Glass

While an all-purpose cleaner can be used to clean glass, it won’t perform as well as a dedicated glass cleaner. When it comes to wiping down mirrors, windows, and other glass surfaces, a glass cleaner does a better job of dissolving oil and grease without creating streaks. No matter what type of cleaner you choose, it’s best to clean glass surfaces using a lint-free cloth rather than paper towels to avoid leaving any residue behind.

Unsealed Surfaces

Unsealed concrete and stone are porous, which means they can be difficult to clean and can be damaged if they come into contact with the wrong substances. Generally speaking, unfinished surfaces can be wiped down with a damp microfiber cloth, but it’s probably best to check the manufacturer’s instructions to prevent staining or discoloration.

Carpets and Upholstery

All-purpose cleaners are designed for use on hard surfaces and aren’t formulated for cleaning fabrics like carpets, rugs, curtains, or upholstery. This is one area where purchasing a reliable single-use cleaner is preferable to using a DIY recipe. Because fabrics can stain easily, they should be cleaned only with products that are specified on the care label. It’s important to note that some fabrics require water-based solutions, while others must be treated only with dry-cleaning solvents.

Washing toys in warm water

Anyone who has kids knows that pretty much anything they come into contact with requires frequent cleaning—including their toys. Because children have a tendency to put things in their mouths, however, it’s not prudent to use an all-purpose cleaner on their toys, especially small toys that are tempting to chew on. The chemicals in cleaning agents can be dangerous if ingested and may have adverse effects even in small quantities. Instead, wipe down toys with warm water, or clean non-electronic plastic toys in the top rack of the dishwasher.

Marble Surfaces

Marble countertops lend an elegant, upscale look to any kitchen or bathroom, but they can be a pain to clean. Because marble is made up largely of calcium carbonate, it doesn’t pair well with acidic substances, which can corrode its surface. Unfortunately, many all-purpose cleaners contain vinegar or lemon juice, acids that can cause lasting damage to marble surfaces. Instead, use a product designed for cleaning stone, or try a DIY solution made up of water and a mild, non-acidic soap.

Wood Furniture

Because wood furniture may be unsealed, it’s best to avoid all-purpose cleaners, which are often filled with relatively harsh cleaning agents. Unless you know what your wood furniture is sealed with, clean it with the gentlest solution possible to avoid staining and other damage. Ideally, just use a little bit of water, or purchase a dedicated wood cleaner to do the job.

Surfaces That Need to Be Disinfected

While all-purpose cleaners do a great job of wiping up spills and getting rid of grime, they typically don’t include disinfecting agents. A proper disinfectant is necessary when you’re trying to rid your home of germs that could potentially make you and your family sick. Use a disinfectant to clean high-touch surfaces like light switches and doorknobs as well as kitchen and bathroom surfaces that may be harboring bacteria.

Stains

All-purpose cleaners are designed for maintenance cleaning, not stain removal. Whether you’re dealing with a hard or soft surface, a specially formulated stain remover is the best tool to get the job done. The process for removing stains varies depending on the surface in question and the product you choose, with unique solutions available for concrete, wood, laundry, and mattresses.

Pet Bowls

If it’s not safe for you to consume, it’s probably not safe for your pets either. Dog and cat bowls need to be washed regularly but should not be cleaned with an all-purpose cleaner, which may contain harmful chemicals. Wash your pets’ bowls just as you would any other dishware: by hand with dish soap and warm water, or in the dishwasher if they’re made from dishwasher-safe materials.

Shower and Tub

Because of the limescale and mildew that can build up in the bathtub and shower, these surfaces require stronger, more abrasive cleaners. Bathroom cleansers are generally made to be compatible with tile, stone, porcelain, and ceramic, and contain active ingredients that work to eliminate soap scum and mold.

Safe Toilet Bowl Cleaner

Some people call these fizzy toilet bombs. They do look like bath bombs. But I like to use the term toilet bowl cleaner tablets, even though these are round. Both terms are used for the same natural cleaning products.

Most toilet bowl cleaners are full of toxic chemicals and ingredients that aren’t safe. But you DON’T need chemicals to effectively clean your toilets.

In fact, you can use vinegar to clean a toilet bowl very well. But if you want a more hands-off cleaning routine (and who doesn’t?), these fizzy toilet bowl cleaner tablets are a beautiful and easy way to clean the toilet.

How to Make Fizzy Toilet Bowl Cleaner Tablets

There are many different ways to customize your homemade toilet bowl cleaner tablets. While the basic ingredients are the same, you can customize these toilet bowl fizzies with your choice of colors and scents.

Adding Color to Toilet Bowl Cleaner Tablets

When my nephew was potty training, I was helping him in the bathroom at home. He started getting upset that the toilet bowl water wasn’t blue. I had an idea that he had been in a store with those automatic toilet bowl cleaners that make the toilet water bright blue with each flush.

He wanted to make the water in the toilet turn blue. But there was no way I would allow a chemical-laden cleaner into the bathroom. This is why these blue toilet bowl bombs work great! They turn the water the same color blue, but without any of the chemicals!

You can use natural mica colors to make beautiful toilet cleaner tablets. Or leave them white. It’s really up to you.

Some people like to store these on a countertop, so you’d want to have a color that blends with your decor.

But if you store your homemade toilet cleaner tablets in a closet or under the sink, you might not want to invest money in natural coloring. That’s fine. The coloring adds nothing to the cleaning abilities of the rest of the toilet cleaner fizzies ingredients.

Adding Fragrances to Toilet Bowl Cleaner Tablets

Everyone likes a different fragrance in their cleaning products. Or maybe no fragrance at all.

That’s the beauty of making your own green cleaners. You can choose a scent that you like without having to settle for something a company is selling you.

Use essential oils to add aromatherapy to your cleaning routine. This toilet bowl cleaner tablets recipe is for Peppermint essential oils. But you could just as easily use any scent, including:

• Pine
• Lemon
• Tea Tree
• Lavender

Why Do These Toilet Bowl Cleaners Fizz?

Not only is it fun to watch these toilet bowl cleaners fizz (am I the only one that thinks it’s interesting?), but that fizzing action is what cleans your toilet bowl.

When citric acid and baking soda react with water, the ingredients start to bubble and fizz. They’re all completely natural ingredients, but it’s the process of combining them that makes the fizzing action. And that fizzing action works to clean the toilet bowl from germs and debris.

Do I Need to Use a Toilet Brush Too?

These homemade natural toilet bowl cleaner tablets are easy to use because you just drop them in! That’s it! This is why people that don’t enjoy cleaning (like me) love these natural options.

However, it doesn’t mean that you can throw out your toilet brush just yet!

When you first start using these fizzy toilet bowl cleaner tablets, you might want to give your toilet bowl a good scrub after they fizz in the water for a few minutes. That’s just to get off dirt and debris. You’ll want to start with a clean toilet bowl before starting this natural cleaning routine.

After you’ve scrubbed your toilet bowl (just dip the toilet brush in the fizzy water and scrub the bowl), you can take a break from scrubbing your toilet.

Use a fizzy toilet cleaner tablet every 10 flushes or so (depending on how nasty your toilet situation might be in-between).

Every now and then, you might want to pick up that toilet brush and give your toilet bowl a quick scrub.

Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner Tablets

Here are the instructions on how to make safe, homemade toilet bowl cleaner tablets using natural ingredients.

Materials:

• 1 cup Baking soda
• ½ cup Citric acid
• 1 tbsp. Hydrogen peroxide
• ½ tsp. Vinegar (Here’s the best kinds of vinegar to clean with.)
• Eyedropper
• 20 drops peppermint essential oil
• Blue mica natural mineral powder (optional)
• Popsicle stick
• Spoon
• Mixing bowl
• Small bath bomb mold or other molds like an ice cube tray

Instructions:

• Pour 1 cup of baking soda into a mixing bowl.
• Add in ½ cup of citric acid.
• In a separate small bowl or cup, mix together ½ teaspoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide, and set it aside.
• To the mixing bowl, add in a few scoops of blue mica natural mineral powder to color your mixture if desired. These are all-natural mineral powders made to color bath bombs. Mix thoroughly with a spoon to distribute the color evenly.
• Blue powder in a bowl with a wooden spoon

• Slowly drop 20 drops of peppermint essential oil along the top of the baking soda mixture. Do not pour all 20 drops in at once, do them one at a time and distribute them throughout the surface of the mixture. If you place too much liquid in the mixture at one time, you risk setting off the chemical reaction that causes the toilet cleaning fizzies to fizz when placed into the toilet bowl.
• Stir the essential oil in completely, making sure to break up any clumps.
• Next, drop the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide mixture into the bowl with the eyedropper, one drop at a time. You likely will not need to use the entire mixture. After you have a layer of dots added, stir the mixture well.

• Mixing it with your hands is best, to make sure you are breaking up the clumps. Again, you do not want to add too much liquid at one time, or you will start the chemical reaction.
  blue powder in a bowl with liquid droplets on top of toilet bowl cleaner tablet mixture
• Once the mixture has the consistency of damp sand and stays in a loose clump when you squeeze it, then it is ready. If you accidentally make the mixture too wet, you can add in some more baking soda/citric acid mixture.

• Press the mixture into your molds tightly, and allow them to dry overnight. The next day, dump out the molds and store your cleaners in an airtight container until ready to use.

To use, drop a toilet cleaning fizzy into the toilet after use, or when it needs a quick cleaning. Let it sit for several minutes and then flush, or use the toilet brush for additional cleaning power.

A quick primer on soapmaking

At its core, soapmaking involves combining vegetable or animal fats with a strong alkaline, typically lye. The process, called saponification, is the chemical reaction between these two elements.

For the novice soapmaker, the “melt and pour” process is the easiest place to begin. Using a premade soap base, all you need to do is melt it down on the stove or in the microwave, then stir in fragrances, color, minerals, herbs, and whatever other ingredients your heart desires. Pour it into molds and let it cool for a few hours. Once it has hardened fully, it’s ready to be used.

More advanced soapmaking involves the traditional “cold process”. It requires the mixing of oils with a base solution, such as lye. Since lye is caustic and will burn your skin on contact, it’s important to follow these safety procedures before you begin. The upside of cold processed soap is you have more control over the ingredients you use and the soap will last much longer than melt and pour soaps. For the firmest bars, you’ll need to wait 4 to 6 weeks to allow the soap to fully cure.

What you’ll need:

Depending on the soapmaking process you choose, you should have these basic ingredients and tools on hand:

• Kitchen scale for accurate measurements
• Stainless steel mixing bowls, dedicated to soapmaking only
• Stainless steel measuring spoons
• Silicone molds
• Additives like essential oils, dried herbs, vegetable oils, and natural colorants like these.
• Soap base for the “melt and pour” method – goat’s milk, shea butter, or glycerin.
• Alkaline for “cold process” – lye or wood ash.
• Quick read thermometer

1. Milk and honey soap

A quick DIY, this 10-minute melt and pour recipe incorporates the anti-aging, acne-fighting, clarifying, and moisturizing properties of raw organic honey with the skin-soothing benefits of goat milk – no lye needed.

Get the recipe from Happiness is Homemade.

2. Tea tree and charcoal facial soap

Formulated for combination to oily skin types, this sleek and sexy black bar of soap contains the healing attributes of tea tree oil along with the detoxifying effects of activated charcoal. And the selection of skin-friendly oils like castor, coconut, palm, olive, and tamanu oils, ensures it’s also deeply hydrating.

See how it’s done at Soap Queen.

3. Pure coconut oil soap

Requiring only four ingredients – coconut oil, water, lye, and your choice of essential oils – this basic soap is naturally moisturizing and cleansing. Using the wondrous process of “superfatting”, more coconut oil is added than the lye can convert to soap, creating a bar that is extra fatty and therefore moisturizing. This recipe can also be easily adjusted to make laundry soap as well.

Get the full instructions at Mommypotamus.

4. Aloe vera soap

With the ability to soothe sunburns, heal wounds, treat acne, moisturize, and defy the outward signs of aging, aloe vera is truly an amazing specimen and the perfect candidate for soapmaking. Harvest the gel from your own plant (or purchase organic aloe vera gel) and combine it with coconut oil, shea butter, olive oil, lye, and lard to make this super nourishing soap.

See how it’s done at Mother Earth News.

5. Lavender oatmeal soap

A cure for dry, itching, and otherwise sensitive skin, this soap recipe combines the awesome powers of lavender with the reparative qualities of oatmeal. To make it, you’ll need a goat’s milk soap base, quick-cook oats, dried lavender flowers, and lavender essential oil.

Get the full instructions at Beauty Crafter.

6. Yogurt and banana soap

With the core ingredients of banana powder, flaxseed oil, and powdered yogurt, this body bar is rife with potassium, vitamins A, E, and B6, essential fats, and lactic acid. An excellent cure for dry skin, it also contains coconut oil, castor oil, babassu oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, and olive oil.

Get the recipe from Soap Deli News.

7. Pink Himalayan salt grapefruit

And in yet another way to put Himalayan salt to good use, this soap recipe calls for just three ingredients: pink Himalayan salt, goat milk soap base, and grapefruit essential oil.

See the recipe at a Pumpkin & a Princess.

8. Poppyseed soap

A poppy seed soap two ways! The lemon poppy seed version is a fantastic kitchen soap that will swiftly remove the odor of garlic and onion from the hands, while the almond poppy seed soap is akin to a lotion bar. Both are excellent exfoliants thanks to the poppy seeds.

Get the recipes at Gluesticks.

9. Hemp and shea soap

Hemp oil is rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, both of which are critical components for healthy skin. This soap recipe incorporates plenty of fats (shea butter, lard, coconut oil, castor oil, olive oil, and hemp seed oil) along with a goodly amount of white kaolin clay to make it extra creamy and sudsy. Top with hemp hearts for the full decorative effect.

Find the full instructions at Humblebee & Me.

10. Coffee soap

With an intoxicating aroma, this coffee soap is a melt and pour recipe. Using a goat’s milk base along with almond oil for conditioning, fresh coffee grounds for exfoliation, and your choice of fragrance (coffee cake or vanilla are both good picks), this one will surely perk you up in the morning.

Get the recipe from Imperfectly Happy.

11. Calendula soap

Rich in antioxidants, the calendula plant has been used for centuries to heal, hydrate, and protect the skin. An excellent choice as an ingredient for homemade soap, this cold process recipe uses dried calendula petals (harvested from the plant or purchased here) infused in coconut, olive, and rice bran oil.

See how it’s done at Slow Living Essentials.

12. Soap scrap soap

A pennywise way to use up those bits of soap toward the end of the bar, all you need to do is save them up, chop or grate them, toss them into a pot of water, and set to a gentle boil. Once it’s nice and hot, pour into greased molds to cool. And voila, a brand new bar of soap!

Extreme Cleaning
When professional cleaners say extreme cleaning, they mean extreme cleaning. Think of natural disasters and removing debris and traces from a flood or a fire.

The experts from Top Cleaners add that “basically, house cleaners are allowed to deal with standard stains and issues. Therefore, if you are looking for a specific service, like extreme cleaning, you can’t expect that your regular domestic cleaners can perform it.” Natural disasters can happen at any time, but thankfully there are good people in the world who can help.

Acknowledging Strengths

Professional house cleaners are professionals for a reason. However, when it comes to certain items, it might be best to leave it to, well, other professionals who are adept in their respective fields.

“We focus on what we are really good at doing — house cleaning,” says Silva-Nash. “We focus on the baseboards, blinds, ceiling fans (with an extendable high duster), making beds, taking the trash out, and leaving the bathrooms and kitchen sparkling! We are the pros at that – and we recognize when something isn’t our strength and we should leave it to the professionals in those fields.”

High, Hard-to-Reach Areas

If you think hiring professional cleaners to clean areas that you can’t reach like chandeliers, tops of cabinets and high windows is a good solution, you might need to rethink that plan.

“We will do as far as we can with a two-step stool like most professional house cleaners, however our insurance does limit us to that tool,” says Silva-Nash. “Our teams are not trained to deal with larger ladders and does restrict our movement.”

Antiques and Specialty Items

Would you trust the professionals to clean the antique couch you inherited from your grandparents, or would you rather learn how to clean it yourself? Janus tells her employees not to clean antiques, specialty items, jewelry or anything breakable.

“Most of those things require training, special equipment/tools, and run a high likelihood of damage,” she says. “Items like those things are best left to cleaning services that specialize in cleaning and restoration of those items.”