Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner Recipe (2024)

If you want to cut the harsh chemicals from your cleaning routine, you're in the right place. I've partnered with NOW to share a homemade all-purpose cleaner recipe that will help clean your home without the use of parabens, phthalates, and other harmful chemicals.

I know it sounds cliche, but after our first child was born I had a major mindset shift. Not only was I worried about keeping a new tiny human alive, I was also thinking about how every decision I made might affect his future. I started thinking about the chemicals in our home.I'm a firm believer in "everything in moderation," and so I tried to cut back on the number of harsh chemicals he was exposed to, without going overboard. I started using wool dryer balls and cut out using dryer sheets and I slowly started replacing some of our mainstream cleaning products with "greener" versions. That led me to search for a good all-purpose cleaner that I could use for the majority of our home's surfaces without feeling like I was sterilizing our house. I decided to go back to basics and make a homemade all-purpose cleaner using some things I already had on hand.

Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

First things first. I knew the base of my cleaner would contain water and vinegar. Vinegar is one of my favorite cleaning tools and I use it fairly often in our kitchen. It's a great disinfectant and can help cut through grease.

But, I wanted to add a little extra oomph to my multipurpose cleaning solution. That's why I broke out myNOW® essential oils. If you didn't know, I had the chance to visit NOW Foods last year and I've been a little obsessed with their products ever since, especially their essential oils. NOW is committed to offering the purest and most potent natural essential oils available. That's why they source only the very best natural ingredients for their essential oils (and that's true for every single item they produce; from vitamin supplements to food products to beauty items and beyond). NOW is equipped with an impressive in-house laboratory where each oil's identity, purity, and safety are tested. Perhaps the best part, NOW's essential oils cost significantly less than other brands. They purchase their oils in large quantities that qualify for bulk discounts and sell directly to retailers (cutting out distributors), then pass those savings onto their customers.

Essential Oils for Cleaning

Essential oils are the naturally occurring oils obtained by steam distillation or cold pressing, which have the characteristic aroma of the plant part from which it was derived. These are dozens of essential oil varieties and blends and they've been used for years for their aromatherapy benefits. However, there are so many other uses for essential oils, including the fact that they can help clean your home.

For my homemade all purpose cleaner recipe, I chose lemon essential oil and lavender essential oil. Why? Not only are these oils beautifully fragrant, they also have benefits that can be used for cleaning.

Lemon essential oil has a scent that's refreshing, cheerful, and uplifting, but it's also gotpurifying properties that make it a natural choice for a homemade cleaner recipe.

Lavender essential oil is one of my favorites. The scent is soothing and can help you sleep when applied topically via a carrier oil or when diffused at night, but it also helps cut pungent odors, like the smell of vinegar. That's why it's a welcome addition to this recipe. I love the smell of vinegar, but my husband definitely does not. The lavender oil really helps to tone down the harshness of the vinegar smell.

When you first add all of the ingredients to your spray bottle, you'll notice the oils sit on top of the vinegar and water. Be sure to shake the homemade cleaning solution before using it.

It works like a charm tocut through kitchen grease around the stove and it cleans our countertops and stainless steel small appliances beautifully.It's super easy to make, smells wonderful and it works!

How to make homemade all-purpose cleaner:

• 1 and ½ cups of water
• ½ cup of white vinegar
• 15 drops of Lemon essential oil
• 15 drops of Lavender essential oil

Add all ingredients into a reusable spray bottle and you're done!

See how easy it is?!
Will you be making this all-purpose cleaning solution?