Easy DIY All-Purpose Cleaner (Without Vinegar)
Everyone needs a go-to all-purpose cleaner recipe, but not everyone is a fan of vinegar. If that’s you, this DIY cleaner is for you!
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Homemade cleaning products are one of my favorite ways to protect myself from unnecessary chemicals. Between the phthalates, synthetic fragrances, and parabens, it’s no wonder everyone’s hormones are out of whack!
Follow along and I’ll show you why you should make your own all-purpose cleaner, how to make your own all-purpose cleaner, and the financial savings you’ll experience by switching to DIY cleaning products.
Are Cleaning Chemicals Really That Bad?
At this point, if you’ve discovered my other natural cleaning posts, I have pretty much exhausted the topic of toxic chemicals and why they should be avoided. However, I will give a brief summary on this topic and link to other posts that contain fuller explanations.
For starters, “chemicals” doesn’t have to be a bad word. There are natural chemicals that are beneficial and natural chemicals that are harmful. There are synthetic chemicals that are beneficial and synthetic chemicals that are harmful. For our purposes here, my focus is on chemicals that are toxic and harmful.
For more information on some common chemicals that I avoid in my cleaning products, please see here:
Due to these chemicals being very hard to avoid in most household cleaners, I have switched to making natural homemade cleaning products. It’s been so long since I’ve walked down the cleaning aisle when I go shopping, I almost miss toxic concoction of extremely unnatural scents… just kidding! 😅
**Disclaimer: if you make your own all-purpose cleaner, you don’t even have to worry about these chemicals at all 😉.
I still cringe when I remember the days of using synthetic fragrance plugins to make my home smell “nice”. Valuable lesson learned that life requires more than just good intentions.
Anyways, I much prefer to neither absorb toxic chemicals through my skin, nor breathe their VOCs in my air (it’s worthwhile to invest in a good air purifier for the things you can’t control). Natural household cleaners are always in use for my daily and weekly cleaning routines.
For more information on natural cleaning, please see here:
Are Homemade Cleaning Products Difficult to Make?
Short answer: 100% NO. Homemade cleaning products, such as this all-purpose cleaner, are one of the easiest things to make when desiring to live a healthy lifestyle.
Getting into the world of sourdough, or fermenting your own vegetables and healthy drinks, may seem intimidating. There is a science behind those processes that requires some specifics in order for your food to turn out well.
On the other hand, homemade cleaners, like this all-purpose cleaner without vinegar, are not difficult at all. You obviously have to have a good ratio of water to cleaner concentrate in order to make sure it gets the job done, but there is a lot of wiggle room. Whether you are using distilled white vinegar, liquid castile soap, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or any other cleaner concentrate you prefer, you can add more or less depending on how strong you want your DIY cleaner to be.
Why Make an All-Purpose Cleaner Without Vinegar?
An all-purpose cleaner is one of the most versatile household cleaners you can make and always have on hand. It can literally be used for almost every cleaning need in your home, especially since this recipe does not use vinegar.
Non-Toxic & Eco-Friendly
As previously mentioned, making your own homemade cleaning products eliminates your exposure to toxic chemicals present in most household cleaners. Not only can these chemicals exert negative consequences for yourself, but they can also be harmful to the environment.
Now before you roll your eyes at the phrase “harmful to the environment”, I concede that there are a lot of odd people with odd ideas in the “eco-friendly” and “green” world. However, I wouldn’t advise letting strange proposals derail a very true and good principle of caring for the earth that we live on.
I’m not sure about you, but I’d rather not live in a toxic dump with polluted water and unique living creatures going extinct. I’d much rather live in a lush and fertile earth filled with beauty and life. I may sound dramatic now, but toxic chemicals truly do exert negative effects on the world we live in.
Castile soap, the cleaning agent in this DIY cleaner, is actually biodegradable, which makes it an excellent choice for cleaning without harming the environment. When paired with a glass spray bottle, you definitely cut down on how much plastic waste is created.
For more information on chemicals that can have a negative impact on the environment, please see here:
Basic Ingredients
This all-purpose cleaner recipe requires only two basic ingredients: water and liquid castile soap. It’s really that simple. I like to use a citrus liquid castile soap because I love the smell while cleaning and citrus is a good degreaser.
For another citrus based DIY cleaner, please see here:
However, you can use unscented castile soap and water, or unscented castile soap, water, and your favorite essential oils. Some essential oils that are great for cleaning are:
For more information on the benefits of cleaning with essential oils, please see here:
No Vinegar Needed
I love distilled white vinegar for cleaning, but there are some limitations on how it can be used for cleaning. Some surfaces that you wouldn’t want to clean with vinegar regularly are:
I honestly don’t follow these rules to a T, but I mention these just as a precaution to be aware of.
Distilled white vinegar should also be avoided when using other cleaning agents such as:
I would argue bleach and ammonia should be avoided no matter what, but with this all-purpose cleaner without vinegar, you don’t have to worry about any bad reactions with other cleaners you may be using.
How to Make an Easy DIY All-Purpose Cleaner (Without Vinegar)
Check out how to make this easy DIY all-purpose cleaner in 5 minutes or less.
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 2 tbsp liquid castile soap
- 15-20 drops essential oil (optional)
Equipment
- 1 16oz glass spray bottle
- 1 funnel
Instructions
Tap/click the images for a description of each step ⬇️
Step 1: To make this all-purpose cleaner, simply pour 2 cups of water into a 16oz glass spray bottle. I use a funnel since the opening of the glass spray bottle is narrow.
Step 2: Next, add 2 tbsp of liquid castile soap. You can use a scented or unscented soap. If you use unscented castile soap, you can either keep your all-purpose cleaner unscented, or add 15-20 drops of your favorite essential oil.
Step 3: Lightly shake to combine and you are ready to begin cleaning!
Tips
- I like to add the water to the spray bottle first, instead of the castile soap, just to prevent the mixture from bubbling over out of the spray bottle.
- In order to prevent essential oils from degrading, it is recommended to use amber glass spray bottles.
- This DIY all-purpose cleaner can clean windows and glass if they are dirty. However, if you want a streak-free shine, I would recommend using an all-purpose cleaner with vinegar instead.
- I wouldn’t use more than 2 tbsp of liquid castile soap for this DIY cleaner. If you use too much, you’ll leave soap residue on the surfaces you are cleaning, which will make things look dull.
- If you make several DIY cleaners at once, be sure to label all of your bottles so you know what’s what!
Ways to Use
All-purpose cleaners have such a vast array of uses, especially when you don’t use distilled white vinegar in them. Here is just a handful of ways this homemade cleaning product can be used:
Cost-Benefit Analysis
As usual, I love to see a good cost-benefit analysis to remind myself of why I do what I do. This cost-benefit analysis for my DIY all-purpose cleaner will be a little bit more involved, because I am going to be comparing it against two different cleaning concentrates.
I have mentioned the Branch Basics Concentrate in another natural cleaning post of mine, and I will be comparing that cleaner concentrate along with another cleaner concentrate I recently came across from the brand Better Than Clean.
As of February 2026 in Tennessee:
DIY All-Purpose Cleaner Without Vinegar
2 cups water
- FREE
2 tbsp Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap
- $32.49 for 32oz bottle + 32oz refill
- 64 fl oz = 128 tbsp
- 128 tbsp % 2 tbsp = 64 tbsp
- $32.49 % 64 tbsp = $0.51
- 2 tbsp of liquid castile soap = $0.51
Total Per 16 oz Bottle: $0.51
- Yield: 64 uses
Branch Basics The Concentrate (find here)
- $55.00 for 33.08oz
- $55.00 % 16* = $3.44
*According to the Branch Basics website, “If you want to use one bottle of Concentrate for only one solution, here is the breakdown for each bottle.
- 16 All Purpose Bottles
- 240 Streak Free
- 10 Bathroom Bottles
- 16 Foaming Hand Wash Bottle
- 192 Laundry Loads”
(source)
Total Per 16 oz Bottle: $3.44
- Yield: 16 uses
Better Than Clean All Purpose Cleaner Concentrate (find here)
- $19.99 for 8oz
- $19.99 % 4* = $5.00
*According to Better Than Clean, 1 8oz bottle will make 4 bottles of all-purpose cleaner.
Total Per 16 oz Bottle: $5.00
- Yield: 4 uses
Not that I like to toot my own horn or anything 😜, BUT my DIY all-purpose cleaner is remarkably less expensive per bottle than both the Branch Basics Concentrate and the Better Than Clean Concentrate.
Additionally, 1 bottle of Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap will produce 64 16oz bottles of all-purpose cleaner, 1 bottle of Branch Basics Concentrate will produce 16 16oz bottles of all-purpose cleaner, and 1 bottle of Better Than Clean Concentrate will produce 4 16oz bottles of all-purpose cleaner. What this means is, if I continue to use Dr. Bronner’s as opposed to these other concentrates, I will be using fewer plastic bottles.
Overall winner! 🙌
FAQs
Related Posts
This DIY all-purpose cleaner will be a hit with anyone desiring to save money while reducing toxin exposure and plastic waste 😊.
All-Purpose Cleaner Without Vinegar
Equipment
- 1 16oz glass spray bottle
- 1 funnel
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 2 tbsp liquid castile soap
- 15-20 drops essential oil (optional)
Instructions
- Using a funnel, pour 2 cups of water into a 16oz glass spray bottle.
- Add 2 tbsp liquid castile soap.
- Add 15-20 drops of essential oil if desired.
- Lightly shake to combine.
Notes
- I like to add the water to the spray bottle first, instead of the castile soap, just to prevent the mixture from bubbling over out of the spray bottle.
- In order to prevent essential oils from degrading, it is recommended to use amber glass spray bottles.
- This DIY all-purpose cleaner can clean windows and glass if they are dirty. However, if you want a streak-free shine, I would recommend using an all-purpose cleaner with vinegar instead.
- I wouldn’t use more than 2 tbsp of liquid castile soap for this DIY cleaner. If you use too much, you’ll leave soap residue on the surfaces you are cleaning, which will make things look dull.
- If you make several DIY cleaners at once, be sure to label all of your bottles so you know what’s what!
This is a personal blog. All posts, recipes, recommendations, and how-tos are for informational use and personal viewing pleasure only. Blog posts are not written by AI.
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