This year, I am on a mission to convert to all natural cleaning products for my home. I started this process last year when I was cleaning the house for our Christmas party and I was testing out different window/glass cleaners. Since then, I've been doing further research into all-natural homemade cleaners, and thought I'd share the first lot of recipes with you today, as I've had great success with them!

DIY Natural Cleaning Recipes - making the switch to all-natural cleaners around your home is a great way to save money, and make sure there are no nasty chemicals that could cause harm to you [and your children] if used incorrectly. Click through to…

One big reason for my conversion to all-natural cleaning products was definitely to save money, but I also didn't want to be using a lot of nasty chemicals around the home, particularly now that we have children. Green cleaning is an interesting topic to look into - I recommend the following articles: Wellness Mama, Living Well Spending Less, and IHeart Organizing. From researching and trialling different formulas, I came up with some recipes that work for me.

Here are the supplies I started with:

Pure lemon castile soap
Eucalyptus oil (lemon oil also works well)
Velvet bar soap
Bi-carb soda
Powdered Borax
Dishwashing liquid
Washing soda
Vinegar
Microfibre cloths

Most of these were purchased at the supermarket, except for the castile soap and eucalyptus oil which I found at a health food store.

I have been hoarding old cleaning bottles for a few months to hold my new homemade cleaners (these ones are from Method). I gave them a good rinse and removed the sticky label residue by rubbing it with vegetable oil.

collecting bottles to use for homemade cleaning products

BONUS: Click on the button below to get your free cleaning labels!

I was excited to find this handy pack of cloths at Woolworths supermarket, as it will help me remember which cloth needs to be used for which cleaning job. I also have a stash of general-use microfibres that I keep in the laundry.

using microfibre cloths to clean the house naturally

The first thing I tried was the stainless steel cloth... thrilling pictures to follow! Here's the dirty fridge:

A quick spray with water and a gentle rub with the microfibre...

cleaning the fridge using microfiber cloth

And a sparkling clean result! No product required except water equals a tick in my books.

The glass cleaning mixture I made was a simple recipe of 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 tsp dishwashing detergent and 2 cups of water. A few squirts of this paired with the glass microfibre cloth and a second dry cloth were fantastic for cleaning all of our mirrors and the interior windows.

natural cleaning supplies for window and glass cleaning

I have been using the following recipe as an all purpose cleaner for 3 months now and love it. I had never heard of castile soap before, but it really is a wonder product. You can use it as a body or hand wash, a household cleaner, to wash fruit and vegetables, or to clean the oven. The recipe I use for an all-purpose cleaner for the kitchen and bathroom (recipe found here) is 1 cup water, 1 tbsp castile soap and 10 drops of essential oil. It has a lovely fresh smell and cleans beautifully. I love that is completely natural so I don't have to worry about inhaling nasty fumes when cleaning.

UPDATE: Get your free cleaning label templates for your cleaning bottles by clicking on the button below!

I also find this all-purpose spray cleans our wooden kitchen table well, along with the laminate bench tops, bathroom sink, shower and bath.

I'll be back next week with a few more recipes including all-natural laundry detergent, stain removal and oven cleaner. I've had fantastic results with them all so far, especially the laundry detergent!