Make Your Own Disinfecting All-Purpose Cleaner
This Formula is Ridiculously Cheap & Easy
One of the easiest ways to green up your life and save a little green (money, that is), is to make your own household cleaners, like this homemade DIY disinfecting cleaner. I’ve come to love trying out new recipes for home cleaning products and I’ll be posting some of my favorites here over the next few months.
What you’ll need to make Super Quick 1-Minute Disinfecting Cleaner:
- an empty spray bottle (can be new or repurposed)
- a funnel (or piece of paper folded into a funnel)
- tea tree oil
- warm water
- vinegar (optional)
- Put 10-20 drops of tea tree oil in bottom of empty spray bottle for every 16 oz of liquid that your spray bottle holds (Note: using 20 drops will result in a stronger, although not unpleasant, smell.)
- Using the funnel, add 2 tbsp vinegar for every 16 ounces. You can omit this step if desired. (The smell of vinegar will go away shortly after using solution when the spray dries.)
- Fill bottle with water and put spray lid on. Gently swirl to mix solution.
- To use, spray surface you want to clean liberally and let sit for about a minute if surface is gunked up (for example if you’re cleaning your stove after cooking and a pot boiled over and dried or if you have batter stuck on your counter from baking).
I haven’t figured out the exact cost of this recipe, because I’ve never thought to count how many drops of tea tree oil come in one bottle, but it’s crazy cheap (a few cents-ish). A bottle of tea tree oil lasts me over a year at $5-6 dollars a bottle. If you repurpose an old squirt bottle from something else, then you’ve got really cheap, 1-minute disinfecting cleanser.
My favorite bottles to repurpose my homemade cleaning solutions from are old “BabyGanics” bottles (shown in picture), like “BabyGanics, Stain Stain Go Away” (which works fabulously, by the way). I haven’t gotten around to making my own laundry stain remover yet, but I’ll keep you posted when I do.
