Budget Stretching Ideas - Cleaning Products

In continuation of our budget stretching series, this week we are focusing on healthy DIY cleaning products to help lighten your budget. Making your own cleaning products in one way to save money and be more self-sufficient while decreasing your exposure to toxic chemicals. In addition, these recipes use shelf-stable ingredients that are easy to store, making them perfect for the prepper-minded family as well. Keep these recipes for immediate use to start saving money right away, or stash them away for a time when you aren't able to get your regular products.

Laundry Soap

Our family has been making our own laundry soap for the past eight years or so. We use this recipe that I shared on our Prepped Living website a while ago. You can make it with or without added essential oils. While it calls for tea tree oil, you can substitute other oils such as lavender or lemongrass to give it a different scent.


There are many other recipes you can find online, some of which make a powdered detergent. This is a great space-saver option if you don't have space for a bucket in which to store your detergent. 

If you have Instagram, here is one great-looking recipe that makes a powdered laundry detergent. While we love having a liquid laundry detergent, we have been wanting to try this one so that we have another good option for laundry soap. Remember that in the preparedness and survival planning, "two is one and one is none."

Cleaning Spray 

As with homemade laundry soap, there are many recipes for non-toxic DIY cleaning sprays on the internet. We have used an orange-infused vinegar solution. Orange oil is known for its heavy duty cleaning abilities. While it works well, even with the orange infusion it still smells a bit like vinegar, which some people love and some do not. Here are the simple directions to make this cleaner yourself:

Orange-Vinegar Cleaning Solution

  • 2 cups orange peels (you can also use lemon or grapefruit)
  • 2 cups vinegar

Put orange peels in a glass jar. Pour 2 cups of vinegar over the peels. Cover with an air-tight lid and let infuse for 3 or 4 weeks. 

Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Pour into a glass spray bottle and use as an all-purpose spray cleaner. 

*Note - You can add up to 50% water to make the solution go father.

RealSimple has a fabulous page with ten different cleaning recipes for various purposes. Their all-purpose cleaner (at the top of their page) looks like another good and easy recipe.

Dishwasher Detergent

Of the many recipes on the internet, many of them call for citric acid, something we didn't have on hand when I was looking for a recipe earlier this year. Others call for borax and washing soda, which we do have, but I was looking for something super-simple. Below is the most simple recipe we have tried: 

Simple Dishwasher Detergent

  • 1 T. baking soda
  • 1 T. white vinegar
  • 2 drops liquid dish soap

Pour baking soda into the soap compartment of your dishwasher. Add two drops of dish soap. Pour vinegar over the top (it will bubble). Close the compartment and run your dishwasher.

*Note: White vinegar makes a good rinse as well. Pour a splash into the rinse compartment of your dishwasher.

Wellness Mama has a recipe that looks really good. I love that it uses borax and washing soda, two of the ingredients we keep on hand for our laundry soap. We do need to pick up some citric acid for this recipe, but I really want to try this one out.

Do you have any non-toxic, budget friendly cleaning tips to share? Let's help each other save money and create healthy homes. Post them in the comments below!


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