbs of castile soap liquid or dishwashing liquid
• A silicone ice tray
• A small bowl

Here’s how to make them:

1. Mix all your dry ingredients.
2. Very VERY slowly, (can’t stress this enough) start adding a few drops of the Castile liquid at a time, mixing it into the dry ingredients with your fingers. Repeat: only add a few drops at a time! If you add it too fast, it will start to froth everywhere, and it will be impossible to pack into the silicone moulds.
3. Continue adding a few drops of liquid and mixing it into the dry ingredients until the mixture feels like moist crumbly cake. Take your time. Don’t feel like you have to use the whole teaspoon of liquid, just keep going until it’s the right consistency.
4. Start packing the mixture into your silicone mould. Push down around the edges, and pack it as tightly as possible.
5. Leave in the sun for about 4 hours. If it’s cloudy or winter, wait overnight. If you’re in a rush, you can also pop them in the freezer for half an hour, although I get best results when I leave them dry naturally.
6. Gently push the tablets out of the mould when they are completely dry. Store in an airtight jar. My silicone moulds are quite small, so I find 2 tablets works wonderfully in our little dishwasher, however, if your moulds are big, you may only need one.

Tip – if you have added too much of the liquid too fast, I recommend putting the mixture in an air tight jar and using it to clean other surfaces around the home. My first batch frothed like crazy so I salvaged what I could and used it to clean the shower – and it did an amazing job.

What do you think? Would you like to make your own natural cleaners or do you have any recipes that have worked for you? Let me know below!