Create a Safe Home: Top 10 DIY Cleaners That Are Kid Friendly

_{Are you cleaning your home or kid’s toys with toxic chemicals? Keep your kids safe by using these 10 kid-safe homemade cleaning products. They are all simple and natural cleaners.Let’s ditch the chemical toxins.}

Clear cleaning bottle and plant on white table with text overlay - The Best Non-Toxic Cleaning Products

Create a Safe Home: Top 10 DIY Cleaners That Are Kid Friendly

We all seem to be under the impression that cleaners, beauty products, and even food must be expensive or mass-produced to be worth anything. But the truth is…..The best cleaners and beauty products I have found have been the ones made in my kitchen.

As you know, I am hooked on anything homemade.

WHY? They are frugal, green, and more often than not safe for our family & pets. If you are interested in going green and keeping your kids safe from caustic cleaning products, making your own homemade cleaning products provides a viable, cost-effective solution.

Not only will your kids thank you, but your planet will thank you as well: The following list of cleaning products is safe for the environment and your home. However, these cleaning products are used for sanitation cleaning and not disinfecting. Learn the difference here.

Homemade Cleaning Products

safe cleaning products - picture of sponges and baking soda in bowl

Vinegar as a cleaner

Please note that vinegar is not an EPA-registered disinfectant or sanitizer, which means you can’t count on vinegar to kill many bacteria and viruses. Some limitations are – vinegar doesn’t disinfect MRSA, STAPH, and other nasty germs (Like the Corona Virus) that can make your family sick.

Use vinegar and water to clean your windows.

In a spray bottle, mix 3 tablespoons of vinegar with 2 cups of water. Shake and spray onto windows. Use crumbled newspaper to wipe the cleaner off. This combination leaves a streak-free shine without using harmful cleaners and paper towels.

The newspaper trick I learned from my grandmother. Simply crumble up a few pages and wipe. They are the best for leaving glass streak-free.

When cleaning wood floors, use 1 cup of vinegar per bucket of hot water.

Wood floors are becoming far more common these days and manufacturers would love for you to spend big bucks on their ‘special’ cleaners, but vinegar and water will do the same thing.

The vinegar helps to degrease the floor and freshen it up. You can even add a little borax (an all-natural cleaner) to your water.

essentials oils - three bottles next to citrus fruit

Natural Soap & Essentials Oils

Please note: there is no evidence to suggest that essential oils can treat or cure flu symptoms or those of other viruses, including coronaviruses. They also will not prevent a virus from becoming more severe.

For an all-purpose cleaner, mix water with natural soap and essential oils. In a spray bottle, mix 2 cups of water, a few drops of natural or organic soap, and 15 drops each of lavender essential oil and tea tree oil. Tea tree oil contains antibacterial properties, making them essential for sanitization.

Use this cleaner for all of your kitchen and bath surfaces, but be aware that this solution will leave streaks if you try to clean glass or a mirror.

white vinegar and baking soda bottles next to a green sponge

Vinegar & Baking Soda

To clean your toilets, use white vinegar and baking soda. Do you know how baking soda will fizz up when combined with an acid?

That’s the principle behind this home cleaner. Drizzle the inside of the toilet bowl with vinegar and sprinkle with baking soda. Let this mixture sit for 10 minutes and then scrub with a toilet brush. Flush and you are finished.

This mixture works for cleaning sinks too. If you prefer a lemony fresh scent, you can use lemon juice in place of vinegar. If you have a stainless steel sink, as I do. Sprinkle some baking soda and use a damp sponge to scrub. Rinse and you will have the shiniest sink on the block.

An easy natural drain cleaner can be made from baking soda and vinegar. Read How to Unclog Your Drain Naturally – 2 Ingredients

This will also work to freshen up your garbage disposal, plus this paste will also help remove permanent markers from the fabric.

Salt

Use salt instead of an oven cleaner. If you’ve ever used oven cleaner, you know that it is some toxic stuff. When you use it, the area needs to be well-ventilated and you need to wear rubber gloves. That can’t be safe for you or the kids.

Instead of waiting to clean the oven when it’s really dirty, try to clean up spills as soon as possible after they happen. While the spill is still hot, pour some table salt onto the spill.

Once the oven cools, go in and wipe up the spill using a microfiber cloth.

baking soda a pantry staple that is a good cleaning product

Baking Soda & Natural Soap

For a mildly abrasive cleaner, mix baking soda and natural liquid soap. No exact measurements on this one. Just make a paste to the consistency you like using liquid soap and baking soda.

To clean your refrigerator, eliminate the liquid soap and use baking soda and water. This will leave it clean and fresh. You can also use it to unclog your sink drain too.

Olive Oil

Olive oil works for dusting. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to ½ cup of vinegar and mix. Dampen a clean, soft cloth with the mixture and start dusting. Pushing around the dust with a feather duster may be natural, but isn’t effective.

The dust just gets stirred up and into the air, only to land on your furniture again. This wet dusting method provides cleaning without harsh chemicals.

Whole and cut lemons in a wooden tray - using lemons and other natural ingredients to clean your home

Fresh Lemons

The citric acid in Lemons will clean your copper pots. Rub tarnished copper with lemon wedges to bring back the shine and clean away the tarnish. If you have a particularly dirty spot, try rubbing lemon and baking soda on the spot. In a pinch, ketchup will also clean the tarnish off of copper.

Baking Soda

Baking soda absorbs odors out of more than just your refrigerator. By sprinkling baking soda over your carpet and letting it sit for 30 minutes before vacuuming, you will effectively remove any odors trapped in your carpet.

Make sure to vacuum slowly so that your vacuum has time to suck up all the dirt and fluff up any traffic patterns. Here is one of my favorite recipes for homemade carpet powder.