It’s easy to make window cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, scouring paste and dishwashing liquid from ingredients found in your kitchen. You need soap, baking soda, salt, vinegar, citric acid and water. The recipes come from my mother. The ingredients have all been tried in our kitchen, so I dare to recommend them. Why buy cleaning products from the shop when you can make them yourself and, most importantly, they won’t harm your family’s health or the environment.

Dishwasher flowers (tablets)

I still buy dishwasher detergent (tablets) from organic shops. Now, I decided to make them by myself, as I have the ingredients in my kitchen. When using homemade detergent, I have noticed that there should be no dried food on the dishes. Black dishes that have been in the dishwasher for several days will not get sparkling clean with the homemade product. And it won’t clean burnt pots and pans. So use scouring paste for them beforehand, and then you can put them in the machine too. 30 g baking soda, 15 g citric acid, 15 g salt, 5 – 10 g vinegar (10%) (1-2 tbsp). Mix the dry ingredients well, so that no lumps remain. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and quickly mix everything together. Now, the dry ingredients will start to layer and become like wet sand. If the dry ingredients stick together, you have enough liquid. Transfer the mixture into small silicone moulds and leave for a couple of hours. Depending on the size of the mould, I’ve used 1-2 tablets per mould and put them where a normal washing machine tablet would go. If the mixture gets too wet and starts to rise in the mould, then you have used too much liquid. But don’t worry, just let the ‘flower rise’ as long as it does, eventually it will still become hard. If, when dry, it breaks and turns into a powder, you can also use the powder in the dishwasher.

Window cleaner

1 part vinegar (10%), 4 parts water. If you use stronger vinegar, add more water. The window cleaner should be slightly acidic, i.e. you should still be able to touch it with your tongue. If you have very dirty glasses, you can use a little more vinegar.

General cleaning

Suitable for cleaning basins and work surfaces in bathrooms and kitchens. Also, for cleaning toilets. 1 part vinegar, 1 part water, a few drops of lemongrass essential oil. Mix vinegar and water in a spray bottle and add suitable essential oil, if desired.

Dishwashing detergent for handwashing

cSPiece of soap, ca 10 g, 1.5 glasses of water, 1 tablespoon of baking soda, 1 tablespoon of 10% vinegar. Melt the soap in warm water for a couple of hours or overnight. After the soap has melted, add the soda and vinegar to the same water. Your dishwashing detergent for handwashing is ready.

Scouring paste

1 part homemade cleaning dishwashing liquid, 1 part baking soda. Mix the ingredients into a paste. Use for scrubbing particularly dirty surfaces, pots, pans, frying oven. If the surfaces are very dirty, leave them with the product for a while.