The Naturally Clean Home: 100 Safe and Easy Herbal Formulas for Non-Toxic Cleansers

For people who are also interested in making their own face and body care products, Better Basics for the Home by Annie Berthold-Bond and Rosemary Gladstar's Herbs for Natural Beauty are also wonderful.

One hint: Several of the recipes use baking soda, which can leave a residue. I've found that it rinses off very cleanly if you use a combination of water and white vinegar to rinse after cleaning.


Kudos To The Naturally Clean Home!   September 25, 2006
Mediterranean Maven (Miami, Florida, USA)
61 out of 62 found this review helpful

I just purchased "The Naturally Clean Home" and like many of the other reviewers, immediately was curious to begin making my own homemade recipes. I must say that I am impressed with the results: The Lavender Soft Scrubber was easy to make and even easier to use in the bathroom, leaving my toilet, bidet, tub and sinks spotless with little effort in scrubbing and rinsing. I also made the Liquid Laundry Detergent and was pleasantly surprised by how clean and soft it left towels, sheets and even my husband's smelly and dirty golf clothes. I noted that another reviewer said that this liquid laundry detergent recipe didn't work for her but my experience was different: I substituted borax for the baking soda in the recipe and found that this worked just fine. The resulting liquid laundry detergent has to be shaken before use and doesn't suds up like other brands of detergent. But do not be fooled by the lack of suds: it works just fine and leaves no residue on clothes that can cause skin reactions and depending upon the essential oil you choose (I used a combination of cedarwood and patchouli), the fragrance left on clothes is subtle and not overwhelming; just a fresh clean scent and softness. You may find that you don't even need a fabric softener with that particular recipe although I am curious to try her fabric softener recipe next.

With just a couple of essential oils, and few other ingredients, you can have what you need to clean just about the entire home without breaking the bank. It's important to note that essential oils have different uses and functions and while it looks like the recipes are repetitious, they're not when you look closely at what essential oils are used and why.


Although since both "Clean House, Clean Planet" and "The Naturally Clean Home" were written, there are more green choices available commercially, they can be admittedly pricey. These homemade recipes are a wonderful, cost-effective alternative to what's out there and certainly result in products that you can make easily with what's on hand without having to run out and buy expensive commercial products whenever you run out of a product.

I recommend this book highly, along with "Clean House, Clean Planet", as a wonderful addition to anyone's "Green Clean" library of references.

The recipes are pretty straightforward although "Clean House, Clean Planet" has better instructions as far as how to properly mix ingredients to get the right results and what containers will work best.


Changed my "cleaning" life. GREAT BOOK -Do it for the kids!   February 26, 2001
OC reader (Austin, Texas USA)
32 out of 34 found this review helpful

I happened onto this book and thought I'd give it a try. Little did I know it would completely change my perspective on cleaning all together! Gone are the toxic chemicals from under my sink, even the ones I didn't know where harmful like regular dishwashing liquid. Three reasons to buy this book: 1)to protect you and your family's health 2)to protect our environment 3)to save money. It's so much cheaper to throw together these recipes. Do it for yourself and if you have kids, for pete's sake DO IT FOR THEM! I highly recommend this book. I agree with someone else's complaint that it should be spiral bound. I took mine to Kinko's and they sliced the binding and put a spiral hinge on it so it now lies flat. GO FOR IT!


Neat, Handy & Complete   February 21, 2001
Charlotte (Albany, NY)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful

I bought this book as a house warming gift for my daughter-in-law and she was so pleased with it that I picked up a copy for myself. The book is very informative, telling us what's harmful about many products found in stores but without bombarding the reader with too much science.

The recipes are simple and very effective - and best of all the ingredients are inexpensive and easy to find. There's even a section on special laundry problems that saved more than one item of clothing for us. There's also a chart that lists the properties of many herbs and essential oils that's very helpful if you need to substitute an ingredient. My husband appreciated the formulas given for cleaning the car and garage too!

This book makes a great gift, especially if you know someone with allergies or who has young children.


Truly All Natural Recipes!!   June 18, 2003
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

One of the problems I have with other books like this is that they only talk about vinegar and baking soda and lemon juice - or they suggest ingredients that are not natural at all! The great thing about this book is that it calls for using essential oils. GREAT cleaning power! And ALL of the ingredients suggested are totally natural. Nice presentation too, very informative. Thumbs up!