21 Natural Cleaning Hacks For A Chemical-Free Home

These natural cleaning hacks, simple DIY recipes, and tips will help you keep your home sparkly clean as you make the transition to a chemical-free home!

If you’re thinking about ditching the chemicals and going green with your cleaning, I’ve put together a quick list to get you started!

Most of us are well aware of the potentially harmful ingredients in our household cleaners these days. If you’re anything like me, you may have continued using them out of complacency or laziness.

It’s easy to just continue the cycle, using the same products you grew up around, or the products that you’re already familiar with. But the benefits of going natural outweigh the minor inconvenience!

Besides, once you get into the routine of making your own quick natural DIY cleaners, you’ll realize that it barely takes any extra time at all. Not to mention it’s invigorating! It feels great knowing that you’re not exposing your family to toxic chemicals, and it’s an important step towards ultimate self-sufficiency and frugality.

Products I Always Keep on Hand:

• Distilled White Vinegar
• Tea Tree Oil
• Lemons
• Wash Rags/Un-Paper Towels
• Eco-Friendly Sponges
• Castile Soap
• Fresh/Dried Lavender 
• Citric Acid
• Baking Soda
• Vegetable Glycerin
• Cream of Tartar
• Borax
• Washing Soda
• Coconut Oil
• Lemon Essential Oil

With these ingredients around, you can clean just about anything in your home!

21 Natural Cleaning Hacks For A Chemical-Free Home

1. Use Essential Oils To Fight Your Smelly Trash Can

If your trash can is stinky even after taking the bag out and spraying it down, it’s time to break out the essential oils! I felt so clever when I put a few drops on a rag and tossed it at the bottom of our kitchen trash can to keep it smelling fresh.

I later found out that this hack has been around for a while! Most people use cotton balls instead of a rag, but I’m working towards less waste. Alternatively, you can make a simple spray with water and essential oils and spray the bottom of your trash can.

2. Ditch The Dryer Sheets

Dryer sheets are one of the most toxic things you can bring into your home. Instead, opt for wool balls or DIY reusable dryer sheets! Some people add a few drops of essential oils to their wool dryer balls for an extra scent boost.

3. Make Your Own Vinegar Cleaners

Vinegar is extremely versatile, and of course, 100% safe and non-toxic. I mean, we eat and cook with it!

It’s great for cleaning up everyday spills, it’s cheap, and it can last almost indefinitely when properly stored. Because it’s slightly acidic, it cuts through grease, mineral deposits, and grime.

You can clean with straight up white vinegar, or you can make simple infusions using dried or fresh herbs, or citrus peels! Check out my DIY lavender infused vinegar cleaner for inspiration.

Remember though, you can’t use vinegar to clean everything! For example, avoid using vinegar to clean granite and marble countertops.

4. Always Keep Lemons Around

Lemons are a must-have in our house. I cook with them, squeeze them in my water, infuse my vinegar with the peels, and straight up rub them on various things that I’m cleaning.

You can cut a lemon in half and rub it on your faucet to make it shiny, or add some salt to a cutting board and rub a lemon half on the surface to clean it. It doesn’t stop there either! Trust me, you want to keep lemons around.

5. Citric Acid To Clean Your Washing Machine

To give your washing machine a refresher, add some citric acid to an empty cycle and the acidity will dissolve soap scum, mineral deposits, and any other grime in your washer! I always have some around because I love making bath bombs, so it’s basically like a two-in-one deal.

6. Make Your Own Carpet Powder

Instead of buying carpet powder with crazy fragrances in them, make your own, or simply use baking soda. I promise you, if you ever try out my DIY carpet powder, you’ll never use another again. It really is the best! It smells super strong for being completely natural.

I’m almost bummed that our current house doesn’t have any carpet!

7. Add A Bit of Vinegar To Clean Musty Towels

If your towels are always coming out of the dryer smelling musty or mildew-y, there’s no need to throw them out. Instead, add some distilled white vinegar to the wash next time you wash them. It seriously helps a ton! You can give it an extra wash or rinse if the vinegar smell sticks around.

8. Clean Wooden Surfaces With A DIY Wood Cleaner

Simply add one cup of white vinegar, half a cup of olive oil, and 2 tbsp of lemon juice to a spray bottle and shake to create a cheap and easy DIY wood cleaner! You can even add a few drops of essential oil to give it a nice fragrance.

9. Scrub Dirty Areas With Half A Lemon & Some Salt

As I mentioned above, I often use lemon halves to scrub my cutting boards. You can also do this to the tub or any other grimy spots in your house. The salt scrubs the dirt/muck off, and the lemon leaves the area smelling fresh and clean!

10. Switch To Eco-Friendly Sponges, Scrub Brushes, or Washrags

They cost the same anyway, and they’re better for the environment. This isn’t exactly cutting out chemicals in your home (or a hack), but it’s an important step to going green in your cleaning habits.

11. Use Vinegar To Clean Your Windows

Vinegar is great for cleaning windows without leaving any streaks. You don’t have to infuse it or do anything fancy. Just regular old white vinegar will do.

12. Natural Bleach Alternative

Boil some lemon slices in water and allow your white shirts to soak in the water until the water goes cold. Then wash normally. Voila! Stinky pit stains be gone! If this doesn’t work, try scrubbing the stain with baking soda and water.

13. Use Castile Soap, Baking Soda, and Sea Salt To Clean Your Oven

Mix the ingredients to make a paste and scrub your oven with it! You’d be surprised just how clean it can leave your oven. Make sure you line the bottom of your oven with some foil for easier cleanup in the future.

14. Clean Your Toilet With Baking Soda, White Vinegar, and Tea Tree Oil

Mix together half a cup of baking soda, one cup of white vinegar, and a few drops of tea tree oil. Add it to your toilet and scrub! For a stronger toilet cleaner, swap the baking soda with borax and add some lemon essential oil.

15. Make A DIY Tub Paste

Combine a 1:1 ratio of cream of tartar and baking soda with a little bit of lemon juice to create a paste. Apply it to stains on your tub and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes before wiping it away! Say goodbye to mildew and other random stains!

16. Naturally Clean Crayon Off of The Walls

Add a bit of baking soda to a wet sponge and scrub the area to remove crayon off of the wall! Alternatively, you can mix a few drops of lemon essential oil and water and spray with a squirt bottle before scrubbing.

17. Naturally Freshen Fabric With Essential Oils

In a spray bottle, add a few drops of essential oil and water and spray on the fabric surfaces, blankets, and pillows in your home. You can find a ton of DIY fabric sprays on Pinterest. Some people add vodka to help the mixture evaporate faster so your fabric isn’t left wet. You can also use witch hazel according to some super homemakers.

18. Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

Making your own natural laundry detergent has more benefits than you know, especially if you have little ones around. It’s cheaper, it’s more gentle on the skin, and you can customize it to suit your needs. Whether you make dry or liquid detergent, you’ll be happy you made the switch. Most recipes call for borax or washing soda (sometimes both).

19. Use Baking Soda As A Natural Deodorizer

Baking soda is another super versatile ingredient you should have around all the time. It naturally whitens and deodorizes. Sometimes when I’m feeling extra lazy, or our trash can is at all time high on the stinky scale, I sprinkle a bit of baking soda at the bottom and call it a day. It really does work!

20. Make A Simmer Pot To Freshen The Air

One thing I miss the most about my old toxic go-to products was the “fresh” scent. As much as I love natural DIY’s and alternative cleaning methods, let’s face it – it’s not the same. The fragrance is much less intense.

Thankfully, there are natural ways to freshen up your home! What’s fresher than opening a window or getting a simmer pot going? They’re messier, but worth it. Besides, you can separate the ingredients ahead of time so it’s not too much work each day.

21. Get Stubborn Carpet Stains Out With Coconut Oil and Baking Soda

Make a paste with coconut oil and baking soda and scrub it into carpet stains to loosen the stain. It works well! Sometimes it takes a couple of applications and some serious elbow grease, but you’ll eventually get those stubborn stains out.

Do you use any of these natural cleaning hacks? Do you have any other tips for people looking to switch to eco-friendly, green cleaning? Let me know in the comments!

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