DIY Essential Oil Cleaning Recipes

Make your own clean with these essential oil cleaning recipes.

Essential Oil Cleaning Recipes

I'm going to share one of my favorite recent discoveries: you can make several common household cleaning items yourself!

Okay, you might already know that—or maybe you've even tried it. But there's more to it: not only can you do this, but it's easy, cost-effective, and can even leave you with something better than you'd usually get from the store.

I'm here with a guide for making three common products: a foaming hand soap, multi-purpose cleaning spray, and a pleasant room spray. If you read on, you'll see what materials you need to make these, how to make them, and how to adjust to your preference.

Cleaning Materials

All of the materials you need to make these recipes can be bought online or in a local store.

• Reusable glass bottles - one of the big advantages to making your own products is being able to reuse a bottle. I use both amber and clear glass jars for these.
  • 16 oz spray bottle
  • 4 oz spray bottle
  • 13 oz foaming hand soap bottle
• Castile Soap - You may have heard of Dr. Bronner's, a popular brand, but any liquid form of 100% Castile soap should work for this purposes.
  • I typically use an Unscented / No Fragrance Castile Soap since I add essential oils
• Fractionated Coconut Oil - This is coconut oil processed to remain in liquid form. You can read more about it here. Adds moisturizing elements to soap.
  • I use an organic coconut oil for my soaps
• Vegetable Glycerin - A natural ingredient used to make your soap easy on the skin.
  • A certified organic version is what I use
• Essential Oil - Pick a favorite essential oil for fragrance. I choose oils from brands that are transparent about providing a clean product and use reputable 3rd-party testing.
  • I've been using Rocky Mountain Essential Oils

How do you make cleaning solution with essential oils?

While there are reasons to suggest that certain essential oils can serve a number of therapeutic and even antimicrobial/anti-fungal functions, I like to include them in my homemade cleaning products for the wonderful natural source of fragrance. You can follow the instructions here to make cleaning products which use essential oils and to ensure a proper ratio between ingredients.

How do I make my own multi-purpose house cleaner?

Here's how I make a DIY multi-purpose cleaning spray. In a 16-ounce glass spray bottle, combine ¼-cup liquid Castile soap and 25 drops of an essential oil (or oils) of your choice. Fill the bottle the rest of the way with distilled water.

That's all it takes! You don't have to chant a magic spell or do any gymnastics. It's really just a matter of getting hold of the ingredients and putting them together yourself.

Can I put essential oils in hand soap?

You can definitely include essential oils in a DIY hand soap formula. Depending on the oil you choose, it may add cleaning properties of its own! However, the reason I include them in these recipes is for their fragrance.

Foaming Hand Soap Recipe

Here's my recipe for foaming hand soap:

Foaming Hand Soap (16-ounce bottle)

• 3 oz castille soap
• 1 teaspoon fractionated coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vegetable glycerin 
• 20 drops essential oil (I've been using peppermint)
• 9 oz distilled water (to top of the bottle)

Note: This hand soap recipe can also be used with non-foaming soap dispensers; however, since making it, I've preferred the foaming version, which may be more suitable for Castile soap.

What goes in a room spray?

I use this spray when I'm looking for a burst of fresh scent in a room. Whether it's to overtake foul odors in the bathroom or simply to add some life to the air anywhere else, I love having it a spritz away.

Here's what goes in the room spray:

Room Spray

This recipe is for a 4-ounce bottle:

• 1.5 teaspoon witch hazel - helps the oil & water combine and will help the scent linger for a longer period of time
• 10 drops of essential oil (I like cinnamon!)
• Distilled water 

What are the best essential oils for cleaning?

According to people qualified to speak on such things, tea tree oil has been shown to possess natural antimicrobial qualities, among other positive attributes for cleaning. These homemade products do not rely on the cleaning power of any particular essential oil, using them instead as a natural, clean source of fragrance.

More favorite things

Making my own cleaning products has been one of my favorite things recently. I try to keep track of the things bringing me joy and share them with you, so I hope you enjoy!

This is not a paid review and opinions and experiences expressed in this post are all mine. This post does contain affiliate links. Jordo’s World is a participant in the affiliate advertising programs. If you purchase an item through the link or using the discount codes I will get a small percentage of the sale which goes toward the development I do for this site.