Been looking for a homemade foaming cleaner? You’ve come to the right place.
If you’ve been on the road to natural living long, you’ve probably already read quite a bit about the wonders of baking soda and vinegar when it comes to cleaning the house. Dirty windows? Vinegar! Stinky fridge? Baking soda! Stopped up sink? Vinegar AND baking soda!
I was looking for a way to clean my disgusting oven without having to wear a gas mask or evacuate the house of small children and animals. I decided to to play around a bit, and lo and behold…I found a homemade natural foaming cleaner that worked!
If you had seen the inside of my oven before and after, you would be very impressed. I chose not to publicly post photos of that, though, because I’d be mortally embarrassed by the “before” pic! I decided that if I could clean my oven with baking soda, dish soap and vinegar, I could certainly use it to clean other areas of my house.
Making Your Homemade All Natural Foaming Cleaner:
I mixed up a baking powder cleaner that’s light on the dish soap (which you don’t need much of for most jobs…nasty ovens excepted) and spiced it up with some lavender essential oil. You have to stir the mixture well (you could use a food processor for this job) because you want the end result to be powdery and not clumpy.
Using Your All Natural Foaming Cleaner:
To store the baking soda cleaner, I poked some holes (use a large nail for this) in the top of a canning jar lid and made myself a useful…and cute…shaker. Then I grabbed my trusty bottle of vinegar and went to work on the bathroom sink. First, shake the baking soda all over the area you’re going to clean. Use a damp rag to rub the cleaner in, sprinkling on more as you need it.
Let it sit for a little while (or a long while, depending on the kind of mess you’re dealing with). If you’re removing rust or lime scale, spray the area down with vinegar first and then sprinkle on the scented baking soda…and let it sit for at least 30 minutes! You may have to repeat this several times, but it does work.
The Magic of Foam!
Now, spritz the area you cleaned with vinegar and watch it bubble! The foam helps remove dirt and grime, and the vinegar removes any trace of dish soap-and-baking soda and shines up whatever you are cleaning. Don’t worry! That vinegar smell will be gone in a few minutes, and you’ll have nothing left but the nice, shiny clean as evidence that it was ever there.
So much better! And no lingering chemical smell or toxic nastiness to worry about. Plus, my cute cleanser-shaker is totally reusable and it looks great on the shelf in my broom closet. Another win for baking soda and vinegar!
Homemade Natural Foaming Cleaner
1 cup baking soda
2 teaspoons castile liquid soap (like this)
3 drops essential oil (Lemon is a great addition to take your all natural foaming cleanser to the next level!) (Learn how to get my favorite essential oils at wholesale prices here.)
a spray bottle full of vinegar
Directions:
1. In a bowl or a food processor, mix together the baking soda, soap, and essential oil. Mix this well, so that it’s powdery and not clumpy.
2. Store the powdered cleaner in a mason jar with large holes punched in the lid for easy (and cute!) cleaning.
3. Sprinkle the baking soda powder over the surface you are cleaning. Wet a rag, wring it out, and scrub the powder onto the surface. Let it sit for a few minutes (or longer for tougher messes).
4. Spritz vinegar over the areas you cleaned, and wipe it down again with a wet rag. Repeat until the surface is free of baking soda residue.
5. For tough jobs like lime scale, rust, or the inside of an oven, spray it down with vinegar first and then scrub the baking soda in. Let it sit for several hours, then wash it with vinegar.
6. For greasy messes, make a paste with dish soap and baking soda and rub it into the surface. Let it sit, and wash it with vinegar.
Ready to try making your own homemade foaming cleanser? What’s the biggest mess you’ve got?
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