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    Home » Housekeeping » Zero Waste, non-toxic all-purpose cleaner

    Zero Waste, non-toxic all-purpose cleaner

    Feb 18, 2016 + modified Jan 12, 2022 by shia

    In supermarkets or drugstores there are aisles and aisles full of highly specialized cleaners, decorated with warnings on their labels. We, too, had so many of these at home. When we went Zero Waste, we started to look for alternatives, since basically all cleaning products come in plastic. Besides, I was tired of the aggressive cleaning products that I couldn't use without wearing gloves because I would break out almost instantly.

    Zero Waste All-Purpose Cleaner

    We went for vinegar, and after a while we realized that we actually neglected all of the cleaners we still had! The vinegar cleaner has become our all-purpose cleaner! In the end, we gave away all of our pre-zero-waste cleaning products. Oh, and there is no need for me to wear these unsexy yellow rubber gloves anymore - yaaaay 😝!

    All-purpose cleaner based on vinegar

    This recipe is so simple I always feel like a fraud when I tell people "Nah, I make my own cleaning products" and they all go "Wow, that's so amazing!" 😅

    Recipe All-Purpose Cleaner with White Vinegar

    Ingredients

    • 1 part of white vinegar*
    • 4 parts of water

    or

    • 1 tablespoon vinegar essence**
    • 1 ¼ cups (300 ml) of water

    * It is important to use white vinegar because other kinds of vinegar will leave residues when cleaning. Please also note that white vinegar is not always vegan because sometimes gelatine is used in the manufacturing process as a filter agent.

    ** Vinegar essence is basically a very concentrated white vinegar. We prefer to buy vinegar essence, since it is so yielding that we only need two bottles (glass bottle with a plastic cap) per year.

    Instructions

    Mix. Pour into a spray bottle. That was it!

    Pimp my all-purpose cleaner

    Personally, I do not mind the smell of vinegar. Well, not any more than I mind the smell of bleach or the other cleaning products we used to use. The smell disappears really fast anyway.

    One way to disguise the vinegary smell is to add a few drops of essential oil of your choice to your all-purpose cleaner. Go easy on the essential oil - I find 5 drops for maybe a liter (~4 cups) of all-purpose cleaner already very intense.

    However, you can infuse the vinegar with citrus peels prior to diluting it. This is also a great was to repurpose some kitchen scraps 😉.

    As I said, we do not mind the vinegary smell, so I usually prefer to grate the citrus peels, freeze them and use them when baking. Besides, we have cut back on buying citrus fruits because we live in Germany and they are definitely not a local product. Anyway, for demonstration purpose we did actually buy a lemon! So here we go.

    After you have used the lemon juice for whatever purpose, cut off the outer layer of the lemon peel. You'll only need the outer layer because that is where the nice smelling citrusy oil is.

    Put the peel into a jar and cover with white vinegar. If you want to infuse vinegar essence, dilute 1 part of vinegar essence with 4 parts of water. Let sit for at least 2 weeks. You can leave it like this for months though.

    All-purpose cleaner based on citric acid

    I was told by a reader that vinegar-based cleaner might be bad for sealings like the ones in your dish washer. I don't know, we still use our vinegar-based all-purpose cleaner, but I do avoid using it to clean the inside of the dish washer or the rubber seal thing on the fridge. You never know, right?

    An alternative all-purpose cleaner that works just as fine and does not have the vinegary smell is this citric acid water mixture. Citric acid is normally available in supermarkets as a powder. I am not sure if you can get the ingredients in bulk tough? I have seen citric acid being sold in a big paper box, but there might have been a plastic bag (= plastic surprise) inside.

    Recipe All-Purpose Cleaner with Citric Acid

    Ingredients

    • 10 g (about 1 tbsp) citric acid
    • 1 liter water

    Instructions

    Dissolve the citric acid in the water. Pour into a spray bottle. Done.

    How to use the cleaner

    As the name suggests, you can use the all-purpose cleaner for pretty much everything. Just spray on and wipe. You can add baking soda or salt for nasty stains and scrub using a brush.

    • Kitchen: Spray, wipe, or spray and scrub with a brush and some baking soda or salt (optional).
    • Bathroom: Yes, you can also use it to clean the toilet bowl! Spray on and pour a bit of it into the toilet. Let sit for 5 minutes, scrub with toilet bowl brush. You can also use full on vinegar if you have troubles with the rim around the water mark.
      Optional: Add a drop or two of essential oil to the clean toilet bowl. This will make your bathroom smell so nice after cleaning it.
    • Windows and mirrors: (white vinegar cleaner) Spray, wipe with a cloth rag, polish with another dry cloth rag. I do not recomment using the citric acid cleaner on windows or mirrors, as it can leave a slightly visible residue!
    • Floors: Fill a bucket with water and add some of the all-purpose cleaner.

    Related

    « Homemade antibacterial mouthwash
    Zero Waste Bulk Stores around the World #2: GOODsONLY in Zutphen, the Netherlands »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Aileen West says

      March 08, 2016 at 11:49 am

      Great and quite useful recipes! I'm recently trying to use more natural cleaning solutions and your advises seem to be quite efficient for me. Definitely trying andrecommending this post to some friends. Greets!

      Reply
      • shia says

        March 11, 2016 at 1:50 pm

        Aww, thanks ^^! Do let me know how it works for you!

        Reply
    2. Rachel says

      January 21, 2018 at 10:39 am

      I am wondering where you get your vinegar. because most of the white vinegar I see in store comes with a plastic bottle...so technically it's not zero waste?

      Reply
      • Shelbi Thompson says

        March 11, 2018 at 2:34 pm

        I second Rachel's question - I've never seen white vinegar for sale except in plastic bottles.

        Reply
    3. Lea Allemann says

      October 04, 2018 at 9:04 am

      Hi Shia
      you mentioned above that you are not sure whether it is possible to buy citric acid in bulk / zero waste. Good news: At least in Switzerland it is possible! Many pharmacies have citric acid in stock and you can bring your own container to their shop and they will fill it. I did so a couple of times at Rotpunkt Apotheke (big pharmacy chain in Switzerland). However you have to ask them for the citric acid, they usually don't have on the shelves!
      check out my insta account for more on conscious consumption: https://www.instagram.com/klaeriundruth/

      Warm regards
      Lea

      Reply
    4. Marie Luebbert says

      November 22, 2018 at 6:36 am

      I have stubborn hard water spots on my shower door. I tried Dawn and vinegar and it didn't work all. I have also tried everything under the sun and nothing has worked. Very frustrating.

      Reply
    5. Stef says

      November 29, 2018 at 11:15 pm

      @marie luebbert
      Up the vinegar concentration or use a hot water- vinegar mixture like when you would descale your kettle.

      Reply
    6. Cindy harmon says

      September 10, 2019 at 5:04 pm

      Well can you buy zero cleaning supply I want to buy

      Reply
    7. Myra says

      September 22, 2019 at 5:03 pm

      You mention that you lived in Germany? I live in Austria and for the life of me can't figure out what the German equivalent of White Vinegar is. Is it Tafel Essig? (Table Vinegar?) I haven't found "Weiß Essig" that isn't a white wine vinegar. Any help pointing me in the right direction would be great!

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Natural all purpose cleaner – Needle and Notion // Nadel und Flausen says:
      February 14, 2021 at 6:09 pm

      […] with white vinegar is extremely easy. I followed a recipe from Wastelandrebel and mixed 1 cup of white vinegar with 4 cups of water. There are a trillion other mixture […]

      Reply
    2. New year, no plastic! : says:
      February 20, 2021 at 4:58 pm

      […] Daily challenges inspired those looking to take their plastic free pledge a step further. These included conducting a plastic audit of your life, cooking a plastic free lunch, or making a DIY all purpose cleaning spray.  […]

      Reply

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    Shia Su

    Hey, I’m Shia, a fun-oriented hot mess and insubordinate cookie monster that has yet to learn how to shut her trap or to grow up. 🤷

    If I can live a vegan zero waste lifestyle, really, anyone can!

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