Making Lavender Infused Cleaning Products

Making your own cleaning products has made a comeback as many homemakers seek to save money and remove creepy chemicals from their homes. Most of the recipes involve vinegar, water and essential oils. The addition of essential oils encourages a sweet scent and adds a zest of cleaning power to your solution. However...

The oils can really add up! Instead of constantly dropping those expensive ingredients into your concoctions, why not create your own lavender based vinegar to clean with? All you need is a lovely lavender bush (or access to someone else's who doesn't mind a foraging hand) and white vinegar.

We are in love with lavender in our home! Candles, sachets and soaps… Anything infused with the intoxicating scent instantly becomes special. Dare I go a step further and say "housecleaning" products can make daily duties shine? Why not? 

"The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely."

~ Louisa May Alcott

To make your own frugal and fresh scented, lavender cleaning products, simply snip into a clean jar, lots of lavender. This is honestly too easy to make a tutorial out of but since I have so many pictures, please humor me :)

I was short on the flowers due to a prior project so I added a lot of leaves to my mix though you will have a superior infusion with the purple flowers. (Edited to add: My second batch made with pure lavender flowers was nice but I actually preferred the fragrance with the blend of flowers and leaves. I think the addition of the leaves produced better results!)

Once your jar is packed full, cover the contents with white household vinegar. Make sure the lavender is submerged to keep it from molding. 

Lastly, cap your blend with a plastic lid. Let this infusion sit in a sunny spot for three to four weeks. You can replenish the old lavender with a fresh supply after a few weeks to get a stronger product.

Once the month is up, strain and discard the lavender. The lavender infused vinegar is now ready for service and smells heavenly! The scent is absolutely superior than the counterpart recipe using the essential oils.

Make sure you use a fine strainer so that you don't have any particles in your cleaning solution.

Mine came out gold in color because I had so many leaves but it will be a lavender tint if you use more of the flowers.

Ideas for Use:

Use a 50/50 mixture of lavender infused vinegar and water for an all purpose cleaner.

Add a cup of this solution to a bucket of hot water to clean your floors.

For tough cleaning, use pure without diluting.

Isn't it wonderful to create something from your own home that has value and a sense of aromatic beauty?  

Here is a label you can apply to your spray bottle (just right click on image and press "save") which I think is half the fun! You may also be interested in making your own cleanser and carpet deodorizer.

"And the scent of the lavender—not lavender water, but the lavender itself, that puts you in mind of country churches, and old bibles, and dusky low-ceiled parlours on Sunday afternoons—the scent of the lavender was so pure and sweet, and lovely!"

~  George MacDonald

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Make it Yourself Mondays, Country Momma Cooks, Homestead Barn Hop, Natural Living Tuesday's, Teach Me Tuesday,  Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Farmgirl Friday and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. Lavender label graphics are courtesy of Reading, Roses and Prose.