13+ Best Zero Waste DIY Cleaning Products

When you’re thinking about zero waste in the home, it’s useful to look into zero waste diy cleaning products. Ordinary cleaning products have a lot of harsh chemicals in and antibacterial cleaners strip all of the bacteria in your home. Even the good bacteria which has been linked to having a healthy immune system.

I have put together some tips to get you started, in case you have often wondered how do you make zero waste cleaning products? I’ve put together a list of some of the best zero waste diy cleaners in the UK although some of these products should be available elsewhere as well.

This post contains affiliate links which means I make a small profit if you buy through my link. I would never recommend something I didn’t believe in or wouldn’t buy myself, thank you for your support.

Is It Cheaper To Make Your Own Cleaner

One of the most common misconceptions about sustainable living is it being expensive and due to this you might be wondering if it’s actually cheaper to make your own cleaners.

I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that not only is it super cheap, you probably already have a lot of these cleaning products at home, already in your kitchen!

Some of the best cleaning products are things like vinegar, citric acid and baking soda so this makes it a really cheap method of cleaning your home. If you’re on a really strict budget, you can also bulk buy vinegar and baking soda as long as you have the storage.

Even though this isn’t 100% plastic free it’s a lot less waste than several different plastic spray cleaners.

Zero Waste DIY Cleaning Products

As previously mentioned, some of the best zero waste diy cleaning products can be created from just food grade items that you might even already have in your home.

Be sure to check what surfaces you are planning to clean though as certain products are not suitable for everywhere. If you have marble or granite in your kitchen for example, make sure you look into this as acids are not usually recommended.

Some of my favourites are listed below:

Vinegar

Vineger is not only a brilliant acid to use in cooking it has cleaning properties as well and is a great addition to any zero waste cleaning routine. If you have the storage you can buy bigger 25litre containers of vinegar but if you don’t then the a 5litre container will still last quite a long time (link below).

Essential Oils

Some essential oils also have antibacterial properties making them a good option to include in this list. In particular Eucalyptus, Tea Tree and Lavender. Not completely essential for a zero waste cleaning routine but they can be useful.

Baking Soda

Another amazing cooking ingredient that is also a brilliant natural cleaner. You may already know that mixing vinegar with baking soda makes it fizz.

You can buy through the link below, use code DAMARISRUSSELL for 5% off your order.

Citrus Fruits

There’s definitely something about acidic products that makes them a great option for natural cleaning. You can use half a lemon to clean and deodorise various places in your home. They’re also great when mixed with other things like baking soda or vinegar.

Citric Acid

Another awesome acid that is a fantastic cleaner, is citric acid. It’s really effective at limescale issues and has recently become one of my favourites.

You can buy through the link below, use code DAMARISRUSSELL for 5% off your order.

Oxygen Bleach

If you’re worried that natural cleaners won’t do an effective job at getting rid of mould or mildew then let me reassure you that you do not need to worry about this! Oxygen bleach is a powder which you mix with warm water to activate and it does a great job for areas which the other cleaning products don’t quite fix.

You can buy through the link below, use code DAMARISRUSSELL for 5% off your order.

Castile Soap

So many people swear by castille soap for cleaning, you can use it to wash your dishes or mixed with water for a general purpose cleaner and it’s a surfectant so another great natural cleaner for the home. The below link is lavendar and rosemary but you can get other fragrances.

Washing Up Liquid

Eco washing up liquid is another great surfectant, you only really need to have one or the other. When I was looking to buy in bulk I couldn’t find castille soap in a larger size so I ended up buying washing up liquid instead and I use that for all sorts of general cleaning in the home.

Soapnuts

Soapnuts are commonly used as a laundry detergent and sometimes as a No Poo method of washing your hair but people don’t always know that you can also use soapnut solution to wash your dishes and as a hand soap. It might sound a little odd but I didn’t like it as a soap because if I put my fingers in my mouth it would taste a bit bitter, haha. However, it does still work as a natural soap.

How Do You Make Zero Waste Cleaning Products

So now you know the main ingredients that you need for a zero waste cleaning routine, I’ll tell you some of the main ways you can combine these ingredients to make zero waste cleaning products yourself.

Vinegar Spray

One of the main ways that I use vinegar is to leave it sitting in some citrus peels for about a week to create a general purpose spray. The citrus peels usually mask a bit of the vinegar smell and you can even add some essential oils if you want.

Cream Cleaner

For a cream cleaner you would need to just mix some baking soda with your surfectant and mix it until you have a sort of paste. This paste is great for cleaning the oven or other places that would need a bit more of an intense clean.

Window Spray

There are a few options for cleaning your windows streak free. One is using a surfectant like washing up liquid or castille soap in a spray bottle with water and use a squegee. (My Dad is a window cleaner and has given me some tips so this is the method that I use)

You can also mix vinegar with water and use something like a super absorbent cloth to wipe clean for a streak free finish.

General Cleaning

I’m just generally a big fan of multipurpose style cleaning products, I’ll do the washing up by hand and then I’ll use that water to then clean the fridge or anything else that I need to clean at that moment.

I just find this the easiest option for me but you will find your own routine and way that things work best for you.

Best Zero Waste DIY Cleaners UK

If you don’t like the idea of mixing things together yourself and you want a premade solution then this next section will be up your street.

Dish Soap

Another amazing way of having a more zero waste kitchen is to switch to a solid dish soap instead of liquid washing up liquids. They generally last so much longer than liquid and come with very minimal packaging.

My personal favourite is Battle Green Box, which you can buy through the below link.

Fill Refill Co

This company is a family run company in Northamptonshire which is creating zero waste wholesale options for cleaning. All of their smaller cleaning products are supplied in glass so that the bottles can be returned through zero waste stores and delivery services. They also supply some zero waste stores in the UK with the larger containers to create a closed loop service.

Green N White Co

This company have lots of different cleaning items available in full sizes or concentrated smaller versions so you can make up your own. They come in 100% recycled plastic as well with free shipping on orders over £20.

Interestingly they only sell their products at what it costs to make them and you can save a bit more money you only need to pay a membership fee of £3 pm which is a really great idea.

Mix Clean Green

Mix is another great company that makes a plethora of sustainable cleaning products all by hand here in the UK. There’s plenty to choose from on their website from cleaning mixes to toilet bombs and even some tools as well. All completely plastic free and natural irritant free ingredients.

Naiked

Another great way of reducing your waste when cleaning is to use cleaning drops and reduce the need for shipping large amounts of liquid anywhere.

Naiked was founded in Germany and they have cleaning tablets in paper that you can mix at home yourself. You can buy through & Keep on the below link.

Neat

This company is another really interesting one, they sell refill cleaning products and their own aluminium spray bottles. The cleaners have plant based ingredients and they explain that most cleaning products are 90% water so they’re encouraging the refill options.

They also have free delivery on orders over £20.

Ocean Saver

Ocean Saver have several different concentrated cleaning drops for different purposes, you can buy their spray bottles or use your own and mix with water. They’re another great low waste cleaning brand.

They’re very handy and really affordable too.

Spruce

Spruce is another great option and they only launched in 2021 but they are already a B Corporation so people and planet before profit. Spruce do refill cleaning products and their own eternity bottles should you need a spray bottle to use.

Plus free shipping for orders over £25.

Toilet Cleaning Bombs

I know you make these yourself with citric acid and other ingredients but if you’re a bit like me then you might prefer to buy some instead because then you can’t mess it up!

You can buy through the link below, use code DAMARISRUSSELL for 5% off your order.

Zero Waste Cleaning Tools

Cloths

Which type of cloths you prefer will definitely be down to personal preference. I have a mixture of microfibre cloths that I’ve had for years and some old pyjamas that I have cut up to be used as cloths.

You can also buy cotton cloths if you would prefer a more natural material for cleaning, link below.

Enjo Cloth

This is quite an unusual one but definitely worthy of a mention. An enjo cloth is not like any other cloth, the fibres are different and they collect grease and bacteria which is only released from the fibres when you wash it with warm water.

It’s actually quite revolutionary and it’s a way of cleaning the home without using anything else apart from the cloths and water. Find out more on their website below.

Washing Up Brushes

There are so many really cool wooden/bamboo washing up brushes you can buy these days. I like the ones with removable heads because then you don’t have to throw away the whole thing when the bristles get a bit tatty.

You can have a look at the selection available on the button below and use code DAMARISRUSSELL at checkout for 5% off your order.

Scourers

Another great zero waste tool that is useful in the kitchen, is coconut scourers. They’re really great for tough cleaning jobs in the kitchen when you really need to scrub at something, they’re also naturally antibacterial which is cool.

You can buy my favourite through the link below. I use them for oven trays and stubborn labels on glass jars.

I hope this post has helped you with some ideas for zero waste diy cleaning products. Some of the best zero waste diy cleaners in the UK are simply products that you can find in any supermarket and sometimes even plastic free.

If you want regular sustainable inspiration that’s suitable for beginners, you can sign up to my monthly newsletter below.

You can also follow me on Instagram, where I’m the most active or on my YouTube channel.