Homemade Bathroom Cleaners

I had to do a super deep clean on the master bathroom today and I thought I’d post the recipes that I use for cleaning.

I am personally not a fan of a lot of cleaners out there- especially the bathroom cleaners.  They have so many chemicals and the odor is so strong… I can feel myself get a little woozy when using them in tight spaces.   Which means a lot of those products are probably not so great for me and for sure not so great for the kiddos.

So we switched to green cleaners a long time ago but I still have a clutter issue.  I found I had so many different products, it really gets annoying to sort through it all.

So I thought I would pass along some recipes for cleaners that you can whip up to get a good deep clean in the bathroom.  These are incredibly cheap to make and only require 3 ingredients in total!

Here is what you need:

• Vinegar (I buy this in huge jugs at Costco for $3)
• Baking Soda (again I just get the huge bags for $6 at Costco)
• Dish Soap (for some reason blue Dawn seems to be the magic one but you can use anything you have on hand– this is NOT a nontoxic dish soap. You can use some of the green soaps like Method for a totally nontoxic bathroom)
• Fragrance Oils (optional)
• Dish Scrubber (optional)

and of course you will need a spray bottle.

Here are the recipes I use:

::To Clean the Toilet:

Mix 1 cup vinegar
and 1 Cup Baking soda

Method: I just dump each of them straight in the bowl because it is going to foam and fizz like crazy. Let this mixture sit for a bit and then just use your scrubber to clean around the bowl.

This should leave your toilet bowl nice and sparkly clean.  This is a great chore for the kiddos because it is fun to see this fizz up.

::To Clean the Mirrors:

1/4 cup vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon dish soap
essential oils (optional)

Mix all the ingredients above in a spray bottle and it works perfectly to clean the mirrors. I use either orange, lemon or lavender essential oils in my spray but you can skip that if you don’t have those on hand. Update: my new favorite is lime!  The bottle is $5 on sale at Whole Foods.

If you have cornstarch on hand you can add a teaspoon of that to help prevent streaks.  I didn’t notice a big difference either way when I tried it so I skip that.

Be very careful with the dishsoap. It you add too much the cleaner will leave a little soapy residue.

::Drain Cleaner:

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup vinegar

Just go ahead and dump the baking soda into your drain. Now add the vinegar- it is going to fizz up so just enjoy the show.

Cover up the drain with whatever you have on hand- a plate works best. Let this mixture sit awhile- 30 minutes to an hour is perfect. Remove the plate and rinse with hot water.

This works like a charm for me when the shower drain gets all backed up.

::Shower Cleaner*:

4oz Vinegar
4oz Blue Dawn Dish soap

Just heat the vinegar in the microwave until nice and hot (about 50 seconds). Pour into a spray bottle and add the dish soap. You want to use blue Dawn dish soap for the best result.

Now squirt away and this should get rid of all the soap scum that you get in the shower. Let it sit for a few minutes and then just wipe it right off.

Our shower was pretty nasty and after using this on the stall today it really looks good as new.

Also you might consider one of those dish scrubbers pictured above. I got the Scotch Brite no scratch one at Target for about $3.

Use equal parts blue Dawn dish soap and vinegar inside the scrubber and keep that in your shower. Use it to scrub the shower when it needs a little maintenance to be nice and sparkly clean again.

(Thanks to reader Amy for this tip)

::Bathtub Scrub*:

1 teaspoon liquid soap (I used the soap we have right there in the bathroom)
1 cup baking soda
a few drops essential oil

Go ahead and mix all that in a bowl and slowly add water until you get a nice paste.

Rub it all over the tub instead of Comet.

Any nasty grout issues you might have in the shower or tub can also get taken care of by the scrub above or just plain old baking soda.  The corners of our shower get nasty and I sprinkle with baking soda and let sit for awhile and then scrub away and it comes right off.  The task is a bit more pleasant if you add a few drops of fragrance oil to the baking soda.

::Floor Cleaner:

If you have stone floors, you can mix 1 cup of vinegar with 1 gallon water and they will come out nice and clean.

::Air Freshener:

I love baking soda as a carpet deodorizer and air freshener at my house.  If you are planning to either wash or vacuum the bathroom rugs you might consider mixing a little baking soda with a few drops of fragrance as a carpet deodorizer.

You can also use this same mixture in little jars to sit in the bathroom as a little air freshener.  Pretty jars are very simple to make for this project and you can get the complete scoop on that here.

So there you have it.  You really just need the dish soap, baking soda and vinegar and you can clean the bathroom top to bottom.  Essential oils and fabric softener can also go a long way if you have them on hand.

And now you should have a lovely sparkly clean bathroom.

By the way, if you happen to have any issues with ants- you can see a simple, inexpensive way to get rid of ants here.