Natural Homemade Cleaning Spray

This recipe is from Sophie Uliano's Gorgeously Green book (mentioned on Earth Day on this blog).  I use this in my kitchen, but plan to use it in the bathroom, too, when my store-bought natural cleaner runs out there.  (The store-bought one is citrus-based, and I've actually heard that you need to avoid pine and citrus oils on high smog days because they combine with ozone to create formaldehyde, so I'll have to phase it out as summer gets smoggier anyway.)

Ingredients for All-purpose Cleaner:


32-ounce plastic spray bottle

2 cups water
1⁄2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon pure castile soap (peppermint is my favorite)
3⁄4 cup hydrogen peroxide
20 drops tea tree oil (sold at Trader Joe's)
20 drops of lavender or lemongrass essential oil (optional)

Either put this in a bottle that isn't see through or store somewhere dark because of the hydrogen peroxide.  I don't always add the essential oil at the end, though those are anti-bacterial and make it smell better.