Blog Action Day: Natural Cleaning Recipes

Today bloggers around the web are uniting to talk about ways to achieve a better future in relation to the environment; each blogger chooses a special interest or topic to post about the environment. As I post this, there are 15,568 blogs with a RSS reach of 12,507,731 readers who have committed to participate today. You can read more about this effort here.

Junie Moon is one of the registered blogs supporting this effort. My chosen subject is making your own home cleaning products using natural ingredients. I dislike harsh chemical cleansers in my home--they are bad for Mother Earth and certainly bad for me and my family.



My search for more natural and gentler cleaning solutions began some years ago after developing some nasty and painful reactions to regular laundry detergents. Over time I began to notice other problems developing with the products I was using to clean my kitchen, bathroom, etc. Lots of research and experiments with ideas and recipes from the Internet and the library finally gave me an arsenal of safer cleaning products that I can make myself and use at home.

I’ve previously shared a few of the cleaning recipes I make on Flickr but I’m re-posting them on my blog. Because there are too many to post in one day, I’ll share two printable recipes today (as well as labels) and add one each day for the rest of this week to my daily posts.



For years I've been making my own laundry detergent. It takes less than 10 minutes to make and the results are worth it to me.



This detergent is healthier for me, cleans well, and has a wonderful fragrance. You can use other essential oils such as lemon, but I use lavender because its beneficial properties include being antiseptic, antiviral, and a natural bactericide.





This is the way I package my detergent when using as gifts. It holds two small bags of laundry powder—that is a sprig of the lavender I grow in my yard. The cardstock fold-over label was made on my computer. I call all my cleaning products “Clean Cottage” just for the fun of it.



I love this stuff--cleans countertops, bathrooms, fridge doors, stove tops, etc. I tie a strip of fabric around the neck of the spray bottles I use because...well, just because I like it.



This recipe calls for washing soda. This ingredient confused me when I first heard about it—what in the world is washing soda? Also known as sodium carbonate, washing soda is in the same family as baking soda but is processed differently. It’s an all-natural product that I get from Safeway’s laundry section. Look for Arm & Hammer Washing Soda.



You only need a minute amount of washing soda for this recipe only because it’s strong stuff. Don’t use it in a stronger formulation on fiberglass, aluminum or waxed floors.

I hope this helps you make your home a bit greener, too! Please check my blog each day for additional cleaning recipes you can use at home.