DIY Soft Scrub (and Ingredients to Avoid When Making It)

This Easy Homemade Soft Scrub gets two kinds of ick out of your house--toxic chemical "ick" and bathroom "ick."

Cleaning bathrooms is not my favorite household chore--are you with me on that? I mean bathrooms are icky in and of themselves for reasons we all know, but when there's a bathroom that only the "men" (or little boys, if you get what I mean...) in the house use, then it can get even ickier.

Unless you have a bathroom neat freak for a husband or son, I'm sure you can sympathize with my struggle.

Especially when you have 3 "men" showering and using the bathroom (need I say more??), there's ick in the toilet, ick in the bathtub and shower--and even ick on the floor.

Some of the ick can get cleaned up pretty easily with a basic homemade or store bought natural all purpose cleaner, but sometimes you need some more power behind you for those tough cleaning jobs.

That's when this Homemade Soft Scrub made without any toxic ingredients comes in oh-so-handy.

Bonus--it's an easy, affordable way to keep your home clean and sparkling. This soft scrub made with all natural ingredients is a gentle yet effective cleaner that works wonders on stubborn dirt and grime.

All you need is baking soda, liquid soap, and some optional essential oils. The combination provides enough abrasive action to tackle tough spots without damaging delicate surfaces like those found in sinks or bathtubs.

You might think you need more than that, but you really don't--and there are even reasons why adding other things might not be a good idea.

Read on to find out why....

INGREDIENTS

Following is a VERY short list of things you will need to make this scrub. For all the information, including amounts, please scroll down to the printable recipe card.

• baking soda
• liquid castile soap
• essential oils (optional)
• Tub and Tile Scrubbing Tool (optional but recommended)

DIRECTIONS

Following is a brief description of how to make the scrub. For the full information, scroll down to the handy dandy printable recipe card.

Place all ingredients in bowl. (Photos 1 & 2)

Mix completely--use more liquid soap as needed to make thick paste. (Photo 3)
Spread the mixture where you want to clean. Rub in to clean.
Store in airtight container. (Photo 4)

USES

Making your own soft scrub is a great way to save money and be kinder to the environment.

AND there are all sorts of places you can use this around the home:

• showers
• bathtubs
• kitchen counters
• countertops
• tile floors
• tile grout
• stove top
• kitchen and bathroom sinks
• bathroom and kitchen faucets and knobs
• microwaves (inside and out)

HOW TO USE

Put a small amount of the scrub on a damp cloth, damp sponge, toothbrush (a toothbrush is particularly good for cleaning small areas like tile grout or around the base and crevices of sink fixtures) or scrub pad, apply to the surface, then scrub in a back and forth or circular motion.

You can also put some of this all natural diy soft scrub cleaner on the area you want to clean, the scrub with a cloth, sponge, pad, or brush.

This Tub and Tile Scrubbing Tool is a great option for tackling tough jobs - and I wonder if you could use your own scrubbing pads to replace the ones it comes with!

DO PEROXIDE OR VINEGAR MAKE THIS SCRUB WORK BETTER?

You might notice that some DIY Soft Scrub recipes on the internet have hydrogen peroxide or vinegar in them.

While those sound like both of these ingredients would add a more powerful punch than just plain old water, there are good reasons why I didn't include them in this recipe, or rather why they're just alternative.

Why Vinegar Shouldn't Be Used for This Scrub

Vinegar reacts with baking soda, so if you choose to use vinegar instead of water for this scrub, you'll want to make only small batches and use the scrub immediately. If you don't, the result will not be any more potent than just using water, so you might as well save your money and just use water.

Why Hydrogen Peroxide Shouldn't Be Used for This Scrub

Peroxide mixed with baking soda makes carbon dioxide so it's possible by storing this mixture (or the vinegar and baking soda mixture) you could break your container.

You also don't want to mix vinegar with peroxide. It will turn into peracetic acid which is corrosive and potentially harmful to you, your kids, and your pets. So don't do that either. (source)

Other Ingredients to Keep Out of Your DIY Soft Scrub

Just in case you're tempted to use other strong ingredients like bleach or isopropyl alcohol, those fumes aren't great for you either, so it's best to skip them too.

STORAGE

You definitely want to store this homemade scrub in an airtight container. A glass jar like a shallow mason jar or jelly jar works well and that's what I like to use (basically because they're cute--am I right? I mean, it really is true that mason jars make everything better), but you might choose a plastic container to avoid glass breakage in the bathroom.

These jars are for holding yogurt, but they'd be so cute with homemade scrub in them. Truth is, they'd be cute with ANYTHING in them.

OTHER DIY CLEANERS

If you're looking for other ways to reduce the use of harmful chemicals in your home, try these homemade cleaners on for size.

• Homemade Laundry Detergent - gentle enough for most anyone, with tips to avoid buildup
• Homemade Baby Laundry Detergent - even more gentle than the basic formula
• Peppermint Cleaning Paste - powerful and smells great too!
• DIY Dishwasher Rinse Aid (3 Ways) - skip the blue stuff and use this instead
• Homemade No Streak Window Cleaner - more blue stuff to skip. You'll love this!

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN

Do you make homemade cleaners for your home? I'd love to hear what ones and how they work for you!