How To Make Your Own All-Purpose Cleaner

College can feel like one of the busiest times of your life. You’re in school, possibly working, trying to maintain a social life, and have an area of your own to take care of for the first time. With all that going on, taking time to clean and shop for the right cleaner often ends up on the back burner. But you can’t thrive in a dirty space, so at some point, you have to get cleaning. Instead of running to the store to stock up on cleaning supplies, though, take a few extra minutes to make your own all-purpose cleaner. Making your own will save money on cleaning products and on gas driving back and forth to the store. Keep reading to see different recipes for homemade cleaners.

Simple All-Purpose Cleaner

The easiest all-purpose cleaners use ingredients you probably already have in your dorm room or apartment. Just mix a 1:1 ratio of hot or distilled water to distilled white vinegar, pour it into a spray bottle, and you’re ready to go. Most people like to add lemon juice or rind, which has antibacterial properties and can improve the smell of your cleaning mixture, but it’s not required. You can also cover the strong vinegar smell and get additional health benefits by adding 10–20 drops of your favorite essential oil.

Glass Cleaner

While all-purpose cleaners can technically work on any surface, your glass surfaces will look better if you use a specific glass cleaner. Luckily, this is something else you can DIY and even use some of the same ingredients from the all-purpose cleaner. All you’ll need is one cup of hot water, a few tablespoons of distilled white vinegar, and about 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol (the higher the concentration, the better). Mix all of this together, add a drop or two of an essential oil to help the smell, and pour it into a spray bottle.

If you’d rather skip the harsh scent of vinegar and rubbing alcohol, you can mix two cups of hot water with 1/16 tsp of mild liquid dishwashing soap to create an alternative glass cleaner. This solution will work better if applied with a sponge or wipe than with a spray bottle.

Cleaning Scrubs

Some messes, like spilled pigment powder or splashed kitchen grease, require more cleaning power than a simple spray. This is when you need to use a cleaning scrub, and luckily, those are also easy to make in your dorm room or apartment. For the first scrub, just mix a ratio of one tablespoon of baking soda with every one cup of water. Baking soda is a natural deodorizer, so feel free to use this on messes that smell. You can also use this on carpets, as long as you rinse the spot to get the baking soda out afterward.

Another DIY cleaning scrub you can make is with a lemon and borax powder. Cut a lemon in half and dip it into borax powder, which is a laundry booster. Use the lemon like a brush and scrub the affected area until you need more borax. This works great on porcelain and enamel but should not be used on marble or granite. Rinse the area afterward to avoid a sticky lemon residue.

Now you know how to make your own all-purpose cleaner, along with DIY glass cleaner and cleaning scrubs. These cleaners are easy to make and store in your dorm room or apartment, so you’ll never have to run to the store before going on a cleaning spree again.

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