9 recipes to make all-purpose cleaner yourself

If you take a closer look at the labels of the countless all-purpose cleaners on the market, you will find unpronounceable names for a wide variety of chemical additives. What these are really necessary for is not normally clear to you. In addition, all cleaners are actually offered in plastic bottles. So there is no trace of sustainability and a healthy environment.

In some places there is an environmental seal on the front, but there is still a certain amount of uncertainty and of course the plastic bottles, for which refill packs are rarely available or are at least made of recycled material

So the question arises as to whether you can make all-purpose cleaners yourself. The answer is very simple: you can!

by the way

The excessive use of antibacterial cleaning agents can promote resistance in germs and is therefore not recommended. In principle, it is not even necessary to use special means. In most cases, these are also very poorly biodegradable and unnecessarily pollute the environment. .

There are many advantages to making your own all-purpose cleaner

In addition to the nice feeling of doing something for the environment, making your own all-purpose cleaner has many other advantages:

The ingredients for the production are very cheap. So you can also save a lot of money in the year.
You can continue to use old plastic bottles and don't keep bringing new ones home with you.
It is possible for you to select all the individual ingredients by hand and only use particularly natural and environmentally friendly components.
You are able to give your all-purpose cleaner the fragrance you like best - and that made from natural aromas and oils.
You can even make cleaners from kitchen scraps.

Check out our favorite recipes below and choose the all-purpose cleaner that suits you best.

CozyRoots No. 1 - Orange All Purpose Cleaner

Let's start right away with our favorite cleaner, because you can actually use kitchen scraps to make a wonderfully scented all-purpose cleaner here.

Take orange or tangerine peels and fill them to the brim in a sealable glass. Add enough plain white vinegar to completely cover all of the bowls. Let everything sit for three to four weeks. You should occasionally pour in a little more vinegar, as the skins absorb it and should always be covered (otherwise they can start to get mouldy).

Now take out the bowls, add a few drops of dish soap to break the surface tension and get better cleaning performance, and pour the liquid into a spray bottle.

CozyRoots No. 2 - Effective baking soda cleaner

Baking soda is a real miracle cure and particularly versatile, including when making your own all-purpose cleaner. Supplemented by an essential oil or natural lemon aroma, the cleaning agent also gets a nice scent.

Mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda with 1 teaspoon of grated organic curd soap, a teaspoon of lemon juice and 200 ml of warm water in a saucepan and stir everything well with a whisk so that the curd soap dissolves completely.

Finally, you can add a few drops of an essential oil if you like. We especially recommend oils that, like tea tree oil, smell good and have antibacterial, antiviral and fungicidal properties. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and enjoy your new homemade cleanser.

CozyRoots No. 3 - Simple vinegar cleaner (very good against limescale)

We have already introduced you to a type of vinegar cleaner with our number 1, but vinegar can be used in many different ways, so that you can never have enough of it. Different scents also bring some variety. You can use one in the bathroom and the other in the kitchen.

Vinegar Cleaner offers a number of advantages:

It is very durable.
It removes a wide range of dirt and stains, from limescale to rust and from grease to streaks.
Vinegar naturally has a disinfecting effect.
It is suitable for plastic, wood, tiles, aluminum and linoleum.

And this is how you make your vinegar cleaner:

Mix 500ml white vinegar, 250ml water and 20 drops of an essential oil and pour into a spray bottle. The empty bottle of a previously purchased, conventional all-purpose cleaner is ideal for this.

CozyRoots No. 4 - Citric Acid Power Cleanser

Another way to tackle dirt and limescale is to use citric acid. You can get this completely natural substance in any drugstore for little money.

To make this really powerful cleaner, you need 500ml of lukewarm water, 60g of citric acid, 1 teaspoon of dish soap (add after shaking) and a few drops of an essential oil if desired. Put everything in a (used) spray bottle and shake well until the citric acid powder has dissolved.

Your new power cleaner will last around 3 weeks. Alternatively, you can also replace part of the water with pure alcohol (also available in pharmacies) and thus significantly extend the shelf life.

CozyRoots No. 5 - chestnut super power

It all starts with collecting chestnuts. Maybe take your kids to the forest and collect a bag of these beautifully shiny tree fruits. You need around 15 chestnuts to produce the all-purpose cleaner.

Put the chestnuts in a cloth bag and hit them hard with a hammer until everything is nicely crumbled. Put the crumbs in a sealable, heat-resistant glass and fill up with two liters of boiling water. This is the ideal way for the soap-like substances to be released from the chestnuts.

It is best to stir vigorously every few hours and after 18 to 24 hours everything is ready. Strain the liquid through a strainer into a new jar and you can use your new cleaner right away or store it for a few weeks.

The chestnut cleaner is best used in the cleaning water. Put the desired amount in the bucket and use it to clean grease and heavy soiling. The soapy substances in the chestnuts work really well.

CozyRoots No. 6 - All purpose natural abrasive

Scouring agents are also great to make yourself. Simply take four parts baking soda, one part household salt and one part organic curd soap and mix well. To use, put some of the mixture on a damp sponge and you can easily remove even stubborn dirt. However, you should be careful when cleaning sensitive areas.

Alternatively, there is the option of preparing a scouring agent from dried citrus fruits and baking soda. For this you take the dried citrus fruits, 20 g potato starch and 50 g baking soda. Put everything in a household blender and grind the mixture into a fine powder.

Incidentally, the best way to dry the fruit is to cut it into slices on the heater or use the residual heat of the oven after it has been used.

CozyRoots No. 7 - Vinegar Essence Lime All Purpose Cleaner

Similar to our No. 1, this cleaner also combines vinegar and fruit - in this case, however, vinegar essence and lime. The production is very similar to the orange all-purpose cleaner. You put lime peels (or squeezed half limes) in a glass and fill it up with vinegar essence. After 2 weeks, take out the limes and fill the solution with water in a 1:1 ratio in a spray bottle.

CozyRoots No. 8 - Potato peel and soda all-purpose cleaner

Similar to chestnuts, there are soap-like substances in potatoes. And this is how you turn the most popular tuber of the Germans into an efficient cleaning agent:

Put the skins of 8 to 10 potatoes in a large saucepan, add 1 teaspoon of washing soda and pour over 750 ml of boiling water (from the kettle).
Let the mixture cook on the stovetop for about 5 minutes while stirring. Then you take the pot off the stove and let the shells soak in the brew overnight.
Now all you have to do is pass the brew through a sieve and fill it into a spray bottle. Shake before each use and spray on the dirty area.

Since it is a purely natural product, you should keep the cleaner in the fridge and when it starts to ferment, you simply make fresh cleaner.

CozyRoots No. 9 - Lavender All Purpose Cleaner

Place a handful of dried (or fresh) lavender in a bowl and pour 250ml of boiling water over it. After about an hour, strain out the buds and fill up with 250ml of clear alcohol (e.g. plain corn) and pour the mixture into a spray bottle.

All-purpose cleaners from the drugstore can make us sick

It is sometimes frightening what ingredients are in all-purpose cleaners. There are a large number of substances that have been shown to have health-endangering effects, and yet they are still used in cleaning agents.

One may contain dangerous disinfectants, another may contain fragrances that have already been classified as reproductively harmful in animal experiments. Still others contain preservatives that can damage the immune system or cause allergies. In the worst case, all these substances are combined in a single cleaning agent.

When you make your own all-purpose cleaner, you know exactly what's in it and what's not.

You need a maximum of 4 different cleaners

You are certainly often completely overwhelmed by the range in the drugstore and do not really know what you actually need to run the household properly and protect your loved ones. The answer is: You only need 4 different means for the whole house:

A good all-purpose cleaner for floors, windows and other surfaces
A scouring powder for incrustations and stubborn dirt
A vinegar cleaner for limescale and urine scale
Dishwashing detergent for cleaning dishes

Furthermore, basic equipment with good equipment is a great advantage: A scouring pad, some brushes and microfibre cloths, as well as a squeegee for the windows. Usually you don't need much more.

Here are some useful tips for house cleaning in general

Cleaning rags should always dry well after use.
Each area should have its own lobes. For example, you could use red in the kitchen, yellow in the bathroom, and green for the toilet
In particular, surfaces that are touched frequently and by several people, such as light switches and doorknobs, should be wiped down daily.
Instead of using room fresheners, air the room regularly.
Do not use disinfectants.
Wash all cleaning rags weekly at 60°C.

Always a great idea as a gift

No matter what you do yourself, it always has a very special value. Give away a collection of your best homemade cleaners. Put them in a nice spray bottle and make a pretty label. Maybe this will give the recipient the idea of trying it out for themselves.

Speaking of gifts - you will of course also find a lot of beautiful gifts in our shop , which will certainly also bring a lot of joy.