Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner Recipes
Doesn't it seem like these days that there are 20+ different cleaning product available for just the bathroom? Not only that, but products for our drains, floors, toilets, counters, and glass...basically there are countless commercial cleaning products for just about anything you can think of.
Simplify.
If you've been following my blog. You know I mostly use these few ingredients to make all of my homemade cleaners:
1. Borax
2. Baking Soda
3. Super Washing Soda
4. White Vinegar
5. Castile Soap
6. Anti-Septic Essential Oils (i.e. tea tree oil, cinnamon leaf, lavender, eucalyptus, lemongrass, sweet orange and clove)
My journey into homemade cleaners began when I would read labels that said CAUTION, POISON, DANGER, or WARNING. Thank goodness there are simple and safe products that can be made for use in most cleaning situations that will dramatically lessen my family's exposure to toxins and chemicals. For example, castile soap, vinegar, and baking soda can work wonders with even the toughest grime that may be lurking in my bathrooms. Plus, there's always the added benefit of saving money when making your own simple and quick homemade recipes, as well as knowing your creative efforts are free from toxins for you, your family, and the environment.
Here are a couple of my recipes for cleaning the toilets.
Homemade Soft Scrub
-¾ cup baking soda
-Enough liquid castile soap to form a paste
-5 drops tea tree oil
-5 drops of lemon, lemongrass, or sweet orange oil (optional)
Directions: Add liquid castile soap to baking soda slowly until paste is formed. Then proceed to add antiseptic essential oils. Apply scrub to sponge for use on surface to be cleaned.
Toilet Bowl Cleaner
-3/4 cup baking soda
-3/4 cup white vinegar
-10 drops of tea tree oil
-10 drops of lavender essential oils
Directions: Combine baking soda and essential oils in a mixing bowl. When ready to clean toilet bowl add vinegar and pour mixture into the toilet. Then scrub with toilet brush. Note: This is a single use recipe. There is no method of storage due to the fizzing action.
Often times the toilet bowl cleaner recipe is enough to clean the stains in my toilets. However, there is the occasional instance when I've gone too long in between cleanings and tougher stains require the use of the homemade soft scrub in addition to the toilet bowl cleaner.
If you choose to make and use these products, please comment and let us all know your experience with them!
You should be able to find all of the items necessary to make these cleaners at your local grocery store. And they will probably be much cheaper there also. However, if you can not find them, or want to see what the product boxes look like, check out this Amazon affiliate store I have created for you by clicking this link: Frugally Sustainable Product Store. Also check out Mountain Rose Herbs for essential oils.
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posted by Andrea @ 9:47 PM
26 Comments
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26 Comments:
I mihgt have to try these recipes! That is a mighty clean toilet you have there! Thanks for sharing.
My sister claims the easiest way to clean a badly stained toilet is with pumice. And it doesnt scratch!!!
I use only baking soda and vinegar for most of my cleaning...and a pumice stone works as well. But because I clean the toilets every few days, nothing has time to sit and harden.
Great post....enjoy reading your blog.
Connie
I have a septic system so I try to be careful about what I put down the drain. I've been using just the baking soda and white vinegar combination (just sprinkling baking soda and then pouring in the vinegar over it) and it works really well. I have well water also, so I get the hard ring pretty quick. The pumice works great for that.
Is this ok to use on a septic system? I have switched all my cleaners to homemade cleaners with the exception of toilet cleaner. Thanks for linking up to the Frugal Tuesday Tip. We always get such wonderful ideas.
http://learningthefrugallife.blogspot.com/2011/10/frugal-tuesday-tip-week-39.html
I love cleaning with baking soda and vinegar. Thanks for the recipes!
I've used just plain white vinegar to clean toilets. It works awesome in hard water areas because the acidity of the vinegar dissolves hard water deposits. I empty the water from the bowl first as much as I can so that the vinegar is more concentrated. I've never tried it with the baking soda added, but will give it a shot--it may be MORE awesome!
Thanks for linking your great post to FAT TUESDAY. This was very interesting! Hope to see you next week!
Be sure to visit RealFoodForager.com on Sunday for Sunday Snippets – your post from Fat Tuesday may be featured there!
http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/fat-tuesday-october-18-2011/
If you have grain-free recipes please visit my Grain-Free Linky Carnival in support of my 28 day grain-free challenge! It will be open until November 2.
http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/grain-free-real-food-linky-carnival/
Baking soda has worked well for us. Thanks for joining our Frugal Tuesday Tip this week. See you next time? http://juliecache.com/2011/10/17/frugal-tuesday-tip-lip-balm/.html
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Momma-Hen/123880607653210 I shared this on my FB page!
We got a new toilet last year, and already the underside of the seat is very discolored and has some odor. Do you know what will get it clean and white again? I have tried that soft scrub but without tea tree oil...I'll have to try it with!
@MommaHen THANK YOU:)
@'Becca Try the baking soda/vinegar recipe. And try spraying some vinegar under there. Vinegar should clean it...sounds like hard water issues.
Hi,
Your great post was featured at my Sunday Snippets this week. Come and check it out!
http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/sunday-snippets-october-23-2011/
I make the same soft scrub recipe. I have scented castile soap, so I leave out the essential oil. It works so well, I always wonder how the toxic stuff continues to sell!
Thanks for the toilet scrub recipe!
I have a green house cleaning business and all my products are homemade and they work better than the store bought - I use vinegar and baking soda for cleaning toilets - it is the first thing that I do when starting to clean a bathroom - I let it sit while I am cleaning the rest of the bathroom and at the end I scrub the toilet, it works wonders - for tough stains I use a pumice stone - incredible. Great blog.
Where do you find the ingredients? I live in Indy which is not a small town but I never see these ingredients in the grocery stores. Do I have to order it all off of the net? Any advice?
@Anonymous You should be able to find baking soda on either the baking or laundry aisle at your local grocery. Super washing soda and borax are on the laundry aisle also. White vinegar should be with the condiments or salad dressings. And essential oils should be in a local health food store. I have created an amazon store where you can purchase a few of these items in bulk online if you cant find them locally: http://astore.amazon.com/frugallysustainableproductstore-20
I also like to order essential oils from Mountain Rose Herbs: http://www.mountainroseherbs.com
I just stumbled upon your blog and I think I am going to love it. Signed up to get your emails. I love the recipes you give for cleaning. Thanks.
@Anonymous Thank you:) I'm so glad you found me:)
so- I too am a lover of home made cleaning products, but I have a (silly,dumb) question -
Do you just sprinkle the soda in the water or on the sides where (my) stains are?! and then pour the vinegar directly over the stains or just into toilet. My toilets look awful and I don't know what to do so I really want to try this!!!!!
email- aprairiegirlincalifornia@gmail.com
Jenn
Do you make up any of the cleaning solutions in advance? For instance, could you have the baking soda/essential oils already mixed and store them that way, just adding mixing in a small bowl with vinegar when it's time to clean? Just wondering as I'd like to not have to measure everything out each time I need to clean.
@Sarah You absolutely could! Great idea:)
So glad I came across this! We use Melaleuca products (which I love, they don't smell and NO safety caps - cause they are safe), but they don't have an actual toilet bowl cleaner - so I have still been using the stinky store bought stuff. Now whenever I use it all that is going through my head is "POISON!!!!"
Will be trying this as soon as this sickness is over!
I like to put a few drops of grapefruit seed extract (GSE) into the toilet when I'm adding the essential oils and I love to use grapefruit essential oil... it smells SO fresh and is my happy scent!
One thing that really helps, no matter what cleaning solution you choose is those magic eraser cleaners... seriously, even in the toilet. My kids discovered that and looked at me like "really Mom?" when I asked "it really works in the toilet too?" so I tried it and yep, they were right again. It actually got the mineral deposits in my toilet to pull away from the bowl in big shards... careful, they're sharp!
I started using water,vinegar,a dash or 2 of dawn dish soap in spray bottles for all my cleaning needs. It works great, it's easy on the pocketbook and is not chemically dangerous.everything sparkles and smells great.
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