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We have hardwood and tiled floors throughout our home that require sweeping and mopping several days a week. And blankets and bedding are washed once weekly. Not long ago, I began cleaning the floors and counters with a mixture of white vinegar and warm water. I add a few drops of my favorite essential oils when feeling inspired. This was an easy change to make that works well. Living in a multi-dog home inspired me to look for more DIY natural cleaning products.
White Vinegar vs. Apple Cider Vinegar for Cleaning
White vinegar and apple cider vinegar contain acetic acid, giving them both some bacteria and virus-killing properties. But which is better for cleaning?
- White vinegar contains more acetic acid than apple cider vinegar, making it a stronger cleaning agent.
- Apple cider vinegar has a milder scent than white vinegar, so your house won't smell like you've been making Easter Eggs. This is why I like to add a few drops of essential oils.
- White vinegar is clear (colorless) and can be used on fabric and carpet stains without fear of discoloration; apple cider vinegar is darker.
I use apple cider vinegar when I cook bone and fish broth. I use white vinegar for cleaning.
What About Hydrogen Peroxide?
If you want to skip the vinegar smell (which goes away), hydrogen peroxide is a great, possibly better, alternative. Hydrogen peroxide is an effective germ killer and can be used on many surfaces to eliminate bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
Raw feeders can use hydrogen peroxide to clean…
- produce; peroxide may also extend the life of produce
- tile/grout after meal prep
- vomit stains on the carpet (as long as the area treated is light or white)
- dog's toothbrush
- cutting boards
- garbage cans
- door knobs
- tubs and showers after bathtime
- refrigerators
- nose art on windows
Hydrogen peroxide does have its place, and if you're comfortable using it, you can use it in place of the white vinegar recommended in a few of the recipes below.
5 DIY Natural Cleaning Product Recipes
1 – DIY Natural Floor Cleaner Recipe
I use the following recipes when I'm moping the floors.
- Warm to hot water
- White vinegar (or you can combine the two)
- 5+ drops of your favorite essential oil (I like lavender and cedarwood)
- Mop just as you would if you were using a commercial cleaner.
I don't create large batches of cleaner; I add the ingredients to water when I'm ready to mop. I have been doing this for several years, and it hasn’t negatively affected the hardwood floors or tile flooring.
2 – DIY Natural Kitchen Cleaner Recipe
Vinegar does a great job cleaning grease, grime, and some bacteria and viruses – Raw Feeder for Life!
- 16-ounce spray bottle
- Water
- 1/2 cup white vinegar (or you can combine the two)
- 5+ drops of your favorite essential oil
In a large spray bottle (16 ounces), I add 1/2 cup of white vinegar and fill the rest with water. Citrus essential oils can be phototoxic, resulting in skin irritation when you go into the sun after application. Although our kitchen is bathed in sunlight, I haven't witnessed any countertops staining after cleaning with citrus oils. This could be because they don't stain or because I'm not using many drops.
Because oils float to the top of the water, shake the bottle before using.
3 – DIY Natural Laundry Detergent Recipes
We wash blankets and bedding weekly, and I often use laundry detergent and bleach to kill all the bacteria. But is there a natural option that is as effective?
I prefer liquid detergent over powder and found the following recipe online that I'll try this summer. I chose this one because it doesn't require me to shred a soap bar.
Ingredients for DIY Laundry Detergent
- 8 cups of cold water
- 8 cups of boiling water
- 1 cup of borax powder
- 1 cup of washing soda
- 1 cup of unscented Castile soap
- Essential oils (optional)
- Small bucket
- Large glass jar
How to Make DIY Laundry Detergent
- pour 8 cups of water into a large pot and bring to a boil.
- mix one cup of borax, one cup of washing soda, and one cup of liquid Castile soap in the small bucket; mix until everything has dissolved.
- add 8 cups of cold water to the bucket; mix well.
- add approximately 50 drops of your preferred essential oils to the bucket; mix well.
- allow your DIY laundry detergent to cool; depending on the temperature, your laundry detergent will either remain liquid or take on a thicker consistency.
- you can use 1/4 cup of your detergent per full load.
This recipe is fine to use in an HE washing machine without fear of buildup.
Source: TheHouseAndHomestead.com
More DIY Laundry Detergent Tips
Natural laundry detergent may require an extra step to get the desired results:
Need to Whiten the Whites? – Lemon Juice in HE Washing Machine: Add one cup of lemon juice to liquid laundry detergent for especially dirty bedding; the lemon juice whitens and freshens fabrics.
Need to Remove Stains? – Hydrogen Peroxide in HE Washing Machine: Add hydrogen peroxide directly to a stain or add one cup of hydrogen peroxide to a load of laundry to brighten the whites and deodorize and disinfect the bedding. The hydrogen peroxide will also remove the blood from towels and bedding used by whole raw fed dogs when directly added to the stains.
Need to Remove Excess Soap? – Vinegar in Washing in HE Washing Machine: Add two cups of vinegar (this will last through the rinse cycle) to help remove any excess soap.
Need a Natural Fabric Softener? – Vinegar in Washing in HE Washing Machine: Add ½ cup of vinegar to the final rinse cycle to soften the clothes instead of using a fabric softener. This also keeps the dog hair from sticking to the blankets and bedding and prevents static cling.
It's not a good idea to use vinegar with commercial laundry detergents.
Warning about Using Bleach with Dogs
I have been using bleach, diluted with water, to clean my kitchen and do laundry for as long as I can remember. However, going natural is better for everyone in the home.
When combined with vinegar, bleach can produce strong fumes (like when combined with ammonia). If I'm cleaning with vinegar, I don't add bleach.
4 – DIY Natural Febreze Freshener
I love Febreze. However, it's too strong for our dogs. I make a similar homemade freshener :
- warm water
- baking soda
- 3-5 drops of your favorite essential oils
Shake the bottle to combine and mist away. Again, remember that the essential oils will float to the top of the water, so you'll need to shake the bottle before each use.
5 – DIY Natural Scented Room Freshener
Candles and plugins aren't safe to use in a pet home, with a couple of exceptions (below). But after seeing DIY room fresheners using rice, I searched for rice recipes for our home.
- Jasmine rice because it has a naturally sweet scent
- 10-15 drops of your favorite essential oils
- A small dish to hold your creation; I love rustic ceramic dishes
Pros and Cons of Natural Cleaning Products
Using natural products to clean our home is good for my family. But “all natural” cleaners aren't all that they're cracked up to be.
Pros of Using Natural Cleaning Products
- better for the environment
- fewer toxins in the home
- safer for use around our pets
- better on the budget
- lasts longer
Cons of Using Natural Cleaning Products
- some commercial cleaning products that claim to be natural aren't natural
- some natural cleaning products don't work as well
- buying all the ingredients is an investment (but the product will last for longer)
- some online recipes are complicated
- not all natural products/ingredients are good for our floors or washing machine
It has taken some trial and error to find the recipes that work best in our home. As I slowly switch to more natural products, I've learned that DIY is better than the “natural” products at the store because I can control the ingredients.
I can’t remember exactly why I started feeding a raw dog food diet, but I did all the same. There were certainly enough compelling reasons to take that leap of faith. After just a few months of feeding my dogs kibble, I didn’t see how food in a bag with an ingredient list that I couldn’t even pronounce was the best choice for my dogs. And I wondered if those big companies with big marketing budgets really had my dogs’ best interests at heart.
Hi Beth…
I usually add 1/4 cup of vinegar and 2 capfuls of peroxide to a bucket of water.
I’m interested in your section on cleaning your tile and hardwood floors with Peroxide and Apple Cider Vinegar – what ratio of each do you mix ? Thanks!
I would like to thank you for such informative article. I found some new tips from here and your explanations are easy to understand as well. Thanks again.
I do a bit of both. Depends on how crazy the strain is and how many times I’ve already tried to remove it. I really like the smell, is that weird? haha
Thanks for the tip, Mat! Do you ever pre-treat things with baking soda to scrub out a stain or do you add it to the laundry with other natural detergents?
Great ideas in this post. It is so much cheaper to stop using commercial cleaners. It is literally like paying extra for the poison.
I wanted to add baking soda to this list. I like to use it for jobs that need a little abrasive action. It can leave a residue so it’s not great for every job like counter-tops or floors. However, if it is scrubbing out a dog dish or spot cleaning a dirty harness, it works really well.
Thanks, Jeanne
I’m so surprised by how easy it was; I secretly thought that some of these options wouldn’t work very well.
Kimberly, I’ve been using essential oils and natural cleaning supplies for years and I love that you are incorporating these ideas…everything we can do to keep them (and us, so we stay healthy for them!) happy, healthy and as chemical free as possible! You continue to inspire, thanks for your never-ending passion for your babies and your readers!
Pawsome tips ! We use many of them ! Purrs