Next up in our Natural Cleaning series – how to make your own Wood and Surface Cleaning Spray. This one is really special, as it’s infused with wildcrafted pine from our surrounding Swedish forests.
Personally, we have a ton of wood in our home. From furniture and shelves to cooking utensils and stacks of beautiful objects. Wood is probably my favorite materials. I recently read a book called Made of Wood, which I bought after reading the introduction. It spoke about wood as a constant in life. “To be surrounded with handmade objects; to embrace imperfection; and to celebrate humble, everyday things for their simple, sculptural beauty…” Yep, this definitely fits in my idea of a beautiful, natural home.
We’ve already shown you how to make a Glass and Mirror Cleaner. So today’s lets tackle all of your beautiful wooden floors, cabinets, tables, objects – even your stainless steel. This everyday spray has a lot going for it:
- easy to make and customize
- completely natural – and organic if you buy organic ingredients
- far more sustainable and economical than buying
- effective for light dusting jobs, but also effective for more heavy duty jobs like cleaning wood floors and cabinets
- does not cause build-up and hazy streaks, so it can be used everyday with beautiful results
- smells so yummy, feels so fresh
- a fun way of bringing nature home – in the form of wildcrafted pine that’s infused into the ingredients
Cleaning may not be the trendiest of topics, but for most of us it’s just #everydaylife.
If you’ve looked at the ingredients in commercial cleaning products, you may have felt sick to the stomach. Even the ‘natural’ ones are difficult to decipher. I’ve had asthma since childhood, and unfortunately my oldest son has mild asthma too, so it’s important for us to use natural ingredients that don’t agitate our respiratory systems. Not to mention that we have a baby/toddler in da haus! And he chews on everything, including the corners of our wood tables. He regularly licks mirrors, so thank goodness for my homemade yet natural glass cleaner too.
But even if you don’t have asthma or babies, you will love how your space feels and smells after cleaning with natural ingredients. Your body will thank you for improving the air quality of your space when you switch from harsh chemicals to natural ingredients.
The Ingredients
As always, the quality of your end product is determined by the quality of ingredients. We recommend organic ingredients to the degree possible.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – just as this ingredient hydrates and heals your skin, it can revive dry wood as well. Wood is a living, porous material. It needs moisture, and olive oil brings not only that but some shine. An excellent polisher and conditioner that you probably have on hand. And unlike cheap oils, olive oil has a long shelf life.
Wildcrafted Pine Needles – this is optional if you’re in a pinch. But it really takes this spray to another level, so please try it if you can! You don’t need a lot of pine needles – a good handful will do – and any sort of pine will do – but you will need a few weeks to let them infuse into the olive oil. It infuses your spray with the powerful properties of pine, which are many. It detoxifies and disinfects. It purifies the air and kills bad odors. It may even ward of flies. Not to mention the energizing, uplifting effect it has on your mood.
Distilled White Vinegar – a staple in any cleaning product, distilled white vinegar cuts through grease and grime, unwanted odors and scum. I use a vinegar at 12-15%. You can use normal household white vinegar (usually around 5%) if that’s all you have – it still works perfectly fine as an everyday dusting spray.
Lemon – one of the best natural cleansers, and no it will not harm your wood! I add just enough to give your spray a fresh scent and an extra punch of cleaning umph. The citric acid in lemon juice is great for tackling stains. Lemon juice is also used for tackling mold and other microbes. You can substitute lemon oil if you have it.
Vegetable Glycerin – a humectant, which means that it attracts moisture, helping your wood to shine for longer. It also helps disperse the essential oils into the spray, so that they remain evenly mixed in.
Essential Oils – they not only make your space smell wonderful, but essential oils are great for cleansing and clearing. They’re good for air quality. Good for our mental state as well. For this spray, I almost reach for Lavender and Atlas Cedarwood, or another woodsy scent like cedarwood. I love citrusy oils in my Glass and Mirror Cleaning Spray, but for this wood polish, I prefer the more grounding oils.
To Make
I made a little video in case it helps! But I’ll share a little more about the process below the video as well.
First, let’s make some pine infused olive oil! Of course you could skip this – just nix the wildcrafted pine and use regular olive oil. There have been many instances when I needed a wood cleaner now and not in a few weeks. But if you have the time, the addition of fresh, wild pine is incredibly luxurious.
I’ve already shared my entire process for infusing oils in our post, Make Your Own Infused Oils.
So check that post out if it helps! Or or youtube video (above) will help as well.
But for those who want a quick guide here: go out to your favorite wild place and find a healthy looking Pine tree. I like to sniff around a bit. And taste test. Which may sound strange, but I prefer plants that are really active. And like all of us, plants have their more dormant years and seasons as well. Very natural. So I always recommend using all of your senses when choosing evergreen needles.
Cut off a few small branches of pine needles. Bring them home and give them a quick rinse in warm water. Gather the stems together and tie. Then hang upside down in a cool, dark spot to dry. It will take just a few days, depending on your climate. In our dry Swedish weather, it didn’t take long at all.
Once your pine needles are dry, chop them up and put them in a jar. What size jar? However much pine infused oil you want to make. I just used a small 500 ml jar in the video. Once the infusion was totally done, it yielded around 200-250 ml of pine infused oil.
Cover your chopped up pine needles with olive oil, ensuring that the pine is completely covered with oil. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and then put in a cool, dark place for a few weeks. Every few days, you can give the jar a little shake.
After a few weeks, strain the pine and oil through a fine mesh strainer. Let all that divine pine-smelling oil drip down into your clean jar. Breathe in that lovely forest smell. Gahh I just love it. Now you have your pine infused oil, so let’s move onto the final step.
Wyld Wood & Surface Cleaning Spray
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable glycerin
- 5 drops lavender essential oil
- 5 drops atlas cedarwood essential oil
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice (or substitute 2 drops lemon essential oil)
- 80 ml (or 1/3 cup) distilled white vinegar
- 60 ml (or 1/4 cup) pine infused olive oil (or regular olive oil if you’re skipping the pine infusion)
- 300 ml glass spray bottle
First combine the the vegetable glycerin and essential oils, stirring them together until fully mixed together. It’s important to create this emulsion first before adding in your liquid components, so that the essential oils will disperse properly. Next add in your lemon juice, vinegar and oil. Stir until combined, and then transfer to your spray bottle. Using a small funnel helps transfer. You can fill the bottle with water if you want. I do this often, especially for everyday light dusting and polishing jobs. If you have a really heavy duty task like wood floors or cabinets to clean, then you might consider skipping the water and using the spray at its most potent. Put on your spray top and give it a gentle shake before each use.
To use, simply spray on a cleaning cloth or directly onto your wood furniture. Polish away. Works on any wood or laminate, and also on stainless steel
And as always, if you don’t feel like making it yourself, you can buy it directly from Wyld.
We’re here for you.
Would you also like to know how to make your own All-Purpose Cleaning Spray infused with some of the wild plants at your fingertips? We will be sharing this soon!
We’ve already shared how to make a natural, effective Glass & Mirror Cleaner at home.
We’re still planning to take you on a tour of our humble little cleaning closet in the future, sharing our tips for avoiding chemicals and plastics, plus how to find natural materials and products that elevate the everyday humdrum tasks of cleaning.
