Natural Cleaners in the Home – What We Use

I have way too many little ones in my home to take a chance using super harsh chemicals to clean the house. On the other hand, because there are so many people, we have to clean a LOT to make sure that we don’t pass around germs or attract pests!  I’ve tried many natural cleaners throughout the years, and now there are several cleaning items that are in my regular arsenal.  I’ll share with you what we use, and I’d love to hear what you use!
I was first introduced to natural cleaners back when I was cloth diapering my first child.  I heard about soap nuts, which are gentle on fabric and skin.  I also learned about the wonders of baking soda, vinegar, and oils such as grapeseed oil and tea tree oil.
Vinegar
We use a lot of vinegar to clean around the house.  We just use straight up vinegar to clean in the kitchen and bathrooms.  For our kitchen table, I find straight vinegar to be a bit stripping, so I add olive oil and shake vigorously before spraying the wood.  It sort of stinks, but knowing that it’s absolutely safe for my kids to touch and use as well makes it totally worth it!  The vinegar scent wears off very quickly.
Vinegar is also great for deodorizing things.  Stinky pee-drenched mattress?  Spray some vinegar and let it air out.  It helps break up those stinky pee crystals and freshens it up without spraying your mattresses down with chemicals.  It also makes a great fabric softener.  🙂
Baking Soda
I love baking soda!!  I always keep a box handy, especially for doing dishes.  If you already use baking soda in your refrigerator, keep the old box when you’re swapping them out.  Even if it has been “used” to freshen up the ‘fridge, it’s still great to scrub yucky stuff off of dishes, the inside of the oven, or stubborn stains on a formica counter top.   Baking soda is also great as a toilet cleaner.
The best part about using baking soda as a natural cleaner?  It’s super easy to wash away when you are done.  Just use warm water!

Commercially prepared “natural” Cleaners
We also use a few more mainstream “natural” cleaners.  There are several different brands available now, and they’re generally made using things like vinegar and essential oils.  Our favorite uses mint, so it smells great to use!
Don’t forget the reusable wash rags!
We use washable rags to scrub and clean, as well.  It just wouldn’t feel right to go to all that trouble to use natural products and then throw away paper towels.  We use washcloths, washable cleaning cloths, leftover cloth baby wipes and cloth diaper flats or prefolds from when I cloth diapered my babies.
Since they aren’t soaking in chemicals, I feel fine throwing these rags into any load of laundry I happen to be doing at the time, so they don’t even require any loads of laundry.

What are some natural cleaning solutions that you use?  Do you have a favorite essential oil that you use to help fragrance them?