Here is a quick post for all my loves…
I have been obsessed with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser for years now… but i hate how they fall apart so fast and especially for the $$$!!! While doing some research on homemade cleaners I decided I would make my own concoction and see what worked best.
And the winner is~ Karen’s Liquid Magic Cleaner
So here is your list of ingredients, try it out (and leave your opinion!!!)
- 2 Tbs Borax
- 12 oz. Warm to Hot water
- 12 o.z White Vinegar
- Your Favorit Essential Oil (I used Lavender)
- 24 oz. Spray Bottle (Dollar store people)
You are going to mix this right in you spray bottle! Add the warm to hot water and the Borax. Cover bottle and shake until Borax has dissolved. Next add the white vinegar. Add as many drops of your essential oil as you would like (each one is different, therefore requiring different amounts to mask the vinegar smell). Lightly shake up and start cleaning 🙂
Please let me know what you thought of this and if you adapted it any differently for your home!
(In my pic I had already used some of this liquid eraser!!!)
onetalentedmom.wordpress.com 
I’ll have to try this, but the magic erasers are melamine insulation…you can get them on Amazon really cheaply! My neighbor is a house cleaner so I’m going to also buy a few from her with her next order.
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Yes they are melamine insulation, and I was obsessed with them for years that’s why I shared this liquid cleaner because it doesn’t make my hands have that strange texture feeling and works just as good 🙂 please do give it a try and let me know how it works for you!
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I tried it and it worked on my white counter tops! Thank you!
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yay!!!
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I’ve tried borax in a spray bottle and after awhile it clogs it up. Vinegar is fine and if you add a pinch of dawn, it dissolves the grease. Magic eraser has formaldehyde and awful chemicals in it.
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I’m sorry you haven’t had the same amazing response using this DIY cleaner as myself, or others! And yes, Magic Eraser does have awful chemicals in it. This is just called such because, in my experience, it works just as well, if not better, than the magic eraser did when I had used them. Vinegar and dawn are a great combo, but they don’t get my house as clean as I would like, plus I hate my house smelling like vinegar!
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True Magic erasers are made of melamine; which is similar to using fine sand paper, pumice Stone or steel wool. There are no cleaning agents in magic erasers unless you buy ones that include a cleaning agent.
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yes this is true, but this solution does not have the abrasives so i have found wit works great even on gentle to clean areas ❤
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Hi,
I dont live in the states,what can i use instead of borax,what is that? Thanks!
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I did a google search, but not sure what would be available to you where you are located! Sorry!!!
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I did a search for different names that borax is called hope it helps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax
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this was actually a very interesting article! Thank you for sharing 🙂
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You can get Borax Substitute in the UK under the Clean & Natural brand. Borax is not licensed in th UK. They also do bicarbonate, Citric acid and washing soda. I use all of their products in my homemade cleaners. Sorry, don’t know your location, but you can buy their products on Amazon. Hope this is of some use.
Best wishes X
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Thanks for the great info for non US readers! I am located in New York, so have everything i had listed at local stores or amazon ❤
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Is this a cleaner for an WHITE BOARD? or a clemner for everything?
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I use it all over in and outside the house!!! I have used it on my daughters very cheap white board for a few months now and it’s been great! Let me know how it works for you!
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Thanks for posting this!! I use vinegar to clean so many things! I didn’t add any essential oils to this because once vinegar dries the odor disappears. I didn’t see any reason to spend more money on the oil.
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Has anybody tried this yet? I would also love to hear how it worked!! Sounds great, I will have to try it myself as soon as I can get the Borax. I Love using the homemade cleaners. I use Vinegar n some water in a squirt bottle on mirrors and glass and it is so much better than buying Windex or any glass cleaner at the store and a lot cheaper, and Does Not leave streaks at all!! I also perfer using the micorfiber cloths to clean with as well. They pick up so much more than regular cloths or paper towels. They don’t leave a residue behind either. I hope people that have tried this post up how it works!! Thanks! Melissa
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I tried it like 2months ago made a gallon and I love, love,love it. Best cleaner I have ever used it seems to clean every thing thank you for this post. Time to make another gallon.
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Can I use this on my mattress that my dog has completely stained over the years??
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I scented my vinegar first by putting orange peels in it for a week before I made this. It turned out really well!
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oooh i have to try it out this way too now lol!!! thanks for the tip… esp since i ran out of essential oil and haven’t gotten a chance to get more yet!
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Getting the Borax tomorrow and definitely trying this. I have tried vinegar and hot water by itself in the shower but it left streaks where I had sprayed it. Hoping that the Borax keeps it from doing that. 🙂 Thanks! And i will return and let you know how it works.
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so how did it work for you?
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There is a cleaning recipe of equal parts of white vinegar and blue dawn dish soap. Heat the vinegar up and add the blue dawn dish soap. Put into a spray bottle and spray in the shower area, leave on for about 15-30 minutes then scrub off. Works great on the shower doors. After about 5 uses the water spots on the doors was all gone. I found the recipe on pininterest.
CW
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i tried this out a few months back and really did not like the results… didn’t know it would take 5 tries tho!!! the smell is super strong tho, which i did not like either! maybe i’ll try again soon!
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I tried this a few times & u still have to scrub after it sets. No, shower isn’t real dirty & 3’yrs. old used my my hubby & me. U can buy essential oils on eBay for about $4 & no shipping charges. Have not used any, just waiting to find out much to use. Have it ready to use, just have never done it
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Made it tonight… It is AWESOME!… Sprayed it on some carpet stains that were YEARS old and they disappeared as we sprayed them. My 8 year old begged to clean. Thats always a plus..lol
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it is always a plus… my 4 yr old loves to clean with this, and i love that theres no bad chemicals that can hurt her 🙂
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I don’t know if this has been called to your attention yet or not, but in case not… If the essential oils you are using are of any kind of quality, you don’t want to use a plastic bottle. Pure, therapeutic grade essential oils eat plastic. Even if it’s not enough oil to cause a hole in the bottle (most likely not, with those ratios), it’s still enough to leach the plastic chemicals into your solution. So if you’re trying to avoid chemicals in your household, finding a glass spray bottle would be the best way to go when using essential oils.
Thanks for the recipe! Looking forward to trying it!
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oh thanks for this awesome tip, as I was not aware of it!!! I actually haven’t even been using the essential oil anymore (since i ran out of the 1 bottle I bought) bc the smell is not bad without it!!! I’m also looking forward to trying it out with orange peels like another reader had mentioned!!!
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Actually, yes you can use certain types of plastic label 1 pet. 2 Pet. Hdpe or 5 pp. They holds up just fine for house hold cleaning and any other blend you make with essential oils.. and anyone whose wondering. You don’t have to sign up with a membership with a mlm company . Edensgarden.com lists everything you need to know about their oils from where they came from and how they were made and more. They are 100% pure high quality oils
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Will sure try this. Sounds like it would work. I’m all about not using harsh chemicals
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let me know how it works for you when you get the chance!!!
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tried this tonite and it did not work on my tub. The actual Magic Eraser does work on my tub so I thought I’d give this a try. I’m gonna keep it around to see if it works on anything else since I already had all the stuff so it was free to make.
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the magic eraser never worked on my tub either… but I have never tried my homemade version on the tub, yet! Thanks for letting me know it didn’t work for you… did you try it while it was still warm from the water? The warmer it is the more potent it cleans (I have found). I’m gonna try it out on my tub next time and see what happens!!! Thanks Liz!
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Yes I tried it as soon as I made it, couldn’t wait! I’m going to see if it works on anything else. But the real magic eraser does make a difference on my tub but still not brand new looking. I even tried the dawn, baking soda, peroxide mix I saw somewhere and this also did not work on the tub.
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So, I just tried this on a cream, wool rug (not highly recommended) in my daughter’s playroom, it did’t take out an old pet stain, it did however, completely take out the foot traffic stains!! Woohoo!
Thanks for sharing!
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interesting… I have not tried it on any of my rugs yet… but have to give it a try now!!! I’ll let you know my outcome!
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How did you use this on your rug? Did you leave it on? Use water to rinse it? Blotch it dry? I’d like to try but am nervous.
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like I said in an earlier post, I have yet to try this on my rugs (*knock on wood* they haven’t gotten any stains or such yet, don’t know how tho lol). Has any other person tried it on their rugs yet that could offer some advice???
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I made this today and don’t you know-it worked wonderfully for me-even without the essential oil. Thank you for this recipe!
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the essential oil is really just to diffuse the smell from the vinegar… I personally don’t always use b/c the smell doesn’t bother me that much! Thanks for letting me know your reaction!!!
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Why using toxic solutions? Just take vinegar and baking soda! If the stains are stubborn, I’d rather call professional cleaners, but I’m definitely not going to use poisonous detergents to clean my home.
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I understand that people chose not to use harmful detergents in their homes, but when you call in a professional they are using chemicals that are more harsh to you and your families health and well being! That being said, I appreciate your honest opinion and hope u consider trying this out before using any of those harsher “professional” cleaners first!
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Hi, I know this blog is 3 years old, but I found it super interesting and can’t wait to try the solution.
Quick question is borax supposed to be the awful chemical that the second to last comment was referring to?
Also the tip that I have to try, which I’ve not yet done but can’t wait is regarding cleaning the rugs/carpet I know that some comments had said that certain stains it did not work for.
A few years ago I discovered that using Windex with an iron and a white terry-cloth worked well on stains I’m hoping to see that this solution in place of the Windex also works great because I really do not like the ammonia smell of the Windex.
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I just tried it on my tub on the ring around it. Haven’t washed it clean yet to let anyone know if it worked for me or not, but I have a question. Do you have to use it warm each time or can you leave it in your bottle and use the same mix until it is gone?
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sorry it has taken so long to reply, but you do not have to use arm water every time. I find the warm water first helps for everything to dissolve better and stay mixed up well! How did it work on the tub ring?
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Sounds great! Does this work on hard water stains on glass? Also after you spray do you wipe/scrub with a towel or something else? Thanks!!
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It did work for me on the hard water stains on glass, did you try it out? Depending on what I am cleaning i usually just wipe away with a rag or cloth, sometimes i use a scrub to get a little more elbow grease to help!
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I used it today, it works. I used the cleaning vinegar. Thanks
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YAY thats wonderful!!!! What did you try it on?
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Hm I think I will make this solution, but pour it over a container of sponges to have ready to use and then resuse over and over!
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Did you make it and pour over sponges? If so, how did it work out for you? This is a great tip, and will give it a try myself, once i get some extra sponges lol
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I just tried it and didn’t really work, I had to add bakiing soda to help and used my magic eraser as well. Am I supposed to let it sit long?
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Oh no, I’m sorry to hear this! I don’t let mine sit, i use it as soon as I’m done mixing. What did you have a problem cleaning?
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