How to Do It Better: Make Your Own Home Cleaners
Most cleaning supplies nowadays do more harm than good, hurting one of two things: your health or your wealth. The chemicals most companies mix into your household cleaners would astound the average user as to their complexity and unnatural – and volatile – toxicity.
No law requires cleaning supply manufacturers to list ingredients on their labels, nor even to test the safety of their products. And in an effort to produce the most effective cleaner possible, these companies have no qualms about including the harshest and most toxic ingredients – so long as it gets the job done, right?
Wrong. It’s time to try a new alternative: making your own home cleaners.
Benefits of Making Your Own Home Cleaners
Health
The average person houses approximately 700 toxic chemicals in their body on any given day. One of the primary causes? You guessed it: commercially sold cleaning products, the majority of which contain some form of petroleum, chlorine (normally labeled as hypochlorite) or bleach.
Homemade cleaners are much safer and lack the toxicity of commercially produced cleaning products. Made from natural ingredients, which we’ll discuss shortly, and mixed with tap water, you can create your own wide array of cleaners and protect your body – and those of your children – from harmful chemicals.
Wealth
We should have listened to our mothers more when they told us, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Making your own home cleaners allows you to save substantial amounts of money due to their wide variety of applications. For example, you’ll buy a liter of castile soap for $10, but it will last you months because you’ll be mixing it with higher ratios of water. Plus, that $10 liter will save you from having to buy different cleaners for different applications. Most of the homemade cleaners have a versatility you won’t find among store-bought window cleaners, tile cleaners, floor cleaners, dish detergents, and the list goes on.
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How to Make Your Own Home Cleaner
We recommend starting with the aforementioned core ingredient: castile soap. If you’ve ever watched Fight Club, you may remember that soap is made from fat. And while we don’t recommend you take Tyler Durden’s route and raid the nearest liposuction clinic, we do recommend you experiment with a soap rendered from a fat of purely vegetable origin (instead of from animals). Castile is plant-oil based and thus is completely biodegradable and earth-friendly; an added benefit being that it is gentler on skin than your mainstream chemical detergents. And you can use it on just about every surface in your home, including your own body.
Other ingredients for homemade cleaners can include:
- Baking soda – mix with water to clean and deodorize; great for porcelain and tile.
- White vinegar – cuts grease and removes mildew; works well on windows as well as carpet stains.
- Borax – mix with water to defeat mold and mildew; great as a toilet bowl cleaner and mold inhibitor.
- Hydrogen peroxide – dilute with water; effective as a stain remover on clothes, cutting boards and countertops.
The positive effects of homemade soaps on your health and your wealth are well worth the time spent mixing these simple concoctions.
Jeff Hirz is a writer, runner, and bedside health enthusiast. Written on behalf of Brazillian Wood Depot.
