Homemade cleaning products can be inexpensive and effective. The Optimist isn’t in business anymore, but their formulas are still great.
For the last decade, I’ve kept an ugly, industrial-looking spray bottle of diluted white vinegar under my sink. I use it mostly as a simple, non-toxic countertop spray that’s good for quick clean-ups during meal prep. While it’s been effective enough, both the look of the spray bottle and the unadulterated scent of vinegar leave something to be desired.
Enter The Optimist Co. Founded by Devin Donaldson after conventional cleaning products left her with a nasty asthma attack, they focus on simple, effective, non-toxic cleaning products that will help you keep your home spotless without compromising your health or the planet.
Devin sent me The Optimist Co.’s Make Your Own Cleaning Products Kit to try out a few weeks back. It comes with two amber-colored spray bottles with the cleaning formulas printed on the labels, a small bottle of castile soap and three small bottles of essential oils to make your custom scents.
Add some white vinegar and flat club soda* from your pantry to the mix and you have everything you need to build both an all-purpose spray (Time to Shine) and a glass and surface cleaner (Bright Side).
I made up both bottles the same day that the kit arrived. I followed the suggested recipes almost exactly, making only one change to the Bright Side. It suggests that you use plain white vinegar but instead, I used some of the lemon-infused vinegar I’d made during my Meyer lemon frenzy back in January (that’s what’s in the smaller measuring cup in the picture above). Bolstered with the enclosed lemon essential oil, every spray of that cleanser is an olfactory pleasure.
I’ve been using these sprays exclusively since they arrived and could not be more pleased with their effectiveness. I use them without worry around food, because I know that if a few droplets land on the contents of the fruit basket, no one will be harmed. Plus, they are far prettier than my old bottle of watered down vinegar.
*When we talked, I asked Devin what the flat club soda added to the mix and she said that it helps the cleaner wipe away streak-free, particularly on stainless steel appliances. So clever!
Disclosure: The Optimist Co. sent me the make your own kit at no cost to me for review and photography purposes. No additional payment has been made and all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Vinegar and baking soda and a bit of essential oils in different combos will take care of most cleaning needs.
I like using powdered Borax for cleaning toilets. Sprinkle in a generous amount, in water and on wet porcelain, let sit then scrub.
I use just a slightly damp microfiber towel for most of my dusting – no need for the aerosol sprays. Also use white vinegar in the softener dispenser of my washing machine and dryer balls in the dryer; haven’t used fabric softener or dryer sheets in over 15 years!
I can’t really say what I’ve done specifically.
I use a broom outside instead of water.
I used to use a concentrate and mix my own cleaning solution but they discontinued that.
I did make my own insect spray once but didn’t have regular vinegar so used some old balsamic vinegar that was way expired. That was pretty much of a disaster as I had to wash down all of the walls and cabinets; wherever the spray hit there was a brown spot or drips from the vinegar.
I do use baking soda and lemon for cleaning pots and pans.
I scrub classes with salt.
I’ve switched to cloth tea towels in the kitchen and will be crocheting my own dishclothes starting this summer. Don’t have the time right now.
I’ve also become pretty good at pretreating clothes with baking soda and peroxide.
I’ve cut out paper towels and instead have a stack of cleaning “rags”.
I have the same vinegar bottle. My husband hates the smell. I also try to clean up messes with clothes instead of paper towels.
I don’t buy paper towels, and I try to use all-natural soaps and detergents. I also limit showers to once every two days (when reasonable) and only do laundry if I can wash a full load.
Does not cleaning count? 😉 I’m sort of kidding! When I do get around to it, I’m using “rags” as my grandma calls them. That is t-shirts, etc that would otherwise be tossed because they’re too holey or stained.
I use diluted Vodka, a spray bottle under each sink. I took a spray bottle to Mexico and generously sprayed our toothbrushes, the sink, fixtures, toilet, etc. and in three weeks didn’t get sick at all. I believe it is stronger than vinegar and has no odor.
We recently had a(smallish) kitchen fire, everything I read about soot & extinguisher clean up required the use of more chemicals. I ended up using rubbing alcohol & soft old t-shirt, it worked fabulously and I didn’t have to use expensive harmful chems!
Instead of commercial cleaner, I keep a spray bottle of bleach water under the kitchen counter. I don’t remember the proportions because I don’t have to; I wrote them in Sharpie on the bottle.
I ditched the paper towels! Reusable cloth towels have saved my family hundreds and saved the environment.
mine is not currently sustainable. I’ve been doing research on natural cleaning supplies, and something like this would be amazing to help me get started!
This year I ditched paper towels once and for all. I don’t miss them!
I replaced my clay kitty litter with an eco-friendly wheat base one instead.
I just got done making rags out of our old clothes. Waste not, want not!
The greenest thing I do is clean less! 🙂
In all seriousness… We’ve switched to using as little paper products as possible by using washable rags for cleanup. I made the switch to more eco-friendly cleaners years ago, but now I’m moving towards more of my own homemade products. I’ve greened my clothes washing routined with homemade detergent, white vinegar for fabric softener, and wool felt dryer balls. Thanks for the chance to win. Those look like great products!
I use cloth towels for minor clean-up, and semi-reuseable towels for bigger messes (reuse them a few times before tossing- a little better than paper towels, at least!)
I clean a little bit each day so I’m not overwhelmed with it all at the end of a week!
Letting water work. For example, spraying water on a counter and letting it stay the for a minute before wipping gives it a change to work.
I’ve been making my own laundry soap powder! I’ve grabbed an old food processor and dedicated it to the task of shredding/blending my soap mix.
I make my own laundry detergent from leftover odds and ends from my homemade soap–I started doing this as a poor grad student 6 or 7 years ago and have never looked back. Other than buying Bon Ami (which I LOVE) to scrub sinks, I make all of my other cleaning products from the “essentials” I keep beneath my kitchen sink: baking soda, vinegar (white or infused), castille soap, and essential oils. I, too, have long loathed the drab look of my homemade goods, so I’m excited to hear about the Optimist (and that club soda tip)!
I use ecloths to wipe down my bathroom countertops. It’s easier since I keep the cloth in the bathroom and don’t have to run around finding the right cleaner. And I love not using a cleaner all the time.
I try to avoid putting things off. If I rinse my dish right after dinner, put it in the dishwasher immediately, it’s more likely all other dishes will follow and be done in a reasonable time. If I tell myself I’ll put it off until tomorrow, it will never get done until it is overwhelming.
I use essential oil instead of fabric softener!
i use ‘unpaper’ towels for spills and wiping the counter down. Reusable sponges and microfiber cloths are great for dishes. This set is great.
Vinegar is my friend!
Also, I make my own laundry detergent and I love it
We use microfibre cloths to clean mirrors. If anything is a bit stubborn then I lightly wet one cloth, use it, and then use the dry one to finish it off. It is easy and requires no cleaning product whatsoever.
We started using cloth napkins and love them. Can re-use for several meals and pop in the washer. Also use micro cloths for cleaning instead of too many paper towels! They really work well and again are easy to wash.
My girls and I do our chores at the same time, all together. It gives our Saturday mornings a rhythm and I find that end up working much harder knowing they are doing their (very simple) chores at the same time.
The biggest thing I’ve done lately has been to use my flour-sack towels for all the wipe-ups and general cleaning. I also got a bunch more of them so I never have all of them dirty and go back to the paper towels.
Those are so cute. Nice way to make necessary things look tidy!
Do less cleaning? 😉 Actually, I use a lot of white vinegar and essential oils for my cleaning supplies.
I make my own laundry detergent.
I’ve been diluting Dr. Bronner’s castille soap to use as a spray cleaner, sometimes with a squirt of white vinegar. I also use baking soda to scrub my sinks… I recently squeezed some lemons and used the rinds as scrubbies after sprinkling baking soda in my sink. Worked great and smelled heavenly! I’d love to give this kit a try… I think it’d take me to the next level!
Use white vinegar as much as possible, make my own window cleaner too.
I emphasize use of rags over paper towels in our house, clean up spills with plain water as quickly as possible after I notice them, and add vinegar when I need something “stronger”
I’ve been using nontoxic cleaner and a serious scrub brush to clean my bathtub, which gets grimy pretty quickly from hard water plus castile soap!
I cut up and hemmed several flour sack towels into dishrag size, and keep them in a basket on the counter to use instead of paper towels.
I use baking soda instead of Comet to clean tubs and sinks! I also use diluted vinegar as an all purpose counter spray.
This kit looks great! I just bought a big stack of microfiber rags and have been using baking soda and vinegar to keep my drains clear. Cheaper and works better than draino!
I make my own laundry soap and it only costs a couple of dollars per YEAR, and this morning I tried out a new dishwasher gel made with lemons (free, from a neighbor’s tree), vinegar, and salt. I’ve been trying out several “recipes”for the dishwasher to find one I really like. I use baking soda instead of scouring powder. I use cloth napkins. I make my own orange cleaner from peels and vinegar and love it on my wood cutting board! I make my own citrus extracts as well as vanilla. I have access to citrus trees, and made orange, grapefruit, and lemon extract, plus triple sec and Grand Marnier, and brandied vanilla extract that is pure heaven in a cup of coffee! I have some of the triple sec sitting in a small glass container in bathroom window right now, covered lightly, which will become orange oil when the alcohol evaporates. It was a bumper citrus year for us! I’d LOVE to try out this kit, and I also want to make cleaner with Tea Tree oil to discourage mold in this humid environment! I am SOLD on kitchen chemistry!
Been making my own detergent and using straight white vinegar for fabric softener for quite a while.
I soak orange peels in vinegar to use for cleaning.
I mostly use castille soap, baking soda, and white vinegar for my cleaning needs, but I would love to try making my own glass cleaner! What a fun looking kit.
I don’t use paper towels or cleaning wipes at all. I even mop with a reusable pad, and not the Swiffer pads.
I do the vinegar water in a bottle too. I also use holey socks, old ratty towels, old holey t-shirts and such for cleaning. We have microfibers which I love, but the other things I consider disposable. I use and wash for most things, but if it is a nasty mess then we can use and toss without guilt since they would have been tossed previously. This kit sounds like a brilliant all in one item for those of us who like to keep it natural!
I’ve been doing research about how I can make my own cleaners and even repurposed a Bulleit Rye bottle as a snazzy looking dish soap bottle.
Vinegar! It’s good for almost everything!
I am conscious about what products I use and keep them as green as possible. I also use reusable cloths as much as possible.
how clever!! I tend to clean my cutting boards with lemon halves after I’ve used them in an effort to keep the wood chemical free 🙂
Some really cool ideas in the comments. I am definitely going to try the ground citrus rinds as a tub scrubber. And the citrus vinegars! Awesome.
We never have used paper towels much, mostly just for greasy clean-ups. I should research cleaning greasy cloths and then that could change also. I do a lot of baking soda and vinegar cleaning, but also have a bottle of the Williams-Sonoma grapefruit all-purpose cleaner in the house because I love the smell. I really should try to concoct a replacement; the WS stuff is really pricey.
Cloth baby wipes and homemade solution. They work so much better, too!
I bought the shop rags you recommended in this post: https://foodinjars.com/2015/02/best-cheapest-cloth-napkins/. We use them for cloth napkins, but they’ve also replaced paper towels for cleaning around the house, mopping up spills, and wiping down the counters. They’re great! It would be neat to use them with these cleaning products.
I have used a lot of essential oils, vinegar, and baking soda to replace quite a bit of my commercial cleaners
I use Bi-o-Kleen products which are highly concentrated, environmentally friendly, and refillable at many places in my city!
We use white vinegar and have started using essential oils as well to keep our house clean and odor free.
i use old towels that has gotten holes in them and trim them down and hem to make cleaning clothes. also use the vinegar spray
I have my husband do the cleaning. That’s sustainable for me.
We are finished with cloth-diapering, so we use all the old flats for cleaning. So great and no lint!
Salt and lemon on the cutting board.
I saved all of the burp rags, washcloths, etc from my babies and now use those for cleaning.
Citrus vinegars are the best! I make mine with clementine peels each winter for surface cleaning (and salads).
We switched our tub cleaner out for some homemade cleaner using baking soda, dish soap and tea tree oil. So much better.
I use Crafty Betty’s suggestion of using dried citrus peels, ground up, as a tub cleaner. Mixed with borax and put into a shaker.
I have been using white vinegar for most of my surface cleaning. I don’t even mind the smell. 🙂
I use cloth wash cloths, napkins and vinegar and cornstarch for cleaning. This giveaway is a great product to use. I also use a bin for all my compost items.
My grandmother taught me to use clean cloth diapers or newspaper to wash windows instead of paper towels, and I switched years ago to using a vinegar mixture instead of windex. Baking soda is a great mild abrasive kitchen cleaner, too. Thanks for the giveaway!
I’ve been using the watered down vinegar thing for a long time. I’ve found that since my stove top gets pretty warm when I’m running the oven and if I clean it while warm then everything comes off so much easier.
The other favorite is baking soda to clean foggy glass baking dishes or remove stuck on food residue in pans or the crockpot.
With some DIY cleaning solutions, I’ll make a batch and then revert to store bought (dish detergent, laundry soap, glass cleaner), but I have stuck to a baking soda-based gritty bathroom scrubber with dried herbs rubbed in there. I think it’s the fact that I can scrub the tub while standing in it and not be worried about icky chemicals. Who doesn’t like cleaning their tub and combining it with a shower after?
I too have been going the vinegar spray route, but I’d like for it to smell better.
I’m a big fan of baking soda – for scrubbing dishes and cleaning sinks.
This weekend I made my own reusable cleaning wipes from some old tshirts. Mixed up some water, soap and oils and threw in a jar with the wipes.
Been doing the diluted vinegar thing for a while – and cheap vodka for glass and metal!
For the past 5 years, I have made my own cleaners. I started out more complicated, but eventually switched to just a spray bottle with vinegar, water, and a squirt of dish soap. It works really well, but this looks like such a fun option to try out!
Vinegar and Baking soda are my go-tos. But I love the idea of adding essential oils…On it!
I love this! I have recently gone down the essential oil rabbit hole, so even if I don’t win I can put this to work in my home. Just need to find a glass spritz bottle—I am currently using the same old off-brand Windex bottle with Mrs. Meyers+Vinegar+Water in it to clean just about everything in my house.
And I love it for some of the same reasons as you—if a little spritz ends up on something on the counter I don’t have to worry about chemicals, etc.
I’ve also recently moved towards more sustainable shower products, using essential oils in unscented Dr. Bronner’s to make custom soaps, and I have been using this AMAZING henna-based shampoo from Henna Color Lab in Portland (https://hennacolorlab.com/) smells great and just a little makes this great micro-suds.
And I took your advice and bought a bunch of those auto towels! They are great. They are even great stand-ins for cheesecloth in a pinch!
I try to use washable rags as much as possible, but have not explored home-made cleaners yet. I am excited by this possibility.
I have these little shaker jars (I think they were “cheese shakers”) that I got at the restaurant supply store. I keep them filled with baking soda and use them for scrubbing jobs in the kitchen and bathroom.
Washable rags and vinegar based solutions are the way to go.
i make my own laundry soap, we don’t use dryer sheets and I use my husband’s worn out tshirts as rags.
I’ve been trying so hard to use cloth towels instead of paper towels. But it’s tricky!
I’m the vinegar-bottle lady. I never thought about trying to add fragrance. Searching cabinets now for the orange and rosemary I know are here somewhere!
I’ve switched to mostly Seventh Generation products, rather than other commercial brands.
I’ve been swapping out paper towels for washable microfiber cloths whenever possible. Now if I could just get my husband to do the same…
I use cloth napkins, use baking soda and vinegar to clean my stovetop, and use knitted cotton dishcloths for cleaning up countertop messes. I want to limit my use of paper products by getting some shop rags for the ickier kitchen clean ups!
Oh, I have also phased out my use of dryer sheets by using wool balls in my dryer and use a non phosphorus laundry detergent!
My husband has a (really nice!) obsession with wiping down the kitchen entirely every day, so we bought him a few packages of cheap washcloths to use instead of the massive quantities of paper towels he was using. They don’t really add much to the laundry and we are saving a lot of money!
I’ve been using baking soda and vinegar to remove stains from my countertop and some bottles.
We’ve switched to microfiber clothes instead of paper towels and I use vinegar and baking soda for many of my cleaning needs.
I make a cleaning solution by steeping citrus rinds and herbs in vinegar. It works so-so. I plan to try using cheap vodka instead.
I use baking soda and vinegar regularly on my drains so that I won’t need to rely on Draino for big clogs.
I use vinegar and water combo in an ugly spray bottle too!! Actually all of our cleaning products are homemade except the toilet bowl cleaner because in my research I didn’t find anyone with a great alternative with great results. We use Dr. Bronners and lemon essential oil as well. And I bought a big pack of microfiber towels on Amazon which are spread throughout the house for easy cleanups.
Use washable shop rags/towels for kitchen cleaning. Newer ones work great. Older ones are used when disposal is preferred to re-use. Also, old single socks, ripped t-shirts etc. Paper towels are gone from my house.
I switched to lint-free towels and re-used newspapers for cleaning, and have mixed up a new homemade cleaners, but haven’t landed on just the perfect formula yet!
I have been using microfiber cloths instead of paper towels, when cleaning the kitchen and the bathroom. I don’t think I really realized just how many paper towels I was using in a month! It’s so easy to have cloths around that I can re-wash. I want to start making my own cleaning solutions, too!
We use different variations of vinegar, baking soda, and castile soap to accomplish most of our cleaning. The castile soap we use has a lovely peppermint smell and I appreciate how it “hides” the straight vinegar smell in some of our concoctions.
We have stopped using the Clorox surface wipes and opted for good old soap and water with a washcloth that can be reused for years.
We’ve gone to washable cloths and microfiber sponges to cut out disposable paper in our cleanup routine.
I’ve almost completely stopped using paper products for cleaning. The paper towels are reserved for extra icky things, like when the dog barfs on the floor. Otherwise, it’s old towels and kitchen rags. Now to implement cloth napkins!
I have been using a local cleaning product that is made from plants and it 100% chemical free. I love it. It smells so much better then something like 409 and it cleans my house better too!
I’ve been using Dr. Bronners, and I am obsessed!