Homemade laundry detergent
and disinfectants

Safe to the enviroment and for your family

Your guide for Homemade laundry detergent and disinfectants.

You have two options when it comes to laundry detergents and disinfectants. Either buy your favourite one from the shelf or you can make your own one. You can conjure up similar products for very little money.

Making Your Own Cleaning Products

There aren’t many ingredients you need. You will need such things as borax, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. The main ingredient is vinegar and you’ll be surprised what you can make from vinegar with one or two of the other ingredients listed.

Looking for a homemade multi-purpose cleaner? Rather than by 409 you can make some yourself. Just by mixing together equal parts of vinegar and water and then pouring into a spray bottle which you should mark clearly. It works well and does not cost as much as store brought multipurpose cleaner.

Vinegar also works well as a disinfectant as well efficiently removing grease and dirt. The above mixture can be used effectively on mildew, tubs, ceramic tiles and cleaning windows. To improve the substance you can add a drop of your preferred essential oil to help. Remember never use vinegar on marble counters or floors. A homemade air freshener can be made that instead of covering odors up actually absorbs them. To prepare it place two cups of hot water in a bottle, one teaspoon of vinegar and on teaspoon of baking soda. Shake the bottle and the ingredients should dissolve together. To add to the smell of the freshener add a few drops of an essential oil. Remember always to clearly label the bottle.

To make a useful disinfectant mix together two teaspoons of borax, three cups of water and four table spoons of vinegar. Borax is environmentally friendly but it is toxic. So always store carefully and label clearly anything containing borax. Many people know about hydrogen peroxide is great for cleaning out wounds. However it has many other useful purposes too. It’s works very well when removing fresh blood from clothes. The same foaming quality that brings dirt out of cuts will remove blood stains from clothing.

Hydrogen peroxide can also be added right into the washing machine when washing whites. As the washer fills with water pour a cup in. Be careful not to pour it straight onto clothes because hydrogen peroxide will act just like bleach.

Chopping boards and kitchen counters can be a breeding ground for bacteria if not cleaned properly. Hydrogen peroxide can be used to rinse these boards down after they are washed and will kill the bacteria. Lemon juice does the same job when rubbed on in this way.

We’ve shown you don’t have to have lots of dangerous chemicals stored in your house to get things clean. Common items lying around the house often is all you need. By putting together a few simple ingredients such as borax, baking soda, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide can keep your home healthy and spotless.

Make Your Own Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners

The toilet seat has often been said to be the cleanest place in the home! It only takes few eco friendly cleaners to make the rest of the bathroom just as clean.

A known substance for killing germs is hydrogen peroxide and it is one of the safest sanitizers around. This substance is made up of water and oxygen and this is just what it breaks down into when it attacks organic materials.

The same bubbling effect of hydrogen peroxide, which is great for cleaning out wounds, also attacks and kills viruses and bacteria. Spray down your shower with a three percent solution of hydrogen peroxide when you’ve finished with it to get rid of any bacteria.

It’s useful to keep a bottle of hydrogen peroxide around the bathroom counters where it can be easily available. You can use it to disinfect the counters when you’ve completed the cleaning.

Other common materials can be used for cleaning. Mix together on fourth cup of baking soda into on half gallon of water. Then just put in half a cup of vinegar. Now you have a great all purpose cleaner for your bathroom.

To get rid of clogs in the sink or showers try pouring down half a cup of baking soda down the drain. The immediately pour down one cup of vinegar. Now watch and stay back as the mixture fizzles. When a few minutes have past, pour down hot salty water into the drain. If necessary repeat the steps and soon you should have a nice clear drain.

A similar procedure can be used to clean your toilet bowl. Pepper the toilet with baking soda and after a few minutes rub the toilet with a brush. You can then put some white vinegar down into the toilet and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Lastly scrub the toilet down with a brush.

Natural versus Store Bought Disinfectants

The purpose of a disinfectant is to disinfectant your home so of course you will want one that gets the job done effectively. The first thought might be to get a chemical laden disinfectant – but have you considered the alternatives which may be natural and more safe for the family.

When the word disinfectant is mentioned perhaps a common disinfectant such as Clorox or Lysol comes to your mind. How do natural products compare to them in price, efficiency and availability? And can you even make your own?

It is indeed possible to purchase natural disinfectants and even make your own!

Clorox has been around since 1913 and since then have created many cleaning products. They have bleach to help get the whites clean and disinfectant to disinfect surfaces and floors around the home.

Clorox is excellent at disinfecting but being made with chemicals isn’t the safest if not used carefully or neglecting the instructions.

It contains potentially dangerous ingredients such as didecl dimethl ammonium chloride and n-alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride. Of course you should avoid skin contact with this disinfectant and use protective clothing on hands and eyes when using it.

Lysol has been around just as long and they are just as hazardous as the former, using both the two hazardous chemicals listed before.

If you would like an alternative to products containing hazardous chemicals then there are alternatives. Pine oil has been found to have natural disinfecting qualities – a company called Watkins which has been around since 1868 discovered this.

Pine oil is a phenolic disinfectant. It is an essential oil and is used in cleaning products such as Pine Sol and other products. Pine sol is a Clorox products but it is possible just to purchase pine oil from different places on and off line or even in many health food stores.

Other environmentally friendly ingredients you can use to disinfect are thyme and tea tree oils. You can use any of these three oils in homemade disinfectants.

How do you make your own homemade disinfectants?

  1. Combine two tablespoons of borax – found in the laundry aisle of most stores.


  2. One quarter of a cup of lemon juice


  3. Two cups of hot water


  4. Mix these three ingredients into a spray bottle.


  5. Shake the bottle until the borax is dissolved


  6. Put in twenty drops of thyme essential oil or tea tree oil.


  7. Shake again


  8. Use as you would a chemical laden disinfectant



With these simple solutions you could be replacing your chemical detergents and disinfectants with a natural choice - environmentally friendly and safe for your family. Why not give it a try?








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