Natural and effective homemade degreaser

Here’s the powerful and versatile home-made detergent to quickly clean any surface!

Among the various cleaning products for the home, the degreaser is certainly one of the most popular solutions: powerful and versatile, allows you to quickly clean any surface. As a rule, commercial degreasers use Marseille soap as their main ingredient, but the list of ingredients may also include chemicals that can, if not properly disposed of, have an impact on the environment. How, therefore, can a home-made version of the detergent be made so that it is equally effective but natural?

As you can easily guess, there are many homemade recipes to make a truly portentous degreaser, many of which derive from popular tradition and word of mouth. Of course there is not an universal version, then we will propose the simplest, so that anyone can make it without too much trouble.

Degreaser: ingredients and preparation

The main ingredient for a degreaser that is universal, effective and natural is, as mentioned in the opening, the Marseille soap. In fact this product, used for several centuries both for the cleaning of the person and the house, can boast numerous properties. While ensuring a deep cleansing, the Marseille soap offers excellent delicacy both on the skin and on the surfaces, so much so that it can be practically applied on a great variety of different materials.

To make a homemade degreaser, you must first obtain a sprayer in which to pour the product: you can easily reuse the container of an old detergent, after having thoroughly rinsed it with hot water, to remove all residues.

At this point, with the help of a grater, prepare 10 to 30 grams of soap flakes, possibly small, as they are easier to melt. The total weight is variable: in fact, depending on the chosen quantity a more or less dense solution will be obtained. The flakes should then be placed in a bowl, on which then will be poured slowly about 500 ml of hot water. Also in this case, the amount of liquid may vary depending on the capacity of the sprayer. The resulting mixture is then amalgamated, also with the help of a wooden spoon, so that all the soap residues are dissolved until a smooth and even cream is obtained.

Once the mixture has cooled down, the solution can be completed with a few drops of Tea Tree Oil – an essence with degreasing, disinfectants and insect deterrents properties – and then mix again. At this point, the household cleanser can be transferred into its bottle, ready to be used. In case you want to use the degreaser on very dirty surfaces, such as the hob, it could be useful to add a couple of tablespoons of denatured alcohol. In any case, before using this compound, it is recommended to check the resistance of the surfaces on a hidden part of the same.

Possible uses

The uses of the homemade degreaser are among the most disparate and, obviously, mostly overlapping the alternative of large retailers. After checking the resistance of the surface to the product, the degreaser can be sprayed directly on hobs, furniture, tiles, steel, ceramics and much more. Instead, pay attention to the precious materials, such as parquet or marble, as the mixture may be too aggressive

This degreaser is also excellent for washing laundry, for example as a pre-treatment for the most intense stains: just spray a small part on the stain and put in the washing machine, for normal washing. Also in this case, a preliminary check is always necessary, especially for colored or very delicate fabrics.