Easy Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner
Over the years I’ve tried lots of recipes and strategies for homemade solutions around my home, and I’ve always found homemade cleaners to be one of the easiest and most frugal things you can make. Homemade cleaners mix up quickly, usually cost just pennies per batch to make, and best of all – they work!
Most of the time I just rely on my DIY mixture of vinegar and half water to do a lot of my cleaning. But sometimes I want something without as much vinegar smell and that’s why I started trying this homemade all-purpose cleaner. At first I had some problems with the borax clogging my spray nozzles. Based on feedback from a reader I’m now using less borax in my spray mixtures and the result is this version of an all-purpose cleaner that only uses 1-1/2 teaspoons of borax.
How Do You Make Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner?
One of the great things you’ll discover when you make your own cleaners is that the main ingredient is almost always water. Yup, if you can add a few things to water you can make your own cleaners!
This recipe is no different, and once you have the water in your spray bottle, you simply add a bit of borax, a bit of vinegar, and a squirt of dish soap to the water. You could also substitute washing soda instead of the borax in this recipe too.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this homemade all-purpose cleaning spray
- 1-3/4 cups hot tap water
- 1-1/2 teaspoons Borax (or Washing Soda)
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- Squirt of dish soap
- Spray bottle of at least a 16 oz size
Begin by placing the hot tap water in your spray bottle. (You need the water to be nice and warm to help dissolve the borax or washing soda. Next add the borax to the spray bottle, put the nozzle back on, and shake it really well to dissolve the borax.
Then take the nozzle back off again so you can add the vinegar and the dish soap. (There’s no need to measure the dish soap, just a small squirt will do the trick). Put the nozzle back on and give things a final bit of swirling and shaking to get everything mixed together.
To use this cleaner, simply squirt some of the cleaner onto the surface to be cleaned and then wipe with a soft cloth.
Related Reading:
- How to make a homemade furniture dusting spray
- Homemade Disinfecting Cleaner
- Homemade daily shower cleaner spray
Homemade All Purpose Cleaner
Equipment:
- 1 spray bottle (16 oz size)
Materials:
- 1¾ cups hot tap water
- 1½ teaspoons borax (or washing soda)
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- small squirt dish soap
Instructions:
- Add the hot tap water to your spray bottle. (The water needs to be warm to dissolve the borax or washing soda in the next step)
- Add the borax (or washing soda) to the spray bottle. The put the nozzle back on and shake it really well to dissolve the borax.
- Take the nozzle back off again and add the vinegar and the dish soap. Then put the nozzle back on and give the bottle a final bit of swirling and shaking to get everything mixed together.
- To use: Squirt some of the cleaner onto the surface to be cleaned and then wipe with a soft cloth.Note: Because this cleaner contains some vinegar, it is best not to use it on any soft stone surfaces such as quartz or granite.
What is your opinion on the exact opposite reaction that I keep reading about. I’m trying to find the most effective recipe for a daily shower spray that fights mold buildup and I come across the reason NOT to mix borax and vinegar. 🤷♀️
“Do not mix vinegar with borax to make a mold-killing solution. Borax is alkaline while vinegar is acidic. Mixing the two will cancel out the cleaning power that’s in each of them, making the mixture less effective at getting rid of mold on surfaces.”
I prefer not to have any vinegar in my daily shower spray because it’s an acidic ingredient and is not good for some stone type of tiles. I think the alcohol and peroxide in this mixture can help prevent mold rather than having to use vinegar or borax. But for a homemade all-purpose cleaner, I’ve found that those two ingredients (vinegar and borax) can be in a mixture diluted in water and I still feel like I have an effective cleaner.
Is this mixture with borax safe around pets? I think mixture will also kill bugs. Right?
Can you share the link for where to purchase the spray bottle displayed?
Thank you!
I think this was a bottle that came from Grove Collaborative that was a free gift as part of a larger order. Grove Collaborative does have some nice glass spray bottles available for purchase too! https://www.grove.co/
What does the borax/washing powder add to the solution? Isn’t water, vinegar & Dawn enough? Can you add a disinfectant? Thanks from Canada!
The borax helps add a little extra cleaning boost to this spray, but if you don’t want to buy a whole box of that ingredient you could also try this mixture and leave out the borax. If you want to make this more of a disinfecting mixture, I would try adding about 12 drops of tea tree oil.
Thanks for these Bev and going over the ingredients. Don’t want to just throw things together bc they are natural you know. I am excited to have great home cleaning products! I always used distilled water bc I know it effects the chemistry of mixtures. I was wondering if it will help to use distilled water instead of tap to stop the crystalizing in the spray bottles. Have you tried this method already? Have a great day!
Sarah
Since I started using this recipe with less borax, I have not had a problem with crystallization any more. So I tend to think it was the amount of borax that was more of the issue than tap water vs. distilled. BUT, potentially distilled water could be helpful too, and I might try that strategy too!
Probably a strange question, but what can I buy for a washing soda? Thank You
Washing soda is usually easy to find in most larger grocery stores. It is sold in the laundry aisle, comes in a box, and is often on a bottom shelf.