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.
I’ve been using white vinegar with tea tree oil in my kitchen for some time now. The tea tree oil helps cut the sharpness of the vinegar.
I have been using white vinegar and water to clean my tile and hardwood floors for years. It always leaves a beautiful shine.
I use rags and towels whenever possible instead of paper towels. I also switched to using a less toxic cleaner for the kitchen counters. I didn’t like reading that I couldn’t use the counters for food prep after some of the chemicals that I had been using.
I’ve been using diluted white vinegar or citrus infused vinegar for a surface cleaner for years now. I love the club soda idea! Stainless steel and black appliances show streaks so easily! I’d love to have a bottle that didn’t obviously come from the hardware store and that isn’t labeled in permanent marker too!
I’ve purchased non-toxic cleaners. I have my doubts about whether they clean as well, but I’ll keep trying because, after all, we still have only the one planet.
I am impressed by how much cleaning can be done with just a water-damp cloth. I also use a hand-held steam cleaner with a brush head.
I have switched to “green soap” for my dishes and love it much more. I am now using method spray cleaner for the tougher things to clean that I can fix with dish soap and elbow grease. My Grandmother’s favorite clear!
I made wool dryer balls to use instead of dryer sheets. I also use vinegar to clean my floor with old towels on my Swifter instead of the Swifter sheets which would leave my floor streaky.
I try to avoid using paper towels. I use microfiber clothes and make my own cleaning products.
I switched to dryer balls plus essential oils instead of dryer sheets, and we also use all cloth in the kitchen for cleaning and wiping up spills!
I also keep little spray bottles around the house, one for vinegar and one for lemon juice. I recently had to purchase another one because my husband appropriated the vinegar one for misting ribs on the smoker.
I have been starting to use organic cleaning products or homemade ones – my house smells like vinegar for hours after mopping the floor!
The club soda is an interesting tip; I’ve mostly just used vinegar water and rags (no paper towels for years!).
I don’t use anything that has a chemical smell.
I use microfiber towels instead of paper towels.
I make my own yoga mat cleaner and three-ingredient laundry detergent!
I keep cleaning supplies in each room, so that it’s easy to do quick touch ups also, ie: bathroom glass cleaner for the mirrors,Clorox for the toilet, and a sponge for the counters.
We try not to buy any cleaning supplies – sticking with mostly the vinegar/Borax/baking soda combos
I use diluted vinegar for most cleaning and stopped buying paper towels years ago.
I make our house cleaners from some recipe books, and have also tried my hand at homemade laundry detergent. Now I find using the soap nuts, which are great!
We mainly use vinegar, Borax and baking soda for most cleaning and use rags vs paper towels
I use baking soda for an all purpose scrub – great on my enamel sink!
For years I have been several “Make My Own” remedies. The longest running one was a safe deterrent to get rid of ants that would not harm my children and pets: baking soda and a little sugar for out door use to kill weeds Is a gallon jar of clear vinegar with equal amounts of table-salt and Dawn liquid dish-washing liquid. I spray this along on cracks along the sidewalk, driveway, and my stone pathway too. It kills the weeds and will not harm my pets. So many of the weed-killers could even kill your pets or make them quite ill. There are so many wonderful organic ingredients that are available now to help out with cleaners today. What a blessing.
Most cleaners with chemicals really mess with my allergies so most of the time i just use a water dampened cloth to wipe down furniture and window sills. Especially now that it’s pollen season.
I love to include essential oils in my cleaning process. More natural and great smelling!
I use a lot of vinegar, to clean windows, produce, even laundry.
I use vinegar and castille soap for some things but I’d love to find a better way to completely give up some of the chemicals. This kit sounds like just the thing 🙂
I’ve tried to eliminate paper towel use as much as possible. I maybe go through a roll every 2-3 months or so now that I use old towels and rags for cleaning everything.
I fill spray bottles with vinegar that was infused with grapefruit peels.
I use baking soda & vinegar for cleaning most things. Peroxide & baking soda for drains. Make my own laundry soap. Vinegar as a laundry rinse. Clothes smell clean, not like perfume and they are very soft and towels will absorb the water when you dry off. Crumpled newspapers along with diluted vinegar make great window cleaners, streak-free. Sounds crazy, but it works. I was a non-believer, until I tried it on store front, plate glass windows, 30 years ago. Husband is allergic to most chemicals, so I have been going down the less-toxic, less-expensive road for years.
I currently have a gallon jar full of vinegar and lemon peels brewing on my counter top to make lemon oil cleaner. This is my first try for this but I can’t wait to use it. The vinegar is taking on a yellow hue and already smells more lemony than vinegary.
I’d love to try out this kit of home made cleaning supplies.
I make sure I have great smelling, non-toxic cleaning products at hand so I can deal with the issue immediately, with the appropriate product. Quick and easy.
We’ve purchased organic cleaners. I’d make my own but we’ve been using the same bottle of general all-purpose cleaner for years. I love that they last so much longer.
I have started making some of my own cleaners (different recipe — this one might be better) that I can use on almost everything so I don’t have to lug around a lot of different ones. I also went to Home Depot and bought a tool bag with lots of pockets and I keep everything in there so I have one thing to carry no matter what or where I want to clean.
We have a bunch of cheap washcloths that we use for our cleaning rather than paper towels or sponges.
Would so love to make my own cleaners. Love Vinegar but would love to expand on that.
Thanks a bunch.
I use vinegar in a spray bottle to clean my countertops and wipe down other surfaces. So use it to clean my fruits and vegetables.
Baking soda for sinks and pots. Plain water and microfiber cloth for mirrors.
We use lots of flannel squares (must be 25 years old by now) for quick cleanups with spray vinegar (agreeing with you on the smell factor).
I use baking soda and diluted vinegar for most of my household cleaning. I also sprinkle a bit of baking soda on our dogs beds and using it when washing their blankets and dog bed covers.
My cleaning shelves are down to almost nothing but Dr. Bronner’s peppermint Castile, soap, baking soda, Dawn, Table Salt and essential lemon and lavendar oils. One of my favorite concoctions is a combo of baking soda, table salt and lavendar oil in a repurposed seasoning jar. I use this to clean kitchen and bathroom sinks and the toilet.
Mark me down as another one with a huge jug of vinegar under my sink. Use it for pretty much everything!
Replaced paper towels with washable cloths – and compost the paper towels we do use (as long as they wiped up something compostable). This is a neat-looking kit!
baking soda is my power house scrubber on pots and pans. I love it for cleaning faucets too!
Added a metal mesh square to my kitchen sink area instead of disposable soap filled metal scrubs. They work great on ceramic, glass and cast iron.
Like so many others, I try to buy products designed to have minimal environmental impact, other than getting my house clean. And use rags rather than paper towels.
I use baking soda and vinegar to clean a ton of things around the house. SO much better than the commercial junk.
Years ago I read Organic Housekeeping and started using vinegar to clean most everything. Would love to add essential oils.
I have switched to using vinegar with different essential oils for cleaning. Going to remember about the club soda!
We are in the process of switching over all of our home cleaners to non-toxic, homemade ones. We love the way that the essential oils, vinegar, and baking soda make our home smell so clean and green!