31 Days to Green Clean: Homemade Dusting Spray

This is Day 19 of the 31 Days to Green Clean series.

One of the chores that I did often growing up was dusting. I actually kind of enjoyed it because I liked the scent of the Pledge spray I would use, and it was nice to see things that were previously covered in a layer of dust, nice and shiny again.

Now with three little kids and a busy household, dusting is one of those things that I’ve basically let go in favor of cleaning things that are a little more necessary – like the toilet and the kitchen counters.

It’s not that I mind dusting, it’s just that, to me, a fine layer of dust really isn’t going to hurt anything. But, it does start to be an eye-sore after a while.

To be honest, I usually use of my my basic cleaners for “dusting”; vinegar and water, homemade multipurpose cleaner, and even the shower cleaner/stainer remover spray all work well for light cleaning and dusting of the surfaces around your home (don’t spray any of those directly on electronics, of course). That’s one of the things that I like most about green and homemade cleaning, it simplifys things so you don’t have to have a huge collection of bottles in your cabinet for every different cleaning need.

But, if you’re looking for a specific homemade dusting spray, I have two recipes for you today, that I made and compared how they worked side-by-side.

Homemade Dusting Spray

Recipe #1

• 1 Tbsp natural dish soap or castile soap
• 15 drops lemon essential oil
• 2 Cups water

Pour ingredients into a spray bottle and shake gently to combine. Either spray onto surface and wipe clean with a cloth, or spray it directly on the cloth and then wipe down the surface.

Recipe #2

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

Combine ingredients in a small spray bottle. Shake before using to make sure the mixture is combine well. Spray onto a cloth and wipe down the surface, don’t spray directly onto your furniture.

The Results

Recipe #1: This cleaning solution worked the best for me. It seemed to clean the dust away the best, and left a slight shine behind, without being greasy or streaky. It smelled lovely, and very similar to how I remember Pledge smelling. I did use Lemongrass & Clemintine Zest scented dishsoap, so I’m sure that added to the smell a bit too.

Recipe #2: The second recipe was very strange to me. It seemed thick, and didn’t spray very well. The combination of the olive oil and lemon juice was a very odd smell, not something I would really want to use around my home.

It was very greasy/oily, obviously, and left streak marks behind on my coffee table. It did leave a little bit of a nice shine on my Willow Tree figurines, but it left greasy marks on one of my picture frames. I felt like I had to go back through and re-clean with the first recipe spray to remove the greasy streaks that this second recipe left.

Also, because the second recipe uses food ingredients, it can go rancid. It should be stored in the fridge and used within a week or two, and I just don’t like cleaning products that require that kind of thought and effort.

I guess if you had a really nice quality wood piece, this would be something to make and use occasionally as a homemade wood polish to keep it looking nice,  My mom has an old piano that I bet this would work great on, the one I used to dust with Pledge, especially spraying it on the cloth and using small circular motions, kind of like you’re buffing the wood. But it’s just not great for everyday cleaning and dusting, in my opinion.

How often do you dust around your home? Do you use a specific dusting spray, or just a multipurpose cleaner?

Go here to read all the posts in the 31 Days to Green Clean series.

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