After Party Clean-Up: DIY Eco-Friendly Non-Toxic Cleaners

Any host or hostess will tell you after the prep for any big get-together the next biggest stressor is the clean up. And if the scent of chemically-laden cleaners is enough to ruin your holiday meal, why not clean up your clean up with a little eco-friendly DIY action? Use these recipes to create your own disinfectants and cleaners that will last you straight through the holidays, without ruining dinner!

The Basics

There are a few products that work together to make DIY cleaners a reliable reality, and many you may already have on hand:

• Baking Soda – can cut through grease, remove odor, and clean and disinfect.
• Distilled White Vinegar – uses its acidity to remove grease, film on glass, faucets, and other surfaces. Can even remove water and alcohol stains from wood!
• Lemon Juice – great to give your DIY cleaning products a fresh scent and great for shining surfaces, while also removing mold and grease!
• Oils – While olive oil is fantastic for polishing surfaces, essential oils are fantastic for adding natural scents and aromatherapy to your cleaners while cutting the sometimes offensive scents of some of the other ingredients used (we’re looking at you vinegar!).
• Hydrogen Peroxide – While known for being a great way to clean and disinfect cuts and scrapes, hydrogen peroxide is also a great additive for non-toxic DIY cleaners and stain removers.

Kitchen

After cooking a big family dinner, your kitchen surfaces need a wipe down – Use this recipe for an all-purpose cleaner!

• 3 tablespoons baking soda
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 4 cups water
• 10 drops of essential oil (I love Nature’s Alchemy – you can pick the scents that smell like the holidays!)

Mix and pour into a spray bottle or onto your sponge and clean away!

Bathroom

With guests going in and out, your bathroom could use a little love. Use this toilet cleaner recipe to get things squeaky clean!

• 1 cup baking soda
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 5-10 drops essential oil

Pour the vinegar and essential oils in to the bowl and let sit for a minute, add baking soda to remove stains and scrub with a toilet brush and flush!

Living Room

Freshen up after guests leave with this room and linen spray!

• Fine mist glass or metal spray bottle
• 1 oz. vodka (this helps the scent last – don’t worry your linens won’t smell like booze, the alcohol evaporates quickly!)
• 2 oz. water
• 15 drops of essential oil (have fun with your scents and mix and match things!)

Mix ingredients together in your spray bottle, let set and spray lightly.