The Best Homemade Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners

So you’re in the market for good eco-friendly bathroom cleaners for your dirty bathroom, but you’re not sure which products fit the bill. I’m going to give you all the secrets to making the best homemade eco-friendly bathroom cleaners so you don’t have to use toxic chemicals for ease of use.

eco-friendly bathroom cleaner ingredients, essential oils, fresh lemons squeezed for juice.

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Favorite Ingredients in Homemade Natural Cleaners

You may notice that there are a few common natural ingredients in homemade cleaners, many of which are typical household products you probably have on hand. A few of the ingredients to make your own cleaning supplies may include:

Ingredients for natural eco-friendly bathroom cleaners including fresh squeezed lemon juice, essential oils, baking soda, and white distilled vinegar.
The Best Homemade Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners – The Ingredients are simple, natural, and safe. Essential oils, Baking Soda, White Distilled Vinegar, & Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice.

Why Should You Use Homemade Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners and Not Just Store Bought?

The most obvious reasons are cost-effectiveness and ease of use. Homemade cleaners made with natural products do require an initial investment but have definite long-term cost-effectiveness. However, I understand how busy life is and it definitely feels like a win just to actually have a clean house.

But I have become much more aware of the dangers of these “natural brands” (Mrs. Meyer, Seventh Generation, and even a beloved Grove Collaborative) and have started to avoid them altogether for health reasons.

And in an effort to be more intentional about the household cleaners I use in my own home I have started to be particular about what natural cleaning products I will use.

Here are several other really good reasons to avoid store-bought cleaners.

  • Volatile Organic Compounds
  • Plastic Packaging
  • Artificial Fragrances (synthetic fragrances)
  • Toxic ingredients
  • Harsh chemicals level 1
  • Harmful chemicals level 2
  • Toxic chemicals level 3
Fresh squeezed lemon juice and baking soda in wooden measuring spoons sitting on a wooden cutting board. Ingredients to make natural homemade cleaners.
The Best Homemade Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners – The cleaning power of just vinegar and lemon juice is pretty shocking. I soaked lemon rinds in vinegar for a year and use that cleaner in my home for practically everything it’s so powerful.

What Simple Changes Can I Make Towards a Zero-Waste Lifestyle?

I’m far from perfect when it comes to living a zero waste lifestyle, but I have come leaps and bounds by simply switching out a few things in my cleaning routine.

  1. Plastic bottles to reusable spray bottles. (Amber or Blue Glass for use with Essential Oils, Clear Glass for any others).
  2. Paper Towels to Microfiber Cloths.
  3. Store-bought Cleaners to Homemade Natural Cleaning Products.
  4. Plastic Cleaning Tools to Tools made of Natural Fibers (or of a Biodegradable formula).
  5. Buying in Bulk of individual ingredients. Purchasing in bulk means less packaging.

Free PDF Ebook – “The Best Homemade Bathroom Cleaners: 6 DIY Eco-Friendly Cleaner Recipes”

the best homemade

Bathroom Cleaners E-Book

This printable is for personal use only. However, feel free to share this post with friends and family so they can have these amazing homemade cleaners, too! The download will come with all 6 cleaner recipes sized at 8 1/2″ x 11 “.

These printables are available as a free download in the Wonderland Subscriber Library. By simply entering your email address and subscribing you get full access. Please remember these are for personal use only.

Tools & Supplies – The Best Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products

6 Homemade Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners with Guaranteed Cleaning Power

After a lot of research, I finally have put together 6 natural cleaning products you can make to put conventional cleaners to shame. These all have the added benefit of being made with just a few basic ingredients.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice and wooden measuring spoons with baking soda in the tablespoon.
The Best Homemade Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners – If you haven’t ever used fresh lemon juice or fermented lemon juice (soaked in vinegar for a period of time) then you are definitely missing out on a powerful bathroom cleaner.

01. Heavy-Duty Shower Cleaner

If the bathroom surfaces in your shower are looking a little dingy, especially from hard water, it’s time to break out the heavy-duty shower cleaner.

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp Castile Soap
  • 1 C Distilled White Vinegar
  • 1/2 C Water
  • 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
  • Small Lemon Peel Strips *Optional
  • 16 oz. Glass Spray Bottle

Makes: 16 oz.

Directions

  1. Add the ingredients to your spray bottle, shaking to combine.
  2. Spray the shower surface with the cleaner, allowing it to sit for five to ten minutes.
  3. Wipe down the shower mat, tub, and surrounding area with a sponge or soft bristle brush.
  4. Repeat as needed.

Notes:

  • This simple solution also makes a really great cleaner for yoga mats or similar rubber surfaces like rubber bathroom mats, or the rubber backing on the back of bathroom rugs.
  • If you want to substitute lemon juice for lemon essential oils like tea tree, lemon, eucalyptus, peppermint, etc. be sure to use amber or blue glass spray bottle to keep the potency of the essential oils.
Glass apothecary bottles filled with baking soda and vinegar, essential oils sitting on a cutting board next to fresh lemons in ironstone dishes. Two cut up lemons and squeezed lemon juice on a kitchen towel. Preparing eco-friendly bathroom cleaners.
The Best Homemade Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners – Baking soda, White distilled vinegar, and Essential oils are three absolute essential ingredients when it comes to natural cleaners.

02. Daily Shower Cleaner

To avoid the need for heavy scrubbing it’s best to employ the use of a daily shower cleaner. Plus, it’s super easy to just wipe the entire area down when you’re taking a shower!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 C Rubbing Alcohol
  • 1/2 C Hydrogen Peroxide
  • 1/2 tsp. Castile Soap
  • 2 tsp. White Distilled Vinegar
  • 3 C Water
  • 1 Glass Spray Bottle

Makes: 1 qt.

Directions

  1. Mix all of the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake before each use.
  2. After the last shower of the morning or evening, spray down the shower surfaces.
  3. Wipe down lightly and walk away.
  4. Repeat daily for best results.

Notes:

  • If you mix up an extra bottle of this solution you’ll have a great cleaner for your car windshield.
Lemons in an ironstone bowl, essential oils laying on a kitchen towel, and wooden measuring spoons with baking soda.
The Best Homemade Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners – My bathroom smells heavenly with a fresh batch of cleaner using essential oils. A few of my favorites are tangerine, grapefruit, and orange. Yes, I love the citrus smells.

03. Bathroom All-Purpose Cleaner

I’m a huge fan of all-purpose sprays because they’re kind of like the cleaner to rule them all and get any job done effortlessly.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 tsp. Washing Soda
  • 1 tsp. Borax
  • 1 tsp. Liquid Castile Soap
  • 4 drops Lemon Essential Oil*
  • 10 drops Orange Essential Oil*
  • 4 drops Lavender Essential Oil*
  • 2 C Hot Distilled Water
  • 1 Amber or Blue Glass Spray Bottle

*optional. Feel free to use different amounts or mixes of essential oils. However, these three are specifically chosen for their abilities to clean and disinfect.

Makes: 16 oz.

Directions

  1. Boil your distilled water and add your borax and washing soda. Let them disintegrate.
  2. Let the water mixture cool completely.
  3. Then add all the ingredients to your spray bottle and shake to combine.
  4. Use this cleaner to wipe down the bathtub, shower surround, tile, countertops, and outside or inside the toilet bowl.
  5. Wipe off with a clean microfiber towel.

Notes:

  • Heating the oils may retain the aroma, but the therapeutic value of the essential oil is greatly diminished. So only add them to cool liquids.
  • This cleaner also works well to clean tile floors and wood cabinets (like a bathroom vanity).
A top view of lemons in ironstone, baking soda in a wooden measuring spoon, and baking soda in a glass apothecary jar. To add some fancy there are two brass candlesticks on a cutting board.
The Best Homemade Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners – Borax, Baking Soda, and Hydrogen Peroxide are three natural cleaners that pack a punch. I use them daily in many other ways as well (laundry, etc).

04. Eco-Friendly Toilet Bowl Cleaner

The worst place on earth that most of us will ever clean, especially with boys in the household. It’s always been my least favorite chore. But a great smelling cleaner that won’t kill my brain cells always makes the job easier!

You may think that all toilet cleaners are equal. Coming from the perspective of someone who deals with serious hard water issues I can tell you, they are not. So, any natural bathroom cleaner for the porcelain throne needs to have an extra kick.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 C Borax
  • 1/2 C Baking Soda
  • 1/2 C Hydrogen Peroxide
  • 2 Tbsp. Citric Acid
  • 2 Tbsp. Liquid Castile Soap
  • 15 drops of Essential Oil of choice*

*Optional.

Makes: 16 oz. of a powder cleaner

Directions

  1. Combine all of your ingredients in a bowl first, then transfer to a glass Tupperware container.
  2. Wet the inside of your toilet bowl walls. You could do a quick flush or use your toilet brush to do it.
  3. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. of mixture onto the sides of the toilet bowl and let it sit for 20-30 minutes.
  4. Try to make sure your family members don’t flush the toilet in the meantime!
  5. Scrub the bowl and flush the toilet to rinse.

Notes:

  • For heavy-duty stains spray white distilled vinegar on top.
Natural cleaners can be made of just a handful of common household items like baking soda, vinegar, lemons, borax, castile soap, and even rubbing alcohol. Pictured is vinegar and baking soda in apothecary jars, essnetial oils, fresh squeezed lemons and juice, and two fancy brass candlesticks.
The Best Homemade Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners – A few other favorite essential oils to keep on hand include Clove oil, Tangerine, Cedarwood, Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Lavender, and Tea Tree Oil.

05. Tile Cleaner

I don’t have shower tiles or floor tiles in my bathroom, but there is ceramic tile in my kitchen and dining room so I like to keep this on hand regardless. With five kids in the household, there is always a mess that needs cleaning, even if it’s just soap scum, and this does the job well.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 C White Distilled Vinegar
  • 3/4 C Rubbing Alcohol
  • 1/4 C Hot Distilled Water
  • 1 tsp. of Liquid Castile Soap
  • 1 tsp. Lemon Juice or
  • 10 drops Peppermint Essential Oil* (or another essential oil of choice)
  • 1 Amber or Blue Glass Spray Bottle

Makes: 16 oz.

Directions

  1. Mix the liquid ingredients to your spray bottle excluding the essential oil.
  2. Let the liquid cool before adding the essential oils of your choosing.
  3. Shake to combine.
  4. Use this cleaner to wipe down any tile surface.
  5. Wipe with a clean microfiber towel.

Notes:

  • If you’re wanting to mop a tile bathroom floor spray the floor down with this cleaner and use a microfiber mop head.
How to make homemade eco-friendly bathrom cleaners. When using essential oils you always want to use an amber or blue glass spray bottle, never plastic.
The Best Homemade Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaners – When using essential oils in cleaning products you always want to use amber or blue glass spray bottles, never plastic.

06. Glass Cleaner

I don’t know about your household, but the bathroom mirrors in this household get more toothpaste spittle than I would care to admit. So, I need a good glass cleaner on hand to help fight that battle. However, this would also be great for those of you who have glass shower doors or windows in your bathroom.

Ingredients

  • 1 C Water
  • 1 C Rubbing Alcohol
  • 1 Tbsp White Vinegar
  • 2 Drops Lemon Essential Oil*

*Optional

Makes: 16 oz.

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle.
  2. Spray on windows, glass, or mirrors.
  3. Immediately wipe away with a paper towel or lint-free dry cloth.

Notes: Other great uses include Car windows, Oven Glass, Washer or Dryer Glass, etc.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope these cleaners help you not only clean your bathrooms of all those nasty germs but also give you peace of mind. It’s a great feeling knowing you aren’t harming yourself or your family with toxins!

Sincerely,

Julie

Meet the Author

Hi, I’m Julie! Mother to five beautiful kids, Homeschool Educator, Writer, Handicraft & DIY Enthusiast, Photographer, Thrifter, and Furniture Restorer. Follow along for fun DIY projects creating a handmade home on a budget! Read more about me here→

One Comment

  1. With my wife and one of my kids being severely asthmatic, most cleaners are a big no. This is a helpful way to combat this issue

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