A popular trend on Pinterest recently has been do-it-yourself home products. You can find instructions for making everything from homemade clothes soap and fabric softener to body soaps and scrubs, even household cleaners and air fresheners.
What are the benefits of using homemade household products? Probably the biggest benefit is cost; store bought versions of all of these items can be very expensive. In many cases, homemade versions of household products can be prepared at a fraction of the price of their store bought counterparts.
Here’s a great example to illustrate the cost difference between homemade and store bought products. Many people like to use sugar and salt scrubs to soften and exfoliate their skin, but buying these products in a store can cost upwards of $10, and that’s on the low price end! What many don’t realize is that the same sugar and salt scrubs can be made at home for a lot less money, and they work just as great as the store bought products. Most sugar and salt scrubs are just a mixture of oil like olive or sunflower oil, sugar or epsom salt, and essential oils to give the scrub fragrance; all of these ingredients would add up to about $5 or less for the same sized container one might purchase in a store.
The other benefit to using homemade home products is the control of ingredients. Store bought products can contain extra unwanted additives and chemicals, and making products like these at home may give the option of making more natural alternatives. This can be a very important benefit, especially for those who have sensitive skin or allergies.
In light of this new trend, The Daily Dish has put together a collection of the most popular DIY home products we’ve found on Pinterest. I have also tried many of these ideas on my own and so far they have all been great alternatives to using store bought products. They require more time and preparation then just picking up an item at the store, but it’s definitely been worth it for the cost savings!
Household Cleaners and Products
No Grate Homemade Laundry Soap : Many recipes for homemade laundry soap include grating bar soap to cook it on the stove. This can be a laborious, time intensive task, so One Good Thing by Jillee has come up with a laundry soap that doesn’t require any grating! I tried this soap at home and it worked out great! I spend about $15 for all of the ingredients and it will probably make enough laundry soap to last me a year! And my clothes still came out clean and smelling great!
DIY Homemade Fabric Softener: If you’re going to make your own laundry soap then you definitely need to have your own fabric softener. Gypsy Glow Knows Best has shared an easy to prepare fabric softener using ingredients you can buy at the dollar store! I really like this recipe because you can essentially customize the scent to whatever you like, and you can make a ton of it for just a few dollars.
Homemade Granite Cleaner: I have been using this homemade granite cleaner for several years and it has worked like a champ and saved me hundreds, if not thousands on granite cleaner! I had been using store bought granite cleaner when we first moved into our current home and was spending roughly $5-8 a week because I used so much of it. This homemade granite cleaner from 320 Sycamore Blog costs me about $5 a month, if that, and it works even better than the store bought cleaner. Even if you don’t have granite, this is a great all purpose and/or countertop cleaner.
Homemade Febreze: I love using Febreze in my home but it’s expensive to buy and runs out quickly, so this idea from Life. Family. Love is a great alternative to store bought Febreze and according to the blog, will cost .15 cents per bottle! Compared to the roughly $5 for the store bought Febreze, I’ll take the .15 cent option!
Amazing Grout Cleaner: The title for this grout cleaner shared by Unique. Just Like Everyone Else… accurately describes this grout cleaner because it really is amazing. My grout had become so dirty I had forgotten what color it was (don’t judge me, I have kids and pets and a husband. 🙂 ), and after I used the grout cleaner it was like my tile was brand new again! I use this cleaner every few months to clean my tile and it works great! I did substitute peroxide for the ammonia in the cleaner and it still gave me excellent results; I’m not a big fan of the smell of ammonia and some of the comments to the post for the cleaner suggested substituting hydrogen peroxide.
Homemade Tub and Shower Magic: This is a great all purpose bathroom cleaner from Bobbin at Food.com that’s very easy and inexpensive to make. I especially like this one because it contains ingredients most people already have on hand, and it really got my bathroom fixtures shiny and clean and removed soap scum really well.
DIY Alcohol Hand Wipes: This idea was shared by Crafty Journal ; it’s an easy way to make your own disinfecting alcohol wipes. I haven’t tried these myself but a friend tried them and thought they worked great. He added a little essential oil to them to add fragrance, and also tried this with paper towels to reduce the price. He recycled some of his old hand wipe containers to hold them, and also made some wipes with a little bleach added to them to use like Clorox Bleach Wipes.
Body Scrubs, Lotions and Soaps
DIY Spa Recipes: This collection was put together by Sparkle and Mine and features DIY sugar scrubs, face masks, bath soaps, lotion and more! It’s a great collection of all spa things DIY!
DIY Bath Fizzies: Bath Fizzies are a great bathtime luxury and also make great gifts. This idea from Martha Stewart is a simple way to make your own bath fizzies!
DIY Scrubs: These scrubs created by Cocktails with Mom are a wonderful collection of ideas for sugar scrubs. I really like this one because not only is there a detailed description of the base of a sugar scrub, there are also several great ideas for different scented sugar scrubs.
DIY Bath and Beauty Recipe Finds: This is another great collection brought to us by Rebecca’s Soap Deli News and has DIY recipes for scrubs and body butters!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this collection of DIY Home Products! Have you tried any of these homemade recipes? Do you have any recipes of your own? Share them with The Daily Dish!!