DIY natural cleaners for farm and home

Some commercial cleaners contain chemicals that when released during cleaning, trouble our lungs and pollute our water supply. A cupboard packed with glowing detergents and aerosol cans in a home with small children is a disaster waiting to happen. Plus, purchasing multiple cleaning products for your home and farm is expensive.

Making your own natural cleaners is good for the environment, your health and your pocketbook. This short list of seven inexpensive ingredients makes multiple natural cleaners to accomplish your dirtiest to-do list: Zote, Borax, Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, white vinegar, salt, yeast and lemons. You may even already have a few on hand.

Homemade laundry detergent

Works in traditional and high-efficiency (HE) model washers when added directly to tank.

Ingredients
1 (14.1 oz) bar Zote
4 cups Borax
3 cups Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

Directions

1. Grate Zote with a hand grater or food processor.
2. Measure out Borax and super soda.
3. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
4. Keep in an air tight container. Use 2-3 tablespoons per load.

Glass cleaner

Ingredients
White vinegar
Recycled newspaper

Directions

1. Put vinegar in a spray bottle.
2. Mist windows or other glass surfaces.
3. Wipe clean with newspaper for a streak-free surface.

Soap-scum scouring powder

Ingredients
2 parts Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 part salt
1 part Borax

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a mason jar. Shake to mix.
2. Use like you would Comet or Ajax powder.

Septic tank helper

When the septic service man came out to pump my tank, he scolded me for using bleach cleaners to clean my toilet. “Sure it cleans your toilet,” he said, “but it also inhibits the microbes in your tank from breaking down matter.”

He suggested I use a bleach free cleaner (I began using homemade Soap-scum Scouring Powder instead), and that I flush a teaspoon of yeast down the toilet every month.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon baker’s yeast

Directions

Flush a teaspoon of yeast down the toilet every month.

Grimy ring cleaner

Be it cup stains, grimy glass coffee pots, tub rings or sink discoloration, Grimy Ring Cleaner wipes clean tough spots.

Ingredients
White Vinegar
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

Directions

1. Make a paste out of vinegar and soda.
2. Use a scouring sponge to remove rings.
3. Rinse away residue.

Hard water remover

Ingredients
Lemon juice

Directions

1. Fill a spray bottle with lemon juice and mist hard water build-up.
2. After 10 minutes wipe away hard water spots.
3. Rinse well.

Garbage disposal/drain freshener and cleaner

Ingredients
Lemons

Directions

1. Cut lemon in wedges.
2. Grind lemon peelings in drain to freshen.