Looking for a really easy homemade soft scrub cleaner recipe? This one takes mere minutes to whip up, and you might already have the ingredients on hand at home!
(You can check out more of my Do-It-Yourself Experiments here!)
I learned to make Homemade Soft Scrub years ago, and it’s crazy how simple it is! I thought this would be a fun one to bring out of the archives!
It’s seriously just three ingredients — one of which is water. How much easier could it get?!
It takes all of maybe three minutes to mix up. And that is it!
I always love having cleaner with a little bit of gritty scrubbing consistency to it to really get the tough spots clean. And the baking soda in this recipe does just that. It works really well for cleaning tubs, tile, sinks, and toilets. Score!
And you could totally slap a label on it to give as a fun DIY gift — especially during spring cleaning season.
Homemade Soft Scrub Cleaner
- 3/4 cup baking soda (slightly heaped)
- 1/4 cup Castile soap (I’ve also made this in the past using Mrs. Meyer’s All Purpose Cleaner, and it worked just fine!)
- 2 Tablespoons water
Mix the baking soda and soap together to make a paste. Add in the 2 Tablespoons water and stir well. Pour into plastic or glass container with a lid.
To use, squirt or pour onto a sponge and scrub. Rinse well with water after scrubbing.
Recipe adapted from Live Renewed.
Let me know if you try this homemade soft scrub cleaner or if you have another recipe you like!
More Homemade Cleaning Recipes:
- DIY Tile Cleaner
- Lavender Bath Salts
- Window Cleaner
- Dishwashing Detergent
- Powdered Laundry Detergent
- Homemade Tub & Tile Cleaner
- All Purpose Cleaner
- Foaming Hand Soap
And you can go here to see all my Do-It-Yourself Experiments from over the years.
This worked like a charm after our blue hair dye quarantine experiment left more than just my oldest’s hair blue. The blue stains in the tub and on the sink came right up. THANK YOU!
Yay! We’re so glad we were able to help unblue your bathroom! 🙂 -Jordan, MSM Team
I love this recipe, I even add a few drops of orange essential oils to mine and the entire kitchen smells so fresh and clean.
Thanks so much for this recipe! I used Kirk’s castile soap! it was placed in a squeeze bottle and we are ready! 🙂
This worked wonderfully! It smells great and I didn’t have to suffer through a migraine because of the bleach-smelling soft scrub. My bathroom sink is sparkling. Thank you for posting the recipe.
How fantastic! I have everything to make this! 🙂
I have a question. Pardon me my ignorance, but can you tell me for what is it use this soft scrub. I don’t get it if its for hands,?
Soft Scrub is a brand of multipurpose cleaner for things like bathrooms, floors, etc.
I had to look it up too!
Lea
I just keep an old Parmesan cheese shaker (plastic container) full of baking soda, a bottle of Dawn (or Dr. Bronner’s), a spray bottle of 50/50 vinegar and a spray bottle of “granite cleaner” (1 tsp liquid soap, 1 T alcohol and the rest water) b/c vinegar etches granite. Each of these fits in a plastic caddy I have. I also keep plastic grocery bags, scrap towels, scrub brush and old tooth brush in the caddy as well. You can keep one in each bathroom or one for the whole house for the house. My quick soft scrub is to sprinkle the baking soda and then add a little liquid soap and get to the scrubbing. Spray counters with “granite cleaner”. Same soft scrub cleans toliet bowl. The vinegar spray is good for deodorizing around the toliet. Only reason I like this better is I don’t have to pre-mix or work to get it out when I need it (if its dried up). To each his own!
Adding several drops of lemon essential oil is a great addition to this recipe!
Oh, great idea!
When I make things like this, I pour the mixture into a squeeze bottle from Michaels (I think it’s a Wilton brand bottle). It’s a clear bottle that is shaped like, but smaller than, a generic red/yellow ketchup/mustard bottle found at the dollar store.
The squeeze bottle allows me to run a nice small line along the grout. I usually let it sit for a little while then go in with a scrub brush or sponge. I use less with the squeeze bottle than I did when I was getting the mixture out of a tub with a sponge.
Hi Crystal,
This sounds like something I’m going to try, but can I ask what did you clean with it? Sink, bathtub, counters and toilet? I’d like to use it mainly in the bathroom and wondering if it’ll clean everything except the floor and mirror? Thanks!
It should!
does anyone know if you can add bleach? I am in love with Soft Scrub with Bleach and have been looking for a replacement for it… wondering if adding a couple tablespoons of bleach would make it more effective.
I use a mix of water, baking soda and bleach to clean my white SS sink every few weeks. Works great!
I can’t wait to try this!
I’ve been using this for a while, and it cleans my 1960s etched tub better than anything. The original recipe I used had a but of vegetable glycerine in it as a preservative. That might keep it from hardening. I think it would be thicker if you used the Castile soap because there’s a difference in the consistency of the Mrs. Meyer’s. I like it thick, so I can get it righ where I want it without it running away. I store mine in a wide mouth jar and use a Popsicle stick to get it out.
Does anyone know if this is septic safe? I would love to start making my own cleaning supplies, but I’m so worried about messing up the balance of the septic tank. Any suggestions for septic safe homemade cleaners (detergent, bathroom scrub, etc)? Thanks!
I have a septic system and the Castile soap seems to be the way to go. You do want to avoid bleach and conventional antibacterial soaps. But Castile soap even with some essential oils should be fine. You just want to avoid anything that will wipe out your bacteria population.
Where is the the least expensive place from which to buy Dr. Bronners? I see Amazon has it for $0.32/oz for the 18oz bottle. Are there other sites/stores that anyone recommends? Thank you!
I found one of those larger long bottles i think for 32 ounces – $9.99 at trader joes.
Vitacost had the best prices last year. I got a gallon so I haven’t had to shop around recently.
Where do you purchase Dr. Bronner’s? Can you buy it at any grocery store?
I usually buy it on Amazon, Carla.
I usually order Dr. Bronner’s from Amazon, but I recently discovered that Kroger has some under their brand, Simple Truth, that is cheaper by the oz.
Thanks for the tip! -Jordan, MSM Team
I am so glad you tried this recipe and it worked well. I was just thinking I need a soft scrub recipe. I had seen some with salt and others with baking soda so I didn’t know which one to try. I tried a shower cleaner recipe and I was really happy with how it turned out. Now I have a recipe for soft scrub too. 🙂
I use this exact same thing to clean my tubs, except I use Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap. I would recommend putting it in an open container, like a tupperware container. After time it will harden up and it’s easier to add more water and mix when it’s in a container with a large opening. I just add a little water, mix with a spoon and use. A tupperware container will last me for months!
That’s good to know. How is it for cleaning the hard to clean ring around the tub?
I make some in the morning, smear it on my son’s bathtub, and rinse it in the evening before they shower. Minimal scrubbing, just to get it completely off the tub really. I do add some blue Dawn to my mix as well.
This is a great tip! Thank you!