32 Brilliant Homemade Cleaning Recipes for a Frugal Household

Homemade or “Green” cleaners are all the rage, particularly by people who are looking for safer ways to keep their homes clean without the use of harsh chemicals. There are so many recipes out there that it can be hard to find the one that you need for your specific cleaning tasks.

We have gathered a great list of homemade cleaners and categorized them into different rooms and areas of cleaning so that they are easy to find. These recipes use natural ingredients that are safer and actually work better than some of the more expensive products on the market. The best part is that most of them can be made from ingredients that you probably already have on hand, so they are much cheaper than traditional cleaning products.

Incidentally, if you have a favorite homemade cleaning product, we’d love to hear about it. If you don’t, you may just find a favorite in our list.

Pages: Kitchen Bathroom Laundry Beauty Jewelry

Homemade Kitchen Cleaners

There are many cleaning needs in the kitchen from stoves and countertops to dishes and we have a recipe for a homemade cleaning product to suit every kitchen cleaning need.

Homemade Oven Cleaner
A great way to keep your oven clean without the use of chemical based oven cleaners is to simply sprinkle a little baking soda inside when you have a spill. For general cleaning, you can just dampen the sides and bottom and sprinkle baking soda. Leave it there for about an hour and then just wash it away with a clean damp rag. To prevent your oven from needing to be cleaned regularly, just dip a sponge in vinegar and wipe the sides and bottom down about once a week.

Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner
For those really tough oven stains and spills, just mix a cup of vinegar with ¼ cup of powdered laundry soap until it makes a paste. Heat the oven for at least 5 minutes at 350 and then turn it off. Spread the paste evenly adding a bit more for really greasy places and leave there for an hour. You can use a plastic spatula to scrape the paste off and the grime will come with it.

Kitchen Counter Cleaner
To easily clean kitchen counters, just mix about a cup of liquid dish soap with ¼ cup of vinegar in a spray bottle. Spray stains and wipe clean with a damp rag. For really tough stains, you can leave the solution on the counter for about 15 minutes and then just wipe the stain away. Vinegar is also a great disinfectant, so this cleans and gets rid of germs.

Homemade Drain-O
You don’t have to use chemicals to unclog your sinks. If you have a lot of water standing in the sink, bail as much out as you can. Then just pour 1 cup of baking soda directly down the drain followed by 1 cup of vinegar. You should see it bubble up as soon as the vinegar goes in. Use a plunger to dislodge any large clogs and the vinegar and baking soda will do the rest. To keep sinks from clogging, pour boiling water directly down the drain about once each week.

Stovetop Cleaner
Stovetops tend to get greasy and grimy after cooking and to easily clean them, you just have to sprinkle a bit of baking soda over the stove and then wipe the grease and grime away with a damp rag. Make sure that you squeeze the excess water from your rag so that it doesn’t dilute the baking soda too much.

Glass Stovetop Cleaner
Glass stovetops are popular but boy are they hard to keep clean! You can easily clean up stains from those glass tops with just a little baking soda and a damp rag. For everyday cleaning, just wipe the stovetop down with vinegar each night when you clean the kitchen. The vinegar will clean up most stains and will give your glass tops a great shine.

Dishwasher Detergent
You can make your own automatic dishwasher detergent with just 1 cup of borax, 1 cup of washing soda (you can find these at most grocery stores) and a little vinegar. Just mix the dry ingredients together and use 1 tablespoon for large loads and ½ tablespoon for small loads. Add the vinegar as a rinsing agent to keep spots from your glasses.

Hand Dishwashing Soap
If you don’t have a dishwasher or you simply prefer to wash dishes by hand on occasion, you can make your own dish soap with a bar of ivory soap and a little water. You will want to grate the flakes and add to a large pot with ½ gallon of water. Boil for 10 minutes to dissolve the flakes and then pour into a glass jar to cool. Just add about a tablespoon or however much you want to your sinks for washing dishes.

Homemade Kitchen Soft Scrub
Mixing baking soda and a little liquid soap together into a paste makes a wonderful cleaning product that works just like Soft Scrub. You just have to add baking soda to the liquid soap until it makes a relatively thick paste. Be sure that you only mix when you are ready to clean. This one dries up pretty fast so mix it only when you need it.

Rust Remover
If you have rust on your countertops or stove, or food stains for that matter, you can just cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice on the area. Leave the fresh juice on the stain for about half an hour and then just wipe away with a damp cloth. This is a great natural cleaner and it smells good, too. If you have hard water stains, salt and vinegar work wonders. Just mix ¼ cup of salt and 2 tablespoons of vinegar to remove rust, hard water and other stains.

Kitchen Sponge Saver
If you tend to go through a lot of kitchen sponges, you can revitalize them and make them last longer by just squirting dish soap into a sink full of hot water and soaking them for an hour or so. You can also place damp sponges in the microwave for about 1 minute to sanitize and dry them out so that they last a bit longer.

Homemade Bathroom Cleaners

Cleaning the bathroom is a must. Disinfecting is just as important and there are many different recipes for homemade cleaners that will keep your bathroom sparkling without spending a fortune on store bought cleaners.

Bathroom Soft Scrub
Soft Scrub is a bathroom must but that doesn’t mean that you have to pay a fortune for it. You can easily make your own by just combining 1 cup of baking soda, ¼ cup of borax, 1 tablespoon of castile soap and ¼ cup of water in a spray bottle. Shake well and use this cleaner for your tub, shower, toilet or anywhere you need a gentle yet effective scrubbing cleaner.

Shower Cleaner
Cleaning the shower is never fun but it has to be done. Make it a bit easier by combining 1 teaspoon of borax, 1 teaspoon of washing soda, ½ cup of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of liquid soap in a spray bottle. Add enough hot water to fill and then just spray your shower down. Leave the cleaner on for about 15 minutes and then rinse clean.

Homemade Tub and Tile Cleaner
Mix together 1 and ⅔ cup of baking soda, ½ cup of liquid soap and ½ cup of warm water in a spray bottle. Mix those ingredients together well and then add 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Adding the vinegar too soon will cause a reaction with the baking soda so be sure that you mix the first 3 ingredients together before adding the vinegar. Just spray the solution on your tub and tile and wipe away with a clean damp cloth.

Toilet Cleaner
Pouring borax into the toilet each night before you go to bed is the best way to keep your toilet bowl clean and stain-free. This even works well for hard water stains. Just add about 1 cup of borax directly to the bowl and then leave it overnight. In the morning, scrub with a toilet brush and flush. You can add ¼ cup of vinegar to the bowl along with the borax if you have stubborn stains.

Ring Around the Rub Remover
Ring around the tub is never fun to remove. An easy way to do so is to simply sprinkle the tub with baking soda. Dampen the sides first so that the baking soda clings. Then cut a lemon in half (after rolling it on the counter to loosen the juices) and rub in a circular motion over the baking soda. This works really well and really fast to remove ring around the tub and all sorts of other stains.

Homemade Laundry Cleaners

Keeping laundry clean is often difficult, particularly if you have children who love to bring in stains. There are some great ways to remove stains and otherwise keep laundry fresh and clean without using chemical laundry detergents and soaps.

Homemade Laundry Soap
2 cups of Borax, 2 cups of washing soda and ⅔ bar of FelsNeptha or you can use castile soap if you prefer, make a wonderful homemade laundry soap. Just mix the ingredients together and store in an airtight container. You only need about 2 tablespoons for each load or 1 tablespoon for really small loads. This will remove stains and generally keep laundry really clean.

Laundry Brightener
Keeping colors looking bright can be hard. Adding just ½ cup of fresh lemon juice in the rinse cycle can help. Just roll the lemon around on a counter to loosen the juice and strain. When your rinse cycle begins, add the lemon juice and your colors will be much brighter. This also helps to keep laundry smelling really fresh and clean.

Stain Remover
Lemon juice works well to remove stains from whites. If you have a stain, just add fresh lemon juice and allow the garment to sit out in the sunlight. Note that this may not work as well for colors because the sunlight and lemon juice could cause fading. You can also hang clothing outside on cold nights, when it is going to frost, and many stains will come out the next morning.

Homemade Fabric Softener
This great recipe for homemade fabric softener will make clothes soft and leave them smelling fresh. You just add 2 cups of baking soda with 2 cups of white vinegar and 4 cups of water. Use about ¼ cup of this solution during the final rinse to leave clothes smelling and feeling great.

General Cleaning
General cleaning includes cleaners that work on windows, furniture and other items around the house. Whether you are looking for a homemade furniture polish, window cleaner or just a good general degreaser, there are many homemade recipes that you can try.

Scuff Mark Remover
Adding a couple of tablespoons of baking soda to the same amount of liquid soap makes a great scuff mark remover. You can also use this to get crayon marks off walls and doors or clean your kitchen sink and countertops. It is great for getting those tough stains off just about any surface.

Antibacterial Cleaner
For cleaning and disinfecting at the same time, just mix 1 tablespoon of castile soap with ½ cup vinegar, 4 cups water and a few drops of your favorite essential oil – lavender and tea tree oils work great together. Mix the ingredients in a spray bottle and use this solution to disinfect countertops and even to clean doorknobs during the cold and flu season.

Glass Cleaner
1 cup of rubbing alcohol mixed with 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of vinegar makes a great glass cleaner. You can mix the ingredients together in a spray bottle and use this anytime you want to clean your windows, mirrors or even glass stovetops. The vinegar helps to keep the solution from streaking. For a really great shiny window, use a newspaper to clean instead of paper towels.

Floor Cleaner
1 cup of vinegar added to 2 gallons of hot water will clean just about any type of flooring. The vinegar helps to remove stains and will not streak so your floors will look great. The vinegar smell dissipates after a few minutes so if you are not particularly fond of this scent, it will go away soon enough.
Furniture Polish
Mix together equal parts of vinegar and olive oil to make your own furniture polish. The olive oil helps to condition wood and the vinegar will keep streaks away so your furniture will look great. Just mix the ingredients together in a spray bottle and use a soft cloth to clean and polish any of your wooden furniture.

General Cleaner
A mixture of ¼ cup vinegar, 1 and ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2 teaspoons liquid soap and ¾ cup warm water makes a great general cleaner. This works much like 409 and will clean virtually anything, except windows of course. You can use it to remove stains and scuff marks or make it your go-to cleaner for kitchens, bathrooms or anywhere you want a good clean. You can mix together in a spray bottle and even add a few drops of your favorite essential oil for a good-smelling cleaner.

Multipurpose Cleaner
A really effective multipurpose cleaner uses 1 and ½ pints of warm water, ⅓ cup rubbing alcohol, 1 teaspoon ammonia, 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice. Keep the cleaner in a spray bottle and use it to remove stains from countertops, floors, tile or even painted surfaces. This is a good general cleaner for just about anything you need to clean.

Spray Floor Cleaner
Grapefruit juice gives this floor cleaner a great scent. You have to squeeze the juice from a grapefruit and make sure that you remove all of the pulp. Add about ½ cup vinegar for each grapefruit and 2 tablespoons of salt. This mixture works well as a quick cleaner. You can keep it in a spray bottle and use it to remove stains or spills when they happen.

Carpet Cleaner
To remove stains from carpeting, just mix 1 part dish soap with 2 parts peroxide. Add just a little warm water and spray stains. Leave the solution on the carpet for about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the stain itself and then just wipe away with a damp cloth. This works well for just about any stain and will even remove the odor from pet urine.

Homemade Health and Beauty Recipes

Homemade health and beauty products are great. Not only do they work well, they are more natural and so they are healthier for you to use. You can find a recipe for health and beauty products that range from shampoos to deodorants and everything in between.

Homemade Shampoo
For shampoo that will not dry out your hair and will leave it fresh and clean, mix together castile soap and water. You will need to grate a bar of castile soap and then blend together in a blender with just enough warm water to make a pudding like consistency. Add ¼ cup of olive oil and ½ cup of distilled water and then store in an old shampoo bottle.

Homemade Deodorant
To make your own deodorant, mix together 1 part baking soda and 1 part corn starch. Add a few (about 20) drops of your favorite essential oil to get the scent that you want. Just rub the deodorant on whenever you need it. The cornstarch will help to keep you dry and will prevent chafing that may happen after shaving.
Another good recipe is to mix 3 tablespoons of coconut oil with ⅛ cup baking soda and ⅛ cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder. This homemade deodorant has a shelf life of 2 years.

Homemade Jewelry Cleaners

To keep jewelry sparkling and remove tarnish, mix ⅓ cup of dish soap with ⅔ cup of water and 1 tablespoon of ammonia. Let your gold and other jewelry soak in the solution for about 10 minutes then just rinse clean. You can use a brush (a soft toothbrush works well) to get the underside clean or to get in between designs in the metal. Note that this cleaner is not recommended for soft stones like pearls or opals but works well on harder gemstones like diamonds, rubies and others.