DIY detergent, foam soap, sanitizer & bug spray!

I’ve got five DIY household product recipes that will save money and use more natural ingredients! My favorite product on the list is probably the laundry detergent, which for an investment of about $15 yields hundreds of loads at only pennies a piece. Oh, and I love the citrus foaming hand soap as well! Ok, I love them all and hope you will too! And I’ve put them on a handy printable for you. Most of my posts now have a YouTube video as well.

Starting off with my favorite one! I’ve been using this recipe for a year and a half and it saves so much money. It’s great if you have skin sensitivity or fragrance aversion. You could add essential oil, but I like like the subtle clean scent it leaves. No perfume, just fresh.

DIY Laundry Detergent

Mix together and store in air tight container. Use 1 tablespoon per load. Works for HE washers and equals pennies per load.

Homemade foaming hand soap - DIY household product to save money and use natural ingredients

Next on my list to make today is foaming handsoap. Dr. Bronners castile soap makes 18 different products. It’s a good, clean product to have in your arsenal with so many uses. I bought these foaming dispensers made especially for Dr. Bronner’s and they work amazingly well with very little soap. Our family really like citrus with the natural smell of the soap. It’s not a strong smell, but it’s there. The citrus covers it up and leaves your hands smelling lovely!

DIY foaming handsoap

1 part unscented Dr. Bronners soap
3 parts water
7-10 drops of essential oils (Citrus Burst goes well with the natural scent of Dr. Bronners)
Combine in foam dispenser

Homemade disinfectant - DIY household product to save money and use natural ingredients

Next up, disinfectant spray. Have a neighbor kid over whose got a runny nose and touched EVERYTHING? Grab your bottle of this and get rid of germs in bathrooms, on counters, toys and tables. It’s safe with no harmful ingredients. The CDC recommends using 70 percent alcohol to be effective.

Disinfectant –
70 percent alcohol spray

3/4 cups water
1 3/4 cup alcohol (vodka, Everclear or rubbing alcohol)
10 drops antibacterial essential oils such as tea tree, lavender, citrus, eucalyptus, rosemary, peppermint
Mix in spray bottle

When hand sanitizer flew off the shelves in 2020, we resorted to making our own. And we like it better! It doesn’t have any additives, chemicals or obnoxious fragrance — just three ingredients. It doesn’t leave your hands feeling as dry as the store brand either. It’s hard to find a good natural hand sanitizer!

Hand sanitizer

Mix 3 parts isopropyl alcohol to 1 part aloe vera gel
Optional: Add few drops of tea tree and/or germ fighter essential oils

And finally, this is the bug spray we’ve been using for a couple years. And we live in humid south Florida, so we know a thing or two about some mosquitos! I have found this recipe very effective and, again, without all the chemicals and dangerous ingredients. In the photo I have a large bottle, but the recipe below calls for the smaller, 2-ounce bottle. These ingredients will make at least three bottles.

Bug spray

2 oz spray bottle
1 oz of w itch hazel
3-5 drops each of citronella, lemon grass and lavender
Fill the rest up with distilled water

Printable

And here’s the printable to keep handy. You can check out my $5 best-selling Ultimate Clean House Planner for these recipes, plus cleaning schedules and hacks.