3 DIY Natural Cleaning Products For Your Kitchen: A Room by Room Guide to a Toxin-Free Home
DIY’s have gained popularity in recent years as we’ve begun to realize we are spending WAY too much on off the shelf products that we can easily make ourselves.
Off the shelf cleaning products are not only full of harmful chemicals and toxins, they are WAY overpriced. Our consumer culture tells use that it’s convenient and cost-effective to buy products designed to meet a specific need, but that’s a falsehood designed to get you to buy MORE and spend MORE, leaving you with less money in the bank and a shelf full of products that each only have a single purpose.
If you know me, you know I value the way I spend my time (I’d rather be having coffee with a friend any time of day!) and I’m not particularly fond of getting my hands dirty ;) I was one of those people. I thought it was less work to just buy what I needed instead of considering making it myself. BUT, I’ve come to realize that incorporating a few simple DIYs into my life actually has a lot of benefits, and it really is easy and quick to make DIY cleaning products.
I also cannot overstate the importance of knowing that every ingredients in my cleaning products is clean, and isn’t bringing harmful chemicals into my home. Making DIY cleaners is another way I can work to make my home toxin free.
In my last post in this series (4 Cleaning Products To Ditch And Switch In Your Kitchen), I shared about the versatility of Thieves Household Cleaner and how you can use it to mix up so many different types of non-toxic cleaners for your home. If you haven’t already, grab the free printable at the end of that blog post for 5 great Thieves Cleaner recipes.
Here are three more super simple DIY natural kitchen cleaning products that I make and use in my own home! As you’ll see, all you need to make these DIYs is a few simple ingredients and in just minutes you’ll have homemade all-natural, toxin-free cleaning products for your kitchen!
Now, let’s get started…
Liquid Dish Soap
Thieves Dish Soap is an amazing product on its own, and a little goes a LONG way! I learned very early one that Young Living products are highly concentrated. That means that that often a single bottle would actually go much further than I was used to! This is definitely the case with Thieves Dish Soap; one bottle can easily replace three bottles of your typical dish soap!
If you have used any type of chemical free dish soap before you may have missed the sudsy bubbles of a traditional dish soap. As I shared earlier in our series, those bubbles do not make for an affective cleaning product, but we are so used to seeing them that its easy to feel their absence when switching to natural dish soap.
Here is a natural dish soap hack to get those bubbles back AND help you stretch a single bottle of Thieves Dish Soap to 3 bottles!
What you’ll need:
1 bottle Thieves Dish Soap (355 ml)
4.5 teaspoons baking soda
6 cups warm water
3 soap containers (I love this mason jar soap dispenser from Mason Jar Merchant!)
How to:
Divide the bottle of Thieves Dish Soap into your 3 containers.
Mix 4.5 teaspoons of baking soda with 6 cups of warm water, this is going to give you bubbles! Mix together until the baking soda is completely dissolved.
Divide the water and baking soda mixture into your 3 containers. Gently mix the solution together.
Use your bubbly soap knowing there are NO chemicals lingering on your dishes!
If you can do without the bubbles, just dilute your Thieves Dish Soap with about 1 part soap to 2 parts warm water to extend the bottle!
Dishwasher Tabs
I was so excited about this DIY! Honesty moment - dishwasher tabs were one of the last things I gave up in my non-toxic home. They were just too convenient for me, it felt hard to give up! I am so thankful that I gave in and gave this DIY a try. Its a super simple alternative that actually WORKS!
What you’ll need:
This recipe makes 16 dishwasher tabs.
1 1/4 cups Washing Soda
3 Tablespoons regular table salt
25-45 drops Citrus Fresh Essential Oil (or another oil of your choice)
1/2 cup water
Silicone molds or ice cube trays
How to:
Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Choose a glass or stainless steel bowl, and use a stainless steel spoon to mix it up. Avoid using plastic bowls or spoons, which can leech harmful toxins into the mixture.
Spoon the mixture into the silicon molds. Allow the mixture to dry completely and then pop out your dishwasher tabs. I let mine sit on the kitchen counter for about 24 hours and they popped out easily!
Store the dishwasher tabs in an airtight container, away from direct sunlight.
Place a single dishwasher tab in your dishwasher and set the clean cycle for fresh smelling, toxin free clean dishes!
Troubleshooting:
Keep in mind that all dishwashers are slightly different, and the type of water you have can also affect how natural dishwashing detergent will work. Here are a few tips if you run into issues:
If you experience residue build up, try adding white vinegar in the rinse agent section of your dishwasher. Citric acid has also been found to help with residue. Try adding a teaspoon of citric acid to the detergent compartment with each load.
Salt can be sprinkled into the bottom of the dishwasher to aid with the pre-rinse cycle, this can be especially helpful if you have hard water.
Thieves Wipes
It was just one year ago, in March of 2020, that we first heard the words ‘Corona Virus’. Since then cleanliness has been on the forefront of ALL of our minds. These simple and easy DIY disinfectant wipes are perfect for every use, and SO much better then Lysol or Clorox wipes (YUCK!).
These toxin-free cleaning wipes are perfect for a quick wipe of hands or the kitchen counter, and they are easy to pack in your bag for on-the-go use too!
What you need:
1 roll of Bounty* paper towel
2 capfuls Thieves Household Cleaner
2 cups water
A container that will fit a 1/2 roll of paper towel
How to:
Cut the roll of paper towel in half (I’ve found a serrated knife works best for this).
Place the half roll of paper towel into the container. You may need to remove a few sheets of paper towel to squeeze it in.
Mix 2 cups of water with 2 capfuls of Thieves Household Cleaner.
Pour the cleaning mixture over the top of the paper towel. Make sure that the paper towel is saturated with the mixture, you can add a little more water if necessary.
After a few minutes, the cardboard piece in the middle of the paper towel roll will be wet enough that it loosens up and you can pull it out.
Pull the wipes out from the centre and clean away!
*Note: The brand of paper towel is important! I’ve made these DIY wipes a few times and discovered that some brands of paper towel will get moldy if you don’t go through the roll fast enough.
Get Your diy On!
These DIYs are super simple AND effective! Pretty amazing right?
We all know that I am all about simple, so if I can do it YOU can too!
Up Next: Bathrooms!
I am so excited to be continuing this Room by Room series and tackle bathrooms next! We will break down some of the harmful villains hiding in common bathroom products, and show you clean alternatives and DIYs to swap them for!
Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. The information on this blog is not intended to cure, treat, or heal any disease. Please use essential oils and other Young Living products at your own risk (and with lots of common sense).
Photographs by Kim Norcross.
