I hate cleaning the bathroom. I am not proud to admit that I have actually gone months without doing it. Most of the time, I wait until we have company over and then I rush to do some last minute cleaning of the sink and toilet so that no one will judge me on my nasty bathroom.
It isn’t just because I don’t want to deal with the toilet. I mostly hate cleaning the bathroom because it’s hard to find good cleaning products. We have well water so the toilet bowl has this impossible-to-get-rid-of orange stain from the iron in the water. The bath tub gets a thick layer of soap scum. The shower curtain is covered with mildew. And I can’t remember what color our tile grout was.
I tried all of the conventional cleaning products. I tried scrubbing with bubbles, soaking with bleach, foaming it all away. Most of these products worked pretty well but not great. And they left my bathroom smelling terrible. When I was pregnant, I couldn’t stand to even go into the bathroom because of that chemically smell.
I decided to give green cleaning products a try, but I was convinced that something made out of things you can eat couldn’t possibly clean soap scum. Turns out I was wrong! Natural cleaning products worked as well as if not better than the toxic stuff I was used to using.
I decided to take the next step and make some of my own cleaning products, and I was amazed! The combination of three household ingredients wiped off the soap scum with almost no effort! So I decided to share my favorite bathroom cleaning products that you can DIY:
Tub and Tile Cleaner
DIY – Creamy Soft Scrub Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups baking soda
- 1/2 cup Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap (I prefer peppermint)
- 4 teaspoons pure vegetable glycerin (can be found online or in most natural foods stores)
- 10 drops essential oil (choose an antibacterial oil such as peppermint, cinnamon, tea tree, lavender or clove) – see this NIH study on the antibacterial properties of essential oils
Mix ingredients together and keep in a glass jar. Use a spoonful of soft scrub on a damp washcloth to clean sinks, toilets, tile, tubs and showers. For tough stains, sprinkle the surface with baking soda or salt before using the soft scrub. For extra-tough stains, I like to wrap my washcloth with one of those plastic net bags that limes and lemons come in.
All-Purpose Spray Cleaner
DIY – All Purpose Antiseptic Cleaner
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon washing soda or baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap (I prefer peppermint)
- 2 cups hot water
- 15-20 drops antibacterial essential oil
Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle (a reused one works great) and shake to mix. Spray on surfaces like the bathroom counter and toilet to clean and disinfect. Wipe clean with damp washcloth. Let it sit for 10 minutes to get extra antiseptic impact.
Toilet Bowl Cleaner
DIY – Borax or Baking Soda
I simply sprinkle about a 1/2 cup of either borax or baking soda in the toilet, let it sit for an hour and then clean with a toilet brush. It works great!
For more DIY cleaning ideas and homemade cleaning product recipes, check out the video below!
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