7 Simple Green Cleaning Recipes So You Can Skip The Sketchy Chemicals (2024)

Here’s the unfortunate irony of the cleaning products industry: The vast majority of the things we buy to wipe, mop, and scrub our homes with are actually polluting our indoor spaces with toxic chemicals. Fake fragrances, dyes, and solvents can make up 90% of the volume of a typical store-bought cleaning solution, says green living expert Beth Greer, author of Super Natural Home. Plus, since cleaning product companies don't have to list their ingredients on the label, we're usually left in the dark when it comes to knowing what's hiding in those colorful bottles.

Your best bet: bypass the chemicals and confusion by whipping up these super easy (and cheap!) cleaning recipes.

Shell out for pricey antibacterial cleaners and soaps, and you'll be getting more than you bargained for—ingredients that have been linked to everything from thyroid damage and water pollution, to allergies and the emergence of drug-resistant superbugs like MRSA (learn more about antibacterial dangers with Surprising Allergy Causes). Instead, kill germs with this all-purpose vinegar solution. Bonus: it'll only cost you about 20 cents!

Ingredients
9 parts water
1 part white vinegar

Mix ingredients in a spray bottle and clean away.

Note: White vinegar doesn't kill all germs, so if you have a particularly nasty mess, wipe it down with soapy water first (we like adding in a bit of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Liquid Soap), and then follow with a squirt of straight vinegar and a separate squirt of hydrogen peroxide to knock out virtually all germs. Remember to do a spot test first to make certain the surface doesn't discolor or otherwise react.

Wiping out the sink every time you use it helps prevent clogs and buildup, says actress and eco-mom Jessica Alba in her bestseller, The Honest Life(published by Rodale, which also publishes Prevention). But when a gunky drain situation does strike, try this remedy.

Ingredients
Baking soda
White vinegar
Boiling water

Pour a mixture of equal parts baking soda, white vinegar, and boiling water (carefully) down the drain and let it sit for half an hour—the baking soda and vinegar fizz up and eat through clogs.

More from Prevention: 10 Things You Can Do With Baking Soda

Talk about toxic! A 2009 analysis found common tile cleaners are laced with formaldehyde, toluene, and benzene—components of gasoline. To avoid these and other common tile cleaner contaminants, whip up this scrubbing paste.

Ingredients
½ cup baking soda
Liquid soap (we like Dr. Bronner's peppermint or detergent)
5 to 10 drops of pure essential oil of lavender or rosemary, or tea tree oil (optional)

Place baking soda in a bowl and slowly pour in liquid soap, stirring until it looks like frosting. Add optional essential oils. Scoop onto a sponge, scrub, and rinse.

Many oven cleaners are classic indoor air annihilators. To avoid the toxic fumes found in many store-bought versions, use this homemade cleaning recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups hot water
1 tablespoon natural dish liquid
1 teaspoon borax

Mix the ingredients, spray on a spill, let sit for 20 minutes, and wipe off with a clean cloth. For handling an extra-greasy mess, wipe off as much loose goop as possible with crumpled newspaper first, then use the spray.

For less than $1, you can create a natural window cleaner free of asthma- and allergy-triggering ingredients found in many commercial cleaners.

Ingredients
¼ cup vinegar
½ teaspoon natural liquid soap (optional)
2 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake to blend. Spray a few squirts of the mixture on a window, scrub with a kitchen sponge, and squeegee off. You can also use crumbled up newspaper to scrub.

Don't let the cute dust bunny name fool you. Household dust is actually full of harmful flame retardants from electronics, pesticides tracked into the house, and chemicals from plastics. But most dust cleaners on the market make things worse, harboring their own nasty ingredients. Mix up your own simple recipe to conquer dust in your home.

Ingredients
10 drops pure lemon oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Several drops olive oil

Combine in a small spray bottle, spritz onto furniture, and use a flannel cotton cloth to mop up dusty surfaces.

If you're rather go the store-bought route, here are 11 safe nontoxic cleaners.

Nothing's less appetizing than cooking out with a crusty grill that's full of burned meat and old fat. Using the tactics below, you'll be able to reach for a grill bush to knock off large debris, and the oil will sop up finer soot—no toxic cleaners required!

To keep your grill from creating too much grit in between cookouts, follow these easy steps every time you grill:

1. Preheat the grill for 15 minutes.
2. Scrape the grill grate with a stiff wire grill brush.
3. Grab a wadded up paper towel with grill tongs and dampen it with vegetable oil.
4. Use tongs to rub the oily paper towel over the grill grate.

No quite a grill master yet? Check out these tips with The Girls' Guide To Grilling.