Green Cleaning Recipes

Try these green cleaning recipes as alternatives to chemical cleaning products. They’re safer for you, your family and the environment, and cost less, too!

Tub & Tile Cleaner

  • 1 2/3 cups water
  • 1/4 cup liquid soap (not detergent)
  • 1/4 cup baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons vinegar
  • A few drops of essential oil (optional)

Dissolve soap in water. Stir in baking soda. Add vinegar. Store in a squirt bottle.
Shake before using. Rinse surface thoroughly to avoid leaving residue.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

  • 1 cup borax
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice or vinegar.

Mix. Pour mixture into toilet bowl. Let sit. Scrub.

Glass Cleaner

  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1 quart warm water

Mix ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake and clean as you would with a commercial product.

Bleach

  • Hydrogen peroxide (3%)

Spot clean. Let dry. Repeat if necessary.
-or-

  • 1/2 cup borax
  • 2 gallons water

Mix together & presoak.

Drain Cleaner

  • 1/2 cup baking soda
  • 1/2 cup vinegar

Pour baking soda down the drain followed by vinegar. Let it bubble for 15 minutes, then pour down about 1 quart boiling water. For stubborn clogs, use a mechanical snake.

Oven Cleaner

  • 1 tablespoon liquid soap (not detergent)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup salt
  • 3/4 cup baking soda

Spray oven surfaces with soapy water. Mix salt & baking soda, then sprinkle on wet surface. Spray again so the mixture is damp & pasty. Let stand overnight. Scrape off with putty knife or wet pumice stone. 

Tile Floor Cleaner

  • 1 cup vinegar
  • 1 gallon hot water

Mix, mop & wipe clean.
Tip—To remove scuff marks, sprinkle with baking soda & spray with equal parts vinegar & water. Wipe clean.

Silver Cleaner

  • 3-inch square of aluminum foil
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • 1 cup warm water

Dissolve salt & baking soda in warm water. Submerge foil & silver in the solution.
Wait one hour. Rinse silver & wipe dry with a soft cloth.
-or-
Apply non-gel toothpaste to a soft cloth. Rub tarnished spots. Rinse & dry.

Fabric Softener

  • 1/2 cup vinegar

Add to rinse cycle to soften & deodorize fabrics.

Books and Resources

The following books offer a variety of green cleaning recipes, as well as information about commercial green cleaning products and other eco-friendly household products. They are available through the Mariposa County Library and its branches.

  • Easy Green Living: the ultimate guide to simple, eco-friendly choices for you and your home by ReneeLoux, 2008
  • The Green Book of Household Hints:keeping an efficient and ecologically Sound Home, by Marjorie Harris, 2001
  • Clean Naturally--Recipes for Body, Home & Spirit, by Sandy Maine, 2001
  • Green Cleaning for Dummies, by Elizabeth B. Goldsmith, 2009
  • Better Basics for the Home, by Annie Berthold-Bond, 1999
  • The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Cleaning, by Mary Findley and Linda Formichelli, 2009
  • Clean Home, Green Home: the complete illustrated guide to eco-friendly homekeeping, by Kimberly Delaney, 2009
  • DVD--Green Cleaning for a Healthy Home, produced by Saul Nir and Ari Firestone, 2008

Links:

These are merely suggestions for further reading. We do not guarantee the results of any of the recipes contained in any of the above materials/websites.