I’ve been known to be a bit stubborn at times.
Of course I can’t seem to think of past examples off the top of my head (perhaps on purpose by my subconscious?), but I can think of what I’m refusing to do right now.
Buy vinegar.
It sounds trivial, I KNOW, but I really don’t want to buy anything that a) we absolutely don’t need and b) that I know I have packed in our moving truck.
And right now, vinegar falls into both of those categories.
Ok, so at this point you might be wondering how I’m surviving without vinegar since I use it as homemade conditioner and a produce rinse (among other things). In short, my hair hasn’t needed conditioner lately. Only time will tell whether it’s weather related or a seasonal thing, but since I started washing my with goat milk soap, I just haven’t needed conditioner as often.
As for the produce rinse, I’m copying my crunchy sister-in-law who has been using a similar recipe to my own homemade hand soap that uses castille soap.
Granted, I do have castille soap packed in the moving truck, but the homemade soap I made before we left California spilled out into the gallon bag I packed it in.
And I REFUSE to pay an arm and a leg for “natural” soap. So I chose to suck it up and buy a bottle of castille soap instead. It has a million uses anyway, so I figured it would come in handy other than for washing hands and produce.
And as it turns out, I was right! You can make an all-purpose cleaner with castille soap instead of vinegar!
My homemade all-purpose cleaner recipe below is inspired by this recipe, except I didn’t want to add any essential oils to mine (because they’re packed up too!).
Lo and behold, this simple combination works really well! I’m using it in the kitchen to clean the stove, and it made my grease splatters disappear without any heavy duty scrubbing. In the bathroom, it scrubbed off the remnants of homemade toothpaste in the sink (and counter and floor… which is what happens when you’ve got kids!) – again without much arm muscle.
I’ve even used it as a stain pre-treater when I spilled homemade coffee creamer on my new linens last week. I haven’t washed them yet, but I don’t see a stain either!
Because I’m kinda type-A about things like this, I also measured how much water to use in the recipe. It’s not a deal breaker in relatively small quantities (1-2 cups), but if you make this recipe with an industrial size spray bottle and “just add water,” you’ll probably find the dilution to be too weak.
So yes, I actually measured the water. You’re welcome!
DIY All Purpose Cleaner No Vinegar
Supplies
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp liquid castille soap
- about 1 1/2 cups water
- spray bottle
Method
Measure baking soda into a clean spray bottle. Add 1 cup of water and replace the lid. Shake like crazy until the baking soda dissolves, less than a minute.
Add castille soap, replace lid and gently swish in circles to combine. Do NOT shake like crazy, or your soap might make a bunch of bubbles (which isn’t the end of the world, but the solution won’t mix until they pop). The mixture will be slightly cloudy at this point. If there’s room in your bottle, you can add the remaining 1/2 cup water, otherwise you’re done!
The cleaner might separate over time, so if it does, just swish gently in circles to re-mix. Spray directly on the surface to be cleaned (after you’ve tested in a inconspicuous spot, just to be safe) and wipe clean.
Cost Breakdown
- baking soda: $0.01
- castille soap: $.04
Total cost for making DIY All-purpose Cleaner (no vinegar) is $0.05. WOW! Talk about enormous savings! Typical bottles of all-natural cleaners run you $3 or more each!
Tip: Buy both the baking soda and castille soap in bulk whenever possible – I got both of mine at Costco. I promise you won’t have a hard time finding uses for either, but here are some other DIY tutorials to get you started:
- Homemade Laundry Detergent
- Room Deodorizer & Carpet Refresher
- Homemade Stain Remover
- Homemade Bleach Alternative
- Homemade Hand Soap
Do you have o rinse off the cleaner, or is just wiping it up sufficient?
Wiping is sufficient!
Terrific! Will mix up a batch as soon as I clean out a spray bottle!!!
No it’s not! Well not when you get to the bottom of the spray. My shiny black laminate cupboard doors are a smeary mess.
I’ve never had an issue like this Soosie. Perhaps your doors are coated with something that’s reacting with the cleaner? I’ve heard of this happening with floors that have been waxed, or floor that have been cleaned with harsh chemicals.
It just seems to be baking soda residue, which is a shame as I’ve just bought 10kg if the stuff!
I have the same problem. The baking soda never completely goes into solution so it stays on the surface. I’ve used BS + water for years on marble countertops and you just have to wipe it off after using it to clean, it’s just the way it is. I’m looking for something to replace the baking soda in this otherwise I really like the recipe!
Tiffany, I am so glad that you think about other ways of cleaning instead of using chemicals. I’ve already tried your cleaning idea and I love the results of it! 🙂 Thank you for sharing
I’ve heard that vinegar can damage some types of flooring, so I’ve been looking for a product that won’t harm my hardwood floors. I might have to try this cleaning solution for spot cleaning! Thanks for sharing the tips, it looks easy to make and so inexpensive!
You should consider melting your own castile soap from the bar to save even more money. Bar soap contains generally the same ingredients, but has a much higher concentration of soap-to-water concentration (5% water) as opposed to liquid (65% water). As a result, one 5oz bar = about 12 oz liquid soap, if you’re comparing “soapiness” to “soapiness”.
(Bar soap also contains more salt and raw, non-saponified fats due to the way it’s made, leaving your skin more moisturized than liquid.)
All you have to do is grate the bar using a cheese grater, mix soap shavings with a generous helping of water, heat over low/medium in a pot, and transfer finished product into your own storage container. Now you have liquid castile soap for your other projects AND solid castile bars leftover for homemade detergent, bath soaps, etc. 🙂
Since bar soaps are MUCH cheaper than liquid soaps, and bar soaps go MUCH farther than liquid soaps, you might save 2 – 4x as much. 😀
Such a great tip – thank you for sharing!
Just doing some quick math. Keep in mind that I’m comparing Dr. Bronner’s prices, which are some of the more expensive castile soaps available.
Dr. Bronner’s Liquid soap: currently 18.99 for 32 oz. on Amazon @ .59/oz.
Dr. Bronner’s Bar soap: currently 25.75 for 30 oz. on Amazon @ .85/oz.
Every 5 oz. bar soap = 12 oz. liquid soap at same concentration, so: 30 oz. bar soap = 72 oz. liquid soap made from bar soap…
Our new numbers are:
Liquid soap: 18.99 for 32 oz. (.59/oz.)
Bar soap: 25.75 for 72 oz. (.32/oz)
Results: Bar soaps are twice as cheap as liquid soaps! And all that for the minimal effort of melting them down one time. You can go even CHEAPER by buying Kirk’s Castile, which is about .27/oz. and makes 115 oz. if you buy their 12 pack on Amazon. 🙂
How do you keep the hose from getting stopped up? Anytime I use baking soda in a spray bottle it clogs it up. I have shaken it until all the soda is dissolved but can’t make it work. Tips??
I haven’t run into this problem Shelley. What if you dissolved the baking soda into the water over warm heat first, let it cool, and then mix?
Thanks for the recipe. My husband has a reaction to vinegar even with essential oils added.
Tiffany, thank you for this. Some of my family members don’t care for the scent of vinegar. I’ll give this a try. Wonderful tutorial and excellent comments here too! Grateful for all the information.
P.S. Am I just missing the sharing buttons? Sometimes I can stare blindly at what’s right in front of me. If there are none, though, I’d be grateful if you’d add them. So often I want to share your posts. If I’m on a PC, I can manage fine, but much more difficult when I’m reading you on my phone.
Hi Kathryn! The sharing buttons should be at the bottom of each post on desktop, and now that I look on mobile, I don’t see them – yikes! I’ll have my team look into that ASAP. I’m so sorry for the hassle, but thank you SO MUCH for bringing this to my attention!!
I’ve just made this, but I used a squirt of Ecover washing up liquid instead of Castlille Soap. I also added one drop of spearmint, lavender and tea tree oil.
I squirted it on kitchen towel and used it as wipes. It worked brilliantly, my only concern is the laminate I have. I used it on my laminate floor and there are cleaning marks. Is it safe to use on laminate flooring?
Thanks for a great idea though!
Hi Ella – I used my original recipe with castille soap on laminate counters without a problem. I’ve never heard of Ecover washing up liquid, so I cannot say whether or not it’s safe to use on laminate floor.
I made a similar recipe but mine left really gross looking cloudy bits in the bottle after a few days like something growing. Has this happened to anyone else?
It hasn’t happened to me Bee. You say “similar.” Do you mean my recipe, or a different one?
Will this cleaner work for glass (windows, tabletops, etc.)? Vinegar triggers my asthma. Thanks!
I haven’t tried it on glass Gloria, sorry!
Made this as directed and it worked perfectly for me. Oh, I did add a few drops of tea tree and lemon essential oils as well. Thank you for sharing!
Can citric acid be used instead of baking soda?I don’t have much success with it and I have some non gmo citric acid on hand. I would like to make something similar to the seventh generation bathroom cleaner.I have been using homemade cleaners with vinegar for years and not too happy about them.
Thank you.
I’m not sure Ann, but it’s worth a shot! I’ve seen dishwasher rinse recipes using citric acid before, so it couldn’t hurt to try!