Homemade Kitchen Spray Recipe: Yep it Works!

Toxin Free Recipe Series: Part 4

Most commercial kitchen sprays get used multiple times a day on the surfaces where you prepare food for you and your family. But before you go about spraying it here there and every where because you love that nostalgic spray and wipe smell, you need to know that the ingredients in conventional sprays typically include synthetic fragrances carrying phthalates, quaternary ammonium compounds linked to respiratory irritation and surfactants that linger on surfaces long after you have wiped them down. So yes you are cleaning your bench, but you are also leaving a chemical residue that ends up in your food.

Making your own spray takes literally five minutes and costs a fraction of the price. So lets go!

Why bicarb and vinegar together beats vinegar alone

Most DIY kitchen sprays stop at white vinegar diluted with water. It works, but it has limits. The smell is sharp (like salt and vinegar chips). It does nothing for odours on the surface itself. And it can feel underwhelming against greasy stovetops or sticky bench residue.

So we have found, adding a small amount of bicarbonate of soda (bicarb) changes the picture. When bicarb meets the acetic acid in vinegar it produces carbon dioxide gas, just like a school volcano experiment, except actually useful. Those bubbles get into the texture of a surface and lift residue in a way that flat liquid cannot. 

Bicarb also deodorises. The sodium acetate produced in the reaction absorbs odours rather than masking them. Which is why this spray deals with the smell of last night's garlic on the bench, where plain vinegar just trades one smell for another.

What the essential oils are doing

Eucalyptus contains eucalyptol, the compound behind that clean, sharp scent. It is antibacterial, cuts through grease and handles the any bacteria that comes from food prep. Lemongrass adds citral, which is antifungal as well as antibacterial and works particularly well on food prep surfaces. It gives the spray a lighter, fresher note. If you do not have lemongrass, tea tree is a good swap.

The recipe

Makes 500ml. Use within a few months for best potency from the essential oils.

You will need a glass spray bottle and a funnel.

Ingredients:

·       500ml white vinegar

·       2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (bicarb)

·       20 drops eucalyptus essential oil

·       5 drops lemongrass essential oil (or tea tree, or lemon)

 

Method

Pour the white vinegar into the spray bottle through the funnel.

Now the part that requires patience: add the bicarb very slowly, a small amount at a time, over a sink. It will fizz up so do not rush this step. Add a little, wait for the reaction to settle, then add a little more. If you tip both teaspoons in at once, it will overflow and make a mess.

Once all the bicarb is in, wait until the fizzing has completely stopped. Then add your essential oils and swirl gently to combine. Leave the bottle open until you are completely certain there is no further reaction happening. CO2 can still build up if the bicarb and vinegar have not fully reacted, and you do not want pressure building in a sealed spray bottle. Once it is fully settled and quiet, secure the lid.

Shake before each use. The essential oils will separate from the liquid between uses and need to be mixed back in each time.

Why this matters beyond the kitchen

Reducing what enters your body through everyday products, whether that is cleaning sprays, personal care, or food preparation surfaces, gives your body's clearance pathways less to deal with. It is the same logic that sits behind everything we make at Zeally.

Our Fulvic Humic Drops work as a cellular binder, capturing and carrying accumulated toxins out of the body. The less you are continuously adding in through the surfaces you touch and the air you breathe at home, the more effectively that clearance can work. Less in, more out. That is the whole picture.

More in this series

Part 1 was natural deodorant. Part 2 was apple and cabbage sauerkraut. Part 3 was bath salts. The series continues with more practical, low-cost recipes that reduce your daily toxic load without requiring much time or effort!

If you make this one, share it on Instagram and tag @zeallyherbs - even the fizzy volcano bit! Wed love to see it x