All-Purpose Spray
Cleaner
¼ cup Baking Soda
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
2 cups Warm water
½ cup Rubbing Alcohol
½ cup Vinegar
204 drops of essential oil for antibacterial prowess (tea
tree, lemon, grapefruit, peppermint, etc.)
Using a funnel, add baking soda and cornstarch to a 2 liter
container (washed out soda bottle works great).
Next, add the warm water. Cap
your container and shake about to mix and dissolve the dry ingredients. Re-open your container and using a funnel,
add the rubbing alcohol and LASTLY, the vinegar. Have fun watching the mixture fizz
about! When the fizzing calms down,
re-cap your container and shake about again.
Add your essential oils and then fill the rest of your container with
water, cap and shake about again. Fill
an empty spray bottle with some of the mixture and be sure to shake about
before each use as the contents will settle.
Background:
So, some rooms, like the bathroom, like to get dirty and
germy rather quickly. For rooms like
these, I like to use a cleaner I consider “stronger” than my usual vinegar and
water mix. Finding a replacement to 409,
my old all purpose cleaner, ended up quite the challenge! I wanted to find a cleaner that would be mild
on my nose, body and our environment. I
also wanted it to be easy and quick to use, needing no rinse with water and to leave
my surfaces streak and residue free. I
also wanted it to kick major butt against germs- tall order, I know! If you read my post on my bathtub and shower
cleaning paste, you may remember all the work that went into finding a way to
effectively use essential oils to kill germs and bacteria without killing my
nose, leaving me light headed, or giving me heartburn. I applied the same knowledge to this recipe
to determine how many drops of essential oil are needed, keeping in mind that I
would use more than one kind of oil.
Other fun things I learned via my experimentation are that
alcohol and cornstarch do a great job of helping a cleaning solution evaporate
streak-free! Just as with my glass
cleaner, I wipe my surface down one last time with a dry bit of cloth or paper
towel before the spray has fully evaporated to ensure my streak and residue-free
finish. I also learned that baking
powder is practically as versatile as vinegar doing a great job
at getting faucets and other chrome/metallic surfaces shiny. I use this spray to clean and spot clean
sinks, toilets (not the insides), faucets, shower doors including the metal
boarders, base boards, side tables, dining table and chairs, the coffee table
where the kids eat and play, leather couches, vinyl and tile flooring… almost
any surface (not cloth or granite) in the house!
Additional Notes:
Everyone’s nose and body tolerance to essential oils is
different. For this recipe, I found my
body to be happiest with the following essential oil mix:
51 drops of Tea Tree Oil
51 drops of Lemon Oil
51 drops of Grapefruit Oil
51 drops of Peppermint Oil
The tea tree and peppermint are the strongest oils and I
find that lemon and grapefruit oils temper them without confusing the smell. In fact, I find that the tea tree smell seems
almost to disappear- great for me, since it is the one I like the least. A special thanks to a mate from high school
for giving me the idea to add grapefruit!
I find that this mixture leaves me with a fresh mild smelling cleaning
solution that I can use all over the bathroom with the door closed, fan off and
still leave without it lingering in my nose.
I do, however, find that my hands feel coolness from the peppermint if I
don’t use rubber gloves. Truth is, I
rarely use rubber gloves and I don’t mind the lingering coolness that can last
as many as 15 minutes.
Did you know that ANTS HATE PEPPERMINT OIL? Well, they do! Having two little ones leaving crumbs and
sticky messes all over the house can make a it a bit more inviting to unwanted
guests like ants. So, in researching
non-toxic and effective ways to prevent and get rid of any ants, I learned that
baking soda and peppermint oil rock! Yet
another reason, I love this multi-purpose spray! Clean up the messes your sticky little
children leave behind, and repel unwanted critters at the same time! My mother-in-law has a pool in her back
yard. This means extra summertime fun, but
it also attracts bugs… This spring, the
little ants came out to play in record time, but I was able to cut their visit
SHORT with this spray. I used it to
clean down the baseboards, windows, and door frames on the inside, and sprayed
it along the outside perimeter of the house and around doorways and first floor
windows. I sprayed the outside once a
day for a week, and here we are, more than a month later, and no more unwanted
guests!
To read more on how/why essential oils work so well in
cleaning solutions, read my post on my Tub/Shower paste cleaner!
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