Learn how to make your own homemade floor cleaner using two simple ingredients. This is the best smelling homemade floor cleaner I’ve tried, and it can be used on many types of flooring; including wood, tile, and vinyl.
Last week, I revealed our laundry room makeover, and while it looks pretty amazing at the moment, there were some dirty jobs that had to be completed… like washing the floor under the washing machine. So gross! Let me show you a picture of what our vinyl floor looked like… but prepare yourself. It is not pretty…
I decided to try a new recipe this time around… mainly because I had bought a bottle of Sal Suds to make my own dish soap, and wanted to try it out in other areas of my house.
What You Need To Make Homemade Floor Cleaner
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Ingredients Needed for DIY Floor Cleaner
- Sal Suds– Sal Suds is a natural detergent (not soap) that works as a powerful cleaner. I love this stuff because it receives an A rating from the EWG and a little goes a long way.
- Essential Oils (Optional)- I use both Pine & Lemon essential oils in this recipe. Essential oils play two roles in this floor cleaner recipe: 1.) They make the best smelling homemade floor cleaner and 2.) They enhance the cleaning power. Lemon essential oil is a natural degreaser and Pine Essential Oil has antimicrobial components (Source). Not sure where to buy essential oils? Check out this post.
Supplies Needed to Clean Tile, Wood, & Vinyl Floors
- Small Glass or Ceramic Bowl
- Sponge or Mop
- Cleaning Bucket
How To Make DIY Floor Cleaner
I made a 1 gallon (diluted) solution of floor cleaner, however, you can adjust the amounts based on how much you are making.
Start by adding 1/2 teaspoon Sal Suds to a small bowl. (You truly don’t need much.)
This next step is completely optional, however, I love adding essential oils to my cleaning products for a little extra cleaning power. Sal Suds already has Fir and Spruce essential oils in it, so I enhanced it with few drops of Pine and Lemon (3 drops of each). Give this a little stir. You will notice the consistency of the Sal Suds change as you stir. This is normal.
You can now fill your cleaning bucket with warm water. I added about 1/2 gallon of water and then poured the Sal Suds/essential oil mixture in as I added the last 1/2 gallon. Make sure to rinse the bowl as you fill the bucket in order to get all the floor cleaning solution in the bucket.
How to Use Homemade Floor Cleaning Solution
Prior to using any cleaning product, it is highly recommended that you test the solution on a small area to make sure there is no undesired change to your finish. For more, please see our disclaimer statement.
For best results, sweep the floor prior to using the floor cleaner. This helps reduce the amount of dust, hair (and whatever else) may be on your floors. (Unfortunately the floor under my washer was already a little wet from a washer leak, so I couldn’t effectively do this step.) If you want to go one step further, use a microfiber mop to pick up fine dust that a regular broom won’t get.
When ready, grab a mop or sponge and start cleaning. I actually found this solution to work with hardly any effort at all.
Cleaning Tip!– Always start cleaning in the area furthest from the door. This allows you to exit without having to walk on the freshly cleaned (wet) floors.
Ready to see the results… achieved in about 2 minutes?!
This homemade floor cleaner is not only incredibly easy to make, it works so well!
If you are cleaning tile floors, I highly suggest trying our DIY Grout Cleaner… the results are incredible!
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Common Questions About Homemade Floor Cleaner
Is this floor cleaner recipe safe for use on all floors?
I have not tested this recipe on wood, laminate, nor stone floors, however, according to Lisa Bronner (part of the family that creates Dr. Bronner products, which includes Sal Suds), this recipe would be safe for use on all flooring types. As always, I recommend testing a small area to make sure the cleaning solution does not harm the floor in any way. The article referenced above specifically mentions using Sal Suds on wood, laminate and stone.
Is this Homemade Floor Cleaner Safe to Use Around Pets?
As a dog owner, I know the safety of our pets is extremely important, and we’d never want to use a product that could potentially cause them harm. The concern with pets (particularly cats) is that they could ingest the essential oils, or absorb them through their skin. While I have always felt comfortable using this floor cleaner in my home (as the essential oils are quite diluted in the solution), you may want to use extra caution; particularly if you have cats. An alternative would be to use unscented Castile Soap instead of Sal Suds. If you choose to go this route, you would add 2 Tablespoons of the Castile Soap to 1 gallon of water (instead of the 1/2 teaspoon of Sal Suds). You can then omit the addition of essential oils, or add essential oils that are safe to use around your pet. No matter what you decide, do not allow your pet in the room while you are cleaning and do not let them enter again until the floor has completely dried.
Can I Use Castile Soap Instead of Sal Suds in this Floor Cleaner Solution?
Before I answer this question, let me explain the difference between these two products. Castile Soap is a soap (surprise!) and Sal Suds is a detergent. I have always used Castile Soap for personal care products (like my foaming hand soap recipe) and Sal Suds for cleaning. The issue with Castile Soap is that you cannot add vinegar to it or it curdles. Many cleaning recipes use vinegar, so I avoid using Castile Soap. However, because this homemade floor cleaner is made without vinegar, you could use 2 Tablespoons of Castile Soap as a replacement for the Sal Suds. The other potential downfall of using soap (vs. detergent) is the potential of soap residue. When using Sal Suds, I have never had an issue with residue, however, using soap may yield a different result.
Can I Add Vinegar to This DIY Floor Cleaner Recipe?
I love using vinegar to clean my home! I have found this homemade floor cleaner recipe to be very effective without adding vinegar, but you certainly can add vinegar if you’d like. The great thing about Sal Suds is that is it a detergent (as mentioned above) so it doesn’t curdle with the addition of vinegar (like Castile Soap would). A word of caution: Do not add vinegar if you are using this solution on natural stone as the acidity of vinegar can etch stone.
Homemade Floor Cleaner
Ingredients
- 1/2 Teaspoon Sal Suds
- 3 Drops Pine Essential Oil (Optional)
- 3 Drops Lemon Essential Oil (Optional)
- 1 Gallon Water
Supplies
- Small Glass or Ceramic Bowl
- Cleaning Bucket
- Mop or Sponge
Instructions
- In a small glass (or ceramic) bowl, mix Sal Suds and essential oils (if using)
- Add approximately 1/2 gallon of water to a cleaning bucket, then pour in the Sal Suds/essential oil mixture. Continue filling the bucket with water to make one gallon. (Make sure to rinse the bowl into the bucket so you have all the solution.)
- To use, simply soak a sponge or mop in the solution and scrub floors.
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There are very great tips. Thank you for the post.
Great solution. It seems to work great. Based on a suggestion from my scientist wife, it could be made even better by removing the baking soda, and adding a disinfectant like isopropyl alcohol. The vinegar and baking soda in your solution would combine to form CO2 and water and a salt, sodium acetate. After the reaction is done, there isn’t much left of the good cleaning properties of the vinegar or baking soda.
Hi thank you so much for this solution.
If we don’t have dawn dish liquid can we use like any other dish soap(eg- Ajax)
Your reply is much appreciated.
Thank you!!
Yes. You can use any dish soap you happen to have 🙂
I just mopped my kitchen and bathroom floors & I have the cleanest floors now. I did make one addition. I added some thieves essential oil to disinfect and add scent.
I think I will use this formula to clean my wood floors minus one ingredient:and exchanging another: I will omit the baking soda and exchange the Dawn for castile soap.
I created this recipe before I had ever tried essential oils. Now that I have them, I’ve been working on incorporating them into my cleaning recipes (and updating my posts as I do). I just got a bottle of Pine, and I’m going to try that in this recipe next time, but Thieves is a winner any time! Glad to hear it worked well for you!
I tried this today and my floor looks cloudy. Am I supposed to rinse with clear water? Perhaps my floors are just too old.
Hi Christin-
Thanks for the question. I have never experienced the cloudiness you describe, but here’s what I would try just to see if there is an improvement: Remove the baking soda from the formula. Baking soda creates a mild abrasive, but could also cause a little residue. If that doesn’t do the trick, rinsing with plain water should help, but I have never needed to do this, and who wants to go over their floors twice? I’m hoping the removal of the baking soda does the trick for you.
I use this same recipe but instead of baking soda I add 1 tbsp each borax and washing soda. It’ll strip grease and goo off of stoves, cabinets, etc without using a lot of elbow grease. There’s going to always be a jug of this solution under the kitchen & bathroom sinks from now on. If anyone else tries my method, just make sure to shake the jug or spray bottle ocassionally because I have had it form crystal chunks at the bottom… It also works great on linoleum. It’s just a great multi-purpose cleaner!
I DEFINITELY HAVE to try this right now!! Thanks for your DIY IDEAS, they are SO GREAT!! Thanks for subscribing me TODAY??
Hi Jenny! So glad you found some ideas you can use. And thank YOU for subscribing to the blog. Happy to have you following along!
Can you use this solution in a steam mop? Thanks!
Since steam mops are meant for use with water, I would contact the manufacturer. While I have heard that vinegar performs better when heated, I wouldn’t want the small amount of dish soap to harm your mop in any way. Thanks for your question! Hope that helps.
I might have to give this solution a try. I feel like every other cleaner I use leaves my floor sticky. Homemade, store bought, I can’t figure it out! I’ve never used one with Dawn, so maybe it will cut whatever oil reside seems to leave my 10 year linoleum gross. Oh, and your 14 year old looks better than my 10 year old.
I know what you’re talking about with the sticky residue left behind with certain cleaners. I didn’t notice that at all with this one. Hope it works for you!
You’re right, mopping on your hands and knees is no fun! My knees and I thank you for this tip.
Amen! Glad I could help.
Oh my gosh i have to try this! thank you sooo much!
Ellen- you seriously brighten my day with your enthusiasm! Thanks for always putting a smile on my face… and I’m happy to share all the DIY cleaning solutions I have found to work well for me. Happy a wonderful evening!
Hello! love this floor cleaning- what do you recommend for cleaning hard wood floors? thank you