• Daily chores
• Clean Tub/Shower
• Wipe Living Room/Den Window Sills
Additional Resources:
• Homemade All Purpose Cleaner and Disinfectant Recipe
Learn more about the Clever Homemaking Daily Chore List.
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Category Archives: Cleaning Recipes
January 19: Daily Chore List
Homemade Window and Glass Cleaner
Instead of spending money on expensive, harsh chemicals to clean your floor, consider mixing your own cleaner from frugal household ingredients you probably already have on hand. Not only will you save money, your home will be greener and healthier for your family.
This is the recipe I use for cleaning my windows (and practically every other surface of my home!). This is my most versitile cleaning recipe.
I store my window cleaner in a 32 oz. spray bottle from the dollar store. The ingredients listed are scaled to fit my spray bottle, but the basic formula for window cleaner is one part vinegar to four parts water. You can use this formula to scale the recipe to fit your needs. I use generic brand distilled white vinegar.
Ingredients
3 cups water
6 oz. vinegar
Directions
Combine, use, and store in a well labeled spray bottle.
Homemade Dusting and Furniture Polish Recipes
To keep wood furniture looking beautiful:
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
Pour oil mixture on a cloth and wipe down wood surfaces.
For dusting electronics:
Use a dyer sheet. The static releasing quality makes them great dusting cloths for electronics.
Swiffer cloth replacement:
Knit a washable cover for your swiffer or use a sock.
Homemade Floor Cleaner
Instead of spending money on expensive, harsh chemicals to clean your floor, consider mixing your own cleaner from frugal household ingredients you probably already have on hand. Not only will you save money, your home will be greener and healthier for your family.
This is the recipe I use for mopping my floor. It works equally well on linoleum and tile.
Ingredients
2 gallons hot water
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 vinegar
Directions
Mix well and mop! If you have a stubborn stain, try adding a Tbsp of dishwashing liquid to your solution.
Cleaning Your Oven: Homemade Oven Cleaner
You don’t need heavy toxic chemicals to get the inside of your oven clean. Mix together the following ingredients:
3/4 cup Baking Soda
1/4 cup Salt
1/4 cup Water
Apply the mixture to your oven and allow to sit all day or overnight.
Clean your oven using a warm wet sponge or cloth.
Rinse your oven with a solution of 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water.
How to Make Homemade Laundry Detergent
One way I save a ton of money off my grocery bill is by making my own laundry detergent. It’s very easy to make, super cheap, and it works great! I’m going to show you exactly how I make it.
Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe
Ingredients:
1 bar Ivory Soap
1/2 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
Directions:
The first thing I do is grate the Ivory soap using the fine side of a cheese grater. Ivory soap is relatively soft, so this task isn’t as strenuous as it may seem. I can grate a whole bar within minutes.
You need the soap to be as powdery as you can get it. Ivory soap has a lot of moisture, so you can’t really use your hands to crush it down. A food processor will work, but I’ve found if I go ahead and add the washing soda and borax, it will dry up the Ivory soap. At this point, I simply use a large spoon to chop up the grated soap.
Once it is all broken down into powder, mix it up and pour it into a container. You only need to use 1 – 2 Tbsp per load of laundry!
The Fine Details
You can find Arm & Hammer Washing Soda in your grocery store’s laundry aisle. In my area it is high on the shelf at Kroger and low on the shelf at HEB. Most Walmarts do not carry it. If you cannot find it in your area, you can order it from Amazon.com. Even with shipping you will save over store bought laundry detergent!
You can get 20 Mule Team Borax just about anywhere including the grocery store laundry aisle.
The Washing Soda and Borax run about $3 each a box. You can purchase Ivory soap for around 3 for $1.00. Using these figures, you can make a batch of homemade laundry detergent for around $.70!
More homemade cleaning recipes at Clever Homemaking.
Homemade Ant Killer
If ants are intruding on your summer fun, don’t spend money on harsh chemicals. Many ant remedies can be found in your home.
Any of the following can be sprayed, poured, or sprinkled on ant hills and paths to successfully eliminate ants:
• Borax
• Artificial Sweetener
• Boiling water
• Cinnamon
• Bleach
• Ammonia
• Dish soap & water
• Cornmeal
Do you have a home remedy for removing ants? Let me know how you control ants at your house.
More homemade cleaning recipes at Clever Homemaking.
Homemade Flea Killer
It’s flea season again. The good news is you don’t have to spend a ton of money on harsh chemicals for your pets and home. There are some simple inexpensive solutions to help control fleas.
Flea Control for your Home
- Sprinkle Borax into your carpets and rugs to kill fleas. Vacuum thoroughly.
- Vacuum often and always empty the vacuum afterward. Fleas can breed in your vacuum! If you don’t want to change your bag that often, you can keep a fresh flea collar in the bag or spray flea spray into the bag after each vacuum.
- Place a pan on your floor and line the bottom with a white towel. Fill the pan with water and Dawn dishwashing liquid and leave it on the floor overnight with a light shining into the pan. The fleas will be attracted to the pan and the Dawn will effectively eliminate them.
Flea Control for your Pet
- Wash your pet with Dawn Dishwashing Liquid
- Make Homemade Flea Shampoo:
- 3 oz. glycerine
- 3 oz. Joy
- 1.5 oz. white vinegar
- 24.5 oz. water
Makes a full quart of flea shampoo. You can add a couple of drops of pennyroyal as a flea repellent.
The key to flea control is to break the flea’s life cycle. While fleas are relatively easy to kill, their eggs are not. Flea eggs hatch every 7 days. For flea treatments to be effective, they need to be repeated every 6 days for several weeks.
Homemade Jewelry Cleaner Recipe
You can save a lot of money by preparing cleaning products at home. Homemade cleaning products are healthier for your family and the environment because they do not contain the harsh chemicals used in commercial products.
Photo by Stephen Durham
Ingredients
¼ cup of vinegar
¼ cup of ammonia
½ cup of water
Directions
Mix the ingredients together and use to clean your jewelry. For a deep cleaning, you can use a soft bristle toothbrush to gently scrub your jewelry.
Rinse jewelry with warm water and dry with a cloth.
Homemade Cat Litter Deodorizer Recipe
You can save a lot of money by preparing cleaning products at home. Homemade cleaning products are healthier for your family and the environment because they do not contain the harsh chemicals used in commercial products. In my opinion, they work better as well.
Ingredients
¼ cup of baking soda
Directions
Sprinkle baking soda directly into litter box with each litter change.
