Our home has tile floors from our front door through the kitchen and dining room all the way to the back door. This high traffic area can get a lot of wear and everyday gunk. Our natural homemade Tile Floor Cleaner recipe gets our floors clean, degreased, and leaves the entire house smelling amazing.
This recipe was designed for real floors. If your floors aren’t dirty and you just need a wet mop to polish your perfection, then don’t bother with these powerful ingredients.
I hate mopping and then finding that the solution I used didn’t really cut through all the gunk and grease that is on our floors. You can feel it under your feet on your “clean” floor. Yuck! The Sal Suds and vinegar in this recipe combine together to provide exceptional grease cutting power. My kitchen gets tons of use and this recipe leaves it sparkly.
We use this mop bucket and we absolutely love it!
- It’s simple to use.
- The spinning action allows us to use just the right amount of water to get the floors clean without leaving puddles.
- The reduced water usage cuts our drying time in half.
Pro Tips for Tile Floor Cleaner:
- Trust me when I say to add the water first. The detergent will bubble like crazy if you add it before the water.
- You don’t need more than 1 teaspoon of detergent for 1 1/2 gallons of water. It’s crazy concentrated. If you use more, it will be too much and you’ll have to rinse the floors multiple times with water to remove the excess detergent.
- Regular Castile soap is not going to be a suitable replacement for this recipe. The detergent we use is more powerful and really cleans and disinfects.
- The vinegar is crucial for killing germs, degreasing, and removing odors. You can skip it if your house is sanitary and smells like daisies already.
New to essential oils? Learn more about how we use them and why you should use them as well.
Homemade Tile Floor Cleaner Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 gallons hot water
- 1 teaspoon Dr. Bronners Organic Sal Suds Liquid Cleaner
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 20 drops Lemon Essential Oil
- 10 drops Rosemary Essential Oil
Directions
- Put the water into your mop bucket.
- Add in the remaining ingredients. Use the mop to combine ingredients.
- Mop your tile floor as normal.
- No rinsing necessary.
Here are 5 fun alternative scents for your tile floor cleaning solution:
Liquid Sunshine
- 10 drops Tangerine Essential Oil
- 10 drops Lime Essential Oil
- 10 drops Lemon Essential Oil
Calm and Clean
- 20 drops Lavender Essential Oil
- 10 drops Roman Chamomile Essential Oil
Brisk and Fresh
- 10 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil
- 10 drops Lemongrass Essential Oil
- 10 drops Eucalyptus Radiata
Sweet Garden
- 10 drops Geranium Essential Oil
- 10 drops Bergamot Essential Oil
- 2 drops Jasmine Essential Oil
Sunny Outdoors
- 10 drops Pine Essential Oil
- 10 drops Lemon Essential Oil
- 10 drops Marjoram Essential Oil
Bretta says
April 4, 2016 at 8:35 pmI can’t wait to try some of these recipes! I tried DIY cleaners with essential oils for a while, but none of them panned out. I’m interested to see how the Sal’s Suds works out. I love your flavor combos too!
Beth K says
April 8, 2016 at 3:55 pmThanks for the note. Make sure to let us know your favorite, Bretta!
Diane says
November 11, 2016 at 8:38 pmCan you use this on hardwood ??
Beth K says
November 14, 2016 at 1:18 pmThis recipe has not been tested on hardwoods.
Lee-Anne Armstrong says
February 6, 2017 at 9:17 pmI am sad to see that you suggest using Dr Bronners Organic Sal suds Liquid Cleanser. I googled it to see what it was and checked out the ingredients. It contains sodium laurel sulphate which is toxic. I am keen to try your recipe but will have to look for a non toxic replacement for the Sal suds.
Beth K says
February 10, 2017 at 7:54 pmHi Lee-Anne,
I’m not sure what sources you’re referencing for your concerns. We use Sal Suds with no concerns because we do not use it internally nor in direct contact with skin. Skin Deep states that Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (a main ingredient in Sal Suds) has a very low rating for concern based on usage. You can see that here. https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/706110/SODIUM_LAURYL_SULFATE/
And here is their A rating for Sal Suds cleaner itself – (not just the Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) – http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/496-DrBronnersSalSudsLiquidCleaner I hope this helps.
Mari says
March 13, 2017 at 4:53 pmHello,
I live in Norway so getting all Dr. Bronner’s products isn’t very easy. Would it be possible to switch the Sal Suds for the Castile soap? I know you said you liked Sals Suds better, but would it work? Would the ratio be the same? Would this work on synthetic floors? Just found your website and I’ve been loving it 🙂
Jenn says
March 15, 2017 at 6:09 pmYou could try the Castille soap, but generally speaking, Castille soap is for beauty recipes while Sal Suds is for cleaning. You could try the same ratio and see how it performs. You might have to do some experimenting to get the results you want. Welcome to our site! We are glad to have you. 🙂
Tina says
April 12, 2017 at 11:24 amWhat is the Difference in the Biodegradable Sal Suds and just the Original Sal Suds ? Why use the Biodegradable?
Beth K says
April 22, 2017 at 8:58 amThey’re the same thing. I was trying to keep up with the manufacturer’s official name at the time.
Stel says
May 22, 2017 at 11:10 amHi! Can I store this in a spray bottle? or do you have recipes for cleaning floors that can be stored?
Beth K says
June 25, 2017 at 8:45 pmWe don’t have any floor recipes that store right now. Thanks for the question!
Joy says
June 30, 2017 at 11:45 amDo you have a recipe that can be used in a mop that has refillable container for sprayer? I have the Libman Spray Mop if you want to see what I am referring to.
Love you website!! I am a sister YL oil lover!
Beth K says
July 1, 2017 at 2:46 pmWe don’t right now. But we’d love to hear if you find something amazing that works. We love sharing the wisdom of our readers with others!
Charlene says
March 22, 2018 at 9:01 amCould I put this solution in my Hoover Floormate?
Diana M says
March 22, 2018 at 4:32 pmHi Charlene! We have not tested it in a floor mate. I would think as long as you don’t store the solution in the unit after use, you would be fine.
Ashley says
August 9, 2018 at 10:46 amI love all the ingredients in this recipe! Unfortunately my kitchen is on the small side and doesn’t require a lot of solution for mopping. What would the ratios be if I wanted to put this solution in an average size spray bottle? I tried breaking it down but I think I still used too much sal suds as I felt the residue still on the floor. Or would you suggest making the full batch and just putting it in a bottle. Thanks so much!
Diana M says
August 27, 2018 at 9:47 pmHi Ashley! Sal Suds is very concentrated. I would cut this down to a quarter if you are adding it to a 32 oz spray bottle, adding some additional water to the fill line.
Irene says
September 22, 2018 at 8:57 pmI make this blend and store it in a spray bottle. The way I use it is I spray the area, wait a few minutes and then I use the O-Cedar Dual-Action Flip Mop, I have 3 refiils 🙂 and I change them from the frame as I need to, according to the condition of the floor at the moment I’m cleaning. I love that I just throw them in the washer…: 2 cups distilled water, 30 drops thieves essential oil, (or you can use a different blend), 1 teaspoon white vinegar, 2 teaspoon Sal Suds. I use this mix for the bathroom as well.