Spring Cleaning: DIY Toxin-Free Cleaners

Do you worry about using toxic chemicals to clean your home? When I bought my RV, I hated the idea of using chemical cleaners. So many of the cleansers had warning labels about avoiding skin contact and toxic fumes. How could I possibly avoid the fumes when I was going to be living in a 300 square foot tiny home? I decided that I needed to make toxin-free cleaners using essential oils and other natural ingredients. That way I could rest easy knowing that the cleaners I used were healthy and I could clean my tiny RV home and be safe. 

Since this is the season of spring cleaning for those living north of the equator, I decided I would share some of my DIY cleaner recipes with you.  These recipes are all-natural so you don't have to worry about nasty toxic chemicals when you clean.  These cleaners are easy to make. You probably have many of the ingredients in your home right now. So, let's gather up some ingredients and start making awesome, wonderful smelling, and toxin-free cleaners.

Basic DIY Cleaning Recipe Ingredients

• Young Living Essential Oils, variety
• Baking Soda
• White Vinegar
• Castile Soap
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Epsom Salt
• Distilled Water
• Witch Hazel
• Citric Acid
• Borax (I do not use on surfaces I touch)

* I only recommend using Young Living Essential Oils (YL) because they are Grade A therapeutic quality oils. Not all oils labeled as pure are 100% essential oils. Many other store brands are only 5% essential oils and 95% carrier oils or the water leftover from the distillation of pure therapeutic oils. For cleaning and aromatherapy, you only want to use oils that are 100% pure oils with no fillers. Quality matters when it comes to you and your family's health and wellness.

DIY Glass Cleaner Spray

This all-natural glass cleaner works great on windows, mirrors, shower doors, the outside of the microwave and other hard surfaces. 

1/2 cup distilled water, less 4 Tbsps.

1 Tbsp. white vinegar

1 Tbsp. rubbing alcohol

8 drops orange essential oil

8 drops lemon essential oil

Mix all ingredients and shake well. Put into a glass spray bottle. Label your DIY container. (Honest, you won't remember a month from now what it is.)

Spray glass surfaces and wipe with a lint-free cloth.

I love these NatureO amber bottles. I bought mine on Amazon. These bottles have settings for mist and stream spray. I like that they are dark glass, so they help the oils stay fresher. 

Toilet and Black Tank Cleaning Mix
One of my least favorite RV jobs is cleaning out the black tank. In case you don't know what that is, think of it as sewer tank mounted under your RV that needs to be emptied and cleaned out. Yuck. What I really hated were the chemicals you were supposed to put in the tanks to clean them. After you put the chemicals in the tank, you were supposed to vent the space and leave the area for 6 to 12 hours. That might work for some people but not for me. I live in my RV! So, I found this great natural toxin-free toilet and tank cleaner. Now, I don't hate cleaning my black tank as much as I used to. Really, I only hate cleaning the toilet a little bit.

1/2 cup Baking Soda

1/2 cup Citric Acid

1/2 cup Borax

10-15 drops Young Living Essential Oils: Purification Blend and/or Thieves Blend

1 tsp. distilled water (Use 1 ½ tsp. if making cleaning bombs)

Directions for Black Tank Cleaning Mix

Mix the baking soda, citric acid, and borax together in a large bowl. Add your essential oils and water. Continue to mix. SLIGHT fizzing is normal. The ingredients should remain as dry as possible.

I store my mixture in a glass jar (mine is a reused pickle jar). I add ½ cup to the toilet bowl and then flush it down about twice a month when the tank is about half full. If you want to get a good scrub, add some on moving day and let the movement of your driving slosh the fizzy mixture around in your black tank.

Notes for Making Cleaning Bombs

Add 1 ½ teaspoons water to the mixture if you want to use molds to make little cleaning bombs. Once the mixture is just barely wet, but sticking together, press the mix tightly into bomb molds. Let the molds dry overnight, then pop them out and store them in an airtight container until you need to use them. Based on the size of your molds, put two bombs in your toilet before flushing.

Sink Drain Freshener and Declogger

1/2 cup baking soda

1/2 cup white vinegar

8 drops YL essential oils (Rosemary, Eucalyptus, and/or Tea Tree)

2 cups hot water

Pour baking soda down the sink drain. Mix vinegar and essential oils. Pour vinegar and essential oil mixture down the drain. Close the sink drain with a washcloth or the drain cover to seal the pipes and contain the reaction. Let this mixture foam and sit for about 15 minutes. Follow up by pouring 2 cups of hot water down the drain. 

Many online recipes for natural drain fresher use lemon oil, so why don't I use it in this recipe?  I have plastic pipes and I find that lemon oil can "melt" plastics. I'm not 100% sure there would be a problem, I just decided not to take a chance.

Orange Creamsicle Homemade Air Freshener

This is my favorite room freshener, and I've shared it with you on this blog before. I love how the orange and other oils help to elevate my mood. The smell just makes me so happy. Somehow everything feels cleaner and brighter.  If you don't like citrus smells, once you make the basic spray mix, you can add whatever oils you want. 

Basic spray mix:

1 oz. Witch Hazel

½ cups Distilled Water

Funnel (or measuring cup with a spout)
Small Aluminum Travel Spray Bottle 

Oils for aromatherapy and air freshening:

2 drops of YL Orange Essential Oil

2 drops of YL Tangerine Essential Oil

2 drops of YL Lemon Essential Oil

2 drops of YL Grapefruit Essential Oil

2 drops of YL Spearmint Essential Oil

3 drops of YL Stress Away Essential Oil

In a bowl or measuring cup with a spout if you don't have a funnel, mix essential oils with the witch hazel.  Add the water and pour the mixture into an aluminum spray bottle.  Print or write a label so you remember what you made.

Here is the link to the bottles I bought on Amazon (http://a.co/3rgr7tL). After two years, the spray nozzle needs to be pulled up each time you spray. I am looking for replacements. Any ideas?

Carpet Freshener

Do you have a stinky wall-to-wall carpet that needs to be freshened up? Mix up this easy to make powder and let it freshen your carpets for you.

1 cup baking soda

5 drops YL Thieves Essential Oil blend (or - 1 drop YL cloves essential oil, 1 drop YL cinnamon essential oil, 1 drop YL rosemary essential oil, 1 drop YL lemon essential oil, and 1 drop YL eucalyptus oil)

Mix the baking soda and essential oil and allow it to dry overnight. Then it is ready to use. Sprinkle the mixture on your carpet, let it sit 15 minutes and when you vacuum it up you will be left with a fresher smelling carpet.

Hard Water Residue Remover Scrub

1 cup Epsom salts

½ cup baking soda

¼ cup Castile soap

2 drops YL essential oil (your choice, but don’t use citrus oils on plastic or granite surfaces)

Mix all the ingredients together in a small container or bowl right before you want to use it.  Put a small amount of the scrub mixture on a damp cloth and rub in a circular motion on shower doors, bathtubs, tiles, drains, and faucets. Let the mixture rest on surfaces for a few minutes then lightly rub again to remove hard water residue. Rinse with warm water and dry with a lint-free cloth. This scrub works best on dry surfaces.

Mold and Mildew “Killer” Spray

½ cup of water

½ cup of white vinegar

20 drops of tea tree oil

Mix all ingredients and put into a glass spray bottle. Spray over areas prone to mold or mildew (showers, under sinks).  This spray won’t remove pre-existing mold or mildew stains so treat stains with hydrogen peroxide to naturally bleach away the marks before spraying the space.

Honestly, What Do I Use Most Often When I Clean?

After sharing all these wonderful DIY cleaning ideas, I am almost ashamed to admit that what I use the most to clean my house, clothes, and dishes are Young Living's Thieves cleaning products. There are three reasons for this. First, Young Living's Thieves cleaners work amazingly well. Second, they are made with essential oils, so I know they are safe to use. Third, sometimes I just feel too lazy to make my own DIY cleaners. 

If you want to learn more about Young Living and how to buy their products, contact me at caminoturtle2016@gmail.com 

I love sharing what I know about essential oils and how I use them in my RV life.

Do you have a favorite DIY cleaning recipe?

Type your recipe, questions, or general comments in the chatbox below. Thanks. I love learning from all of you. 

I really want this blog to be a place where we all share what we are learning about the journey to self-improvement and a better life. So, don't be shy. Add a comment to this post. Thanks.

PS: Just for a giggle

I thought I would show you how I wash my RV floors. I mix my Thieves cleaner (2 capfuls in a pail) and then put two of my Norwex car mitts on my feet. I put on some dance music and then dance to clean my floors. I just take off the mitts and rinse them out. No worries about my feet; I think they are actually cleaner, too. Because Thieves is all-natural, I'm not worried about any chemicals!

How to Spring Clean Your Home or RV

Since many of us are spending more time indoors during the coronavirus outbreak, why not consider cleaning our homes. While I may live full time in an RV camper, there is no reason why I can't indulge in a good spring cleaning. What do you think?  Feel like making your home cleaner and healthier?

What is Spring Cleaning?
For those of you who have never heard of the tradition of spring cleaning, let me tell you quickly a little about its history. Since this is the time of renewal and rebirth, many homemakers took time each spring, usually the week before Easter, to clean every area of their homes from top to bottom. According to my father, my Grandma Spencer even changed the slipcovers on all her furnishings from winter wools to bright, white canvas.

What Are the Traditional Steps to Spring Cleaning?
The most important rule of spring cleaning is to start at the top and move down. If you start at the bottom, then when you clean the top, the dirt will fall on the space you just cleaned. Follow the steps below in each room to make your spring cleaning easier and more efficient. I suggest doing one room at a time so you don't get overwhelmed.

Step One: Remove all the curtains, furniture slipcovers, throw rugs and other fabric items from the room and wash these. We are so lucky today to have washing machines and dry cleaners to help with this step.

Step Two: Remove picture frames, mirrors, other hanging items from the walls. Remove all ornamental decorations from the room and temporarily store them in a safe place. Cover furniture too big to move with drop cloths or old sheets.

Step Three: Sweep or brush the ceiling and walls to remove all loose dirt and cobwebs. While you have the ladder out, remove ceiling light covers and wash these. Replace hard to reach light bulbs. Wipe down the ceiling and walls with a damp rag, water, and cleaning solution.

Step Four: Wash glass windows, screens, storm windows, window sills, and moldings. Don't forget the top edges.

Step Five: Wipe down base moldings with a damp rag, water, and cleaning solution. Damp-mop hardwood and/or tile floors. Vacuum wall to wall carpets. If you can afford it, have the carpets steam cleaned.

Step Six: Dust and/or wet wipe down all other hard surfaces and furniture. (Really clean all of those hard to reach places like table legs that you don't normally clean on a regular basis.) Wash crystal, porcelain, and metal ornamental objects and let dry.

Step Seven: While the room is empty, review any needed repairs. You can oil door hinges, tighten door knob screws, and lubricate window tracks. If you haven't done it for a few years, this may be the time to repaint the ceiling and walls. Why wait till you plan to sell a house before you make it pretty?

Step Eight: Once everything is clean and dry, rehang the curtains, replace rugs on the floor and display all the pictures and mirrors. Bring back in your decorative items.

Step Nine: Stand back and look at how fresh and clean the room is. Now repeat these steps for the rest of the rooms in your house. Pace yourself.  Don't try to do your entire house in a day!

Spring Cleaning and Maintaining Your RV Camper
Can you spring clean an RV? Absolutely! This is a great time to clear out the cobwebs and take care of all those maintenance tasks you've been putting off. I adapted the steps of traditional spring cleaning for the motor home since it is made up of three "rooms" and the basement storage bins.

I suggest that you spring clean your RV when you have full hookups (water, electricity, and sewer) at your campsite. You will use a lot of water to clean out your tanks and wash everything in the RV.  You want to be able to dump your tanks while you clean.

First, I removed the windshield curtains and the blackout curtain used as a bedroom privacy screen. I washed the curtains and two throw rugs I use inside the RV to capture dirt by the doors.

Second, I removed all the ornaments, picture frames, and other stuff from the RV and put these outside on the picnic table. It was amazing how much larger the RV looked when it was empty.

Third, I used Thieves cleaner and some hot water to wash down all the ceilings and walls in the RV. It was tricky to figure out how to wash the ceiling fans and their roof covers. I did the best I could.  I also removed the light covers to take out any dead bugs and to wipe them down. Cleaning ceilings and walls not only gave me a chance to knock down some cobwebs, but it also let me look for any mold. Thankfully, I didn't have any.

Fourth, before cleaning anything else, I power washed the inside of my toilet black tank and deep cleaned the gray tank (sinks and shower wastewater goes in the gray tank). I have to pull a hose into the RV, so it made sense to wait to clean the floors till the power washing was finished. After cleaning your tanks, take the time to clean the sewer hose and the compartment where you store the hose. Regularly power washing your black tank and deep cleaning your gray tank will help to prevent and/or eliminate any sewer flies.

Fifth, wash the toilet, sinks, and shower. Wipe down all the cabinets, countertops, vinyl or leather chairs and couch. I use microfiber cloths with warm water and Thieves cleaner.

Sixth, using a fresh bucket of Thieves cleaner and water, wash the vinyl floors or tiles if you have them. Scrub any "tacked down" carpet sections with the same Thieves cleaner. Let everything dry and then replace your curtains, rugs, and decorations.

Seventh, I did some maintenance checks. Using a dry lube spray, I lubricated the sliding window tracks, the slide-out room tracks, the hydraulic jacks, and the towing hitch. I washed the roof, the sidewalls and the tires. I just recently had the engine serviced, the generator maintained, and I bought three new batteries.

Last, I diffused my favorite essential oils to freshen the air and make everything feel so great!

Make Spring Cleaning Healthier

Over the years, I used some terrible cleaning products with toxic chemicals in the list of ingredients. Many of these products included warning labels that required you to vent your room while you used them. Others warned of irritations caused by skin contact. Why did I ever think that I had to use these kinds of products to get my home clean and fresh? Now I use Young Living's Thieves Cleaner and other DIY products to clean my RV.

I love that my Thieves cleaner and my Thieves dish soap are free of any chemical toxins since they are made with plant-based essential oils. Love, love, love the cloves, lemon, and other wonderful smells! I am also so happy that I don't have to "air out" the RV after I wash everything. There is nothing in the Thieves cleaner that can hurt me, so I can use it with confidence.

I will make another blog post so I can share some DIY toxin-free cleaners. That way we can all clean our homes in a healthier way.

Share Your Thoughts
Do you have any Spring Cleaning tips or tricks to share with us? Type them in the comment box below. I love learning from all of you, too.