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Non toxic, yet very effective and super simple to make with only four ingredients. This diy stain remover is even better than store bought and is the best I have ever used!

What you’ll need:

1 – 16oz Amber Glass Spray Bottle and Funnel
1 TBSP Measuring Spoon
6 TBSP – Vegetable Glycerin
2 TBSP – Sal Suds or Dawn dish soap
40 Drops – Lemon Essential Oil
Hydrogen Peroxide (any cheap 3% peroxide will work)

Ingredients and glass spray bottles for DIY Stain Remover sitting on a wooden counter

I love this recipe and use it every day! Having three small children really produces a lot of stains. Hahaha! I have tried so many different store bought stain removers and none of them really compare to this. Most of them (even the ones marketed for babies) contain at least one or more toxic ingredients. My children have such sensitive skin that they can welt up just from touching them. I had to figure out something that was safe to put on their clothes and worked well for stains that wouldn’t make them break out. I have tweaked this recipe a little over the years and I will modify and substitute ingredients in a pinch, but this is still the best stain remover I have ever used.

DIY Stain Remover Step 1:

Get your spray bottle ready

Pull out your 16 oz amber glass spray bottle. It doesn’t necessarily have to be glass, although I do prefer it, but it does have to be dark colored. Peroxide breaks down when exposed to light, which is why is comes in a brown bottle. I really like these spray bottles from amazon. They even come with a handy little funnel! If you would prefer to do half the batch, these 8 oz spray bottles work great too.

Stain remover refill amber glass bottle with a stainless steel funnel in it, sitting on a wooden counter top next to a bottle of vegetable glycerin.

Step 2:

Vegetable Glycerin

Add about 6 TBSP of vegetable glycerin to the spray bottle.

Ok, to be honest I usually eyeball most of the ingredients when I do this, so it doesn’t have to be super precise to still work well.

Woman pouring vegetable glycerin into a tablespoon over a funnel into a bottle of DIY stain remover

Step 3:

Sal Suds

Next add about 2 TBSP Sal Suds.

Sal Suds is seriously sudsy! It doesn’t have to be super precise, but I wouldn’t over do it too much. It is super concentrated and a strong, yet gentle cleanser. You can use Dawn Dish Soap, but I prefer not to because it has bad fragrances and such. If you don’t have Sal Suds on hand, you can also substitute it with liquid castile soap like this one.

Woman pouring Sal Suds into a tablespoon

Step 4:

Lemon Essential Oil

Then you want to add somewhere between 20-40 drops of Lemon essential oil. You definitely want to use a high quality essential oil. Not one that is diluted with alcohol or anything. This is what has a lot of the stain removing power. I prefer to only use young living essential oils (read a little more about why here). I usually use the plain Lemon in this recipe, but I have also used the Citrus Fresh and Lushious Lemon blends with great success.

Step 5:

Hydrogen Peroxide

Lastly you want to top it off with peroxide. You should leave a little space at the top for shaking room and so it doesn’t overflow when you put the sprayer lid on.

Happy Stain Removing!

Most of the time after giving the bottle a little shake, I just spray it on fresh stains and toss it in the laundry basket to wash later. I do get the occasional tough stain that I missed the first time around and I will spray it then give it a little scrub and wash it again.

Below are some before and after photos using this diy stain remover on my daughter’s pajama top with raspberry stains on it.

You are welcome to leave a comment. I would love to hear how well this works for you!

Yield: 16oz

DIY Stain Remover

Non toxic, yet very effective and super simple to make with only four ingredients, this is the best stain remover ever! This is very gentle on clothes as well as sensitive skin. It is also color safe!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Materials

[6 TBSP Vegetable Glycerin]
[2 TBSP Sal Suds or Dawn Dish Soap]
[40 Drops Lemon Essential Oil]
[Hydrogen Peroxide]

Tools

16oz Amber Glass Spray Bottle
1 TBSP Measuring Spoon
Funnel

Instructions

Put 6 TBSP Vegetable Glycerin into the 16oz bottle.
Add 2 TBSP of Sal Suds (or Dawn Dish Soap).
Add 30-40 drops of Lemon essential oil.
Top off with Hydrogen peroxide leaving a little space at the top for shaking.
Put spray top on and give it a little shake to mix all the ingredients.
Spray affected garment and wash as usual!

Notes

* I love using Sal Suds because it is so strong and effective, yet non-toxic and biodegradable! This can be substituted with Dawn Dish Soap or Liquid Castile Soap if necessary. I prefer to not use Dawn though, because it does have artificial fragrance in it.

* Other essential oil options are Citrus Fresh and Lushious Lemon Young Living Blends. I have used both of these with great success in this recipe.

* Old or previously washed and set in stains can still be difficult to get out, but this stain remover can still work on them. I usually just spray it and scrub it in a little, then wash it again.

* This recipe works great on grubby kids clothes and even cloth diapers! It is also super sensitive skin safe.

* I have found grease stains to be particularly stubborn no matter what stain remover you are using. I try to spray them right after they happen and give it a little scrub to be sure it doesn't set in to well.

* I like to use the 16oz bottle for refilling and keep my little 8oz sprayer handy, but it is totally fine to use the sprayer directly on the 16oz bottle. Just make sure whatever bottle you use to spray or store the stain remover in is a dark color. Hydrogen Peroxide degrades in sunlight.