On my quest to be as miserly with our finances as possible :) as well as continue my search for better ways to do most everything, I recently started making most of my own household cleaners. These are very quick and inexpensive to make. Here are three of the recipes I’ve found to work very well:

All Purpose Spray Cleaner
1 cu. rubbing alcohol
1/2 cu. vinegar
1 tsp dish soap

Combine the above ingredients in a 24 oz spray bottle and fill the bottle the rest of the way with water.

Homemade “Soft Scrub”
1 2/3 cu. baking soda
1/2 cu. liquid hand soap (NOT dish soap – too bubbly)
1/2 cu. water
2 Tbsp white vinegar

Mix baking soda and soap in a bowl (using a fork works well). Add water and mix until smooth. Add baking soda and mix. Pour into your container.
I use an old 24oz ketchup bottle with a squirt-top for this cleaner – works well. (if you have an old soft scrub bottle I’m sure that would be great.) You do have to shake it pretty vigorously before you use it because all the baking soda settles to the bottom!

Floor Cleaner
(I don’t have exact measurements for this – I’m estimating because I usually use the “eyeball and dump” measuring technique handed down to me from my mother!)

1 gal hot water (I just fill the sink rather than using a bucket…)
1/2 cu white vinegar
1/2 cu ammonia
“a squirt” of dish soap

This works great! I was skeptical, but it does a great job and isn’t sticky after it dries. It doesn’t leave much of a smell (unless you have a powerfully scented dish soap!), so you have to retrain yourself that an overpowering scent of lemon or pine is not what means your house is clean!!

Happy cleaning! If you have favorite cleaning recipes, please post them!