Reader Question: how long to keep homemade green cleaners?

Folks have a lot of questions about green cleaners. Most recently on the post, 25 Safe, Non-toxic, Homemade Cleaning Supplies, Tosha asked, “Does anyone know how long you can keep these products once you mix them?” Then Caroline followed up with, “I too am interested in knowing if you can mix a batch up and save it? Or do you have to mix and use immediately? No one has answered Tosha on this…and I would like to know too!”

The issue here is that there are 25 cleaners posted in that post – so as you might guess, each can have a varied shelf life. Since no one asked about specific cleaners, here’s a quick life-span primer on some of the cleaners (I’m guessing which ones people are interested in)…

Cleaner # 14 – Disinfectant all purpose cleaner: You can keep this mix of essential oil, water, and soap, until it’s all used up. To be honest, I actually just keep adding new stuff to the same bottle I’ve had around forever. No items in this mix will go bad. If you didn’t EVER use your mix, I’m guessing the essential oil component would eventually degrade or smell different, but I use mine daily, so I’ve never seen it happen.

Cleaner # 16 – Basic furniture polish: Mix fresh each time you use it. If you’ve got a little left over, and for sure will use it within a month, go ahead and keep it, but the olive oil won’t keep for longer.

Cleaner # 17 – Herbal disinfectant: The longest I’ve ever had this mix around is for a few months. By then I’ve used it mostly up and mix up a fresh batch. I don’t think anything bad will happen if you have it around longer, but the herbs may loose their herbal qualities.

Cleaner # 20 – Window / glass cleaner: This mix of vinegar and water will keep forever. At least in my experience. If a vinegar expert stops by, who knows, we may hear differently, but until then, I’m going with keep it until you use it up.

I hope this answers Tosha, Caroline, and anyone else wondering about these homemade mixes.