Homemade Pine Needle Cleaner
This DIY pine needle cleaner breaks down grime, wipes away clean, and leaves a fresh pine scent! It’s easy to make with simple, natural ingredients!
Homemade Pine Sol Cleaner
When I became a mom, I started looking for ways to “detox the home” so to speak. This included switching to greener cleaning products. But did you know that you can make your own eco-friendly cleaner at a fraction of the cost of store-bought sprays?
This DIY pine needle cleaner is easy to make with just a handful of simple, accessible ingredients. It’s also highly effective at cleaning and disinfecting!
Pine needles have antibacterial properties, so not only does this spray help break down everyday grease and grime, it can also help disinfect surfaces. But the best part is that it wipes away clean, leaving behind a fabulous fresh pine scent. It’s essentially a homemade Pine Sol …and it smells just as good too!
We have lots of pine trees on our property, so I couldn’t wait to give this a try!
6 Benefits of Natural Pine Cleaner:
- toxin-free
- no artificial fragrances
- no harsh chemicals
- great way to use old Christmas trees
- cleans and disinfects
- smells amazing
Ingredients and Supplies
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- Fresh Pine Needles
- Distilled White Vinegar
- Lemon Essential Oil
- Quart Mason Jar with Lid
- Coffee Filter or Cheesecloth for Straining
Instructions
- Add pine cuttings to your mason jar and pack in enough so that the jar is full, but you can still put on a lid.
- Fill the rest of the jar with white vinegar, covering the pine needles.
- Add 5 drops lemon essential oil and screw on the lid.
- Shake to mix, then place in the pantry to steep for at least 2 weeks.
How To Use Homemade Pine Needle Cleaner
- When your homemade pine sol cleaner has finished steeping, remove the lid and strain to remove all the pine needles.
- Pour into a spray bottle, so that the bottle is about 2/3 full with the pine needle vinegar solution.
- Top off the bottle with filtered water, give it a good shake to mix, and your homemade cleaning spray is ready to use!
Tips and Tricks
- If you don’t have the lemon essential oil on hand, you can add fresh lemon slices instead. You could also omit the lemon altogether in a pinch! The pine cleaner will still work great without it; the lemon just adds a little cleaning boost and fresh smell.
- Check your pine needle solution at the 2 week mark, before straining out the pine needles. If the vinegar smell is still overpowering, put the lid back on and steep for another 1-2 weeks.
- After straining the pine needles, don’t throw them in the trash! You can add the pine clippings to your compost pile, or simply toss them outside and let nature do its thing. It’s just plant material after all, no need to add it to a landfill!
- If you have a mason jar sprayer lid, you can spray directly from the jar itself, without needing to buy a separate spray bottle!
- When you strain the needles, the remaining liquid will have a light yellow color…that’s totally normal!
Frequently Asked Questions
What Type Of Pine Tree Should I Use?
Pine trees are a type of conifer, or evergreen tree. Conifers are a type of tree that produces a cone that contains the tree’s seeds — we generally call them “pine cones” even though not all conifers are pine trees (but all pine trees are conifers).
To make a pine needle cleaning spray, you can use pretty much any type of evergreen tree: fir, spruces, even old Christmas tree clippings! If using a Christmas tree, just be sure that it is not flocked.
What Surfaces Can I Clean With Natural Pine Cleaning Spray?
As with any type of cleaner that you’re trying for the first time, you’ll want to do a spot-check to make sure that it is safe for the surfaces you want to clean.
We use our pine needle cleaner on:
- Kitchen counters
- Bathrooms: toilets, showers, sinks
- Kitchen or laundry room sinks
Do not use on:
- Vinegar based cleaners are not recommended for use on wood surfaces, so you wouldn’t want to use this on your antique furniture or hardwood floors.
- You also want to avoid using this spray on unsealed or porous surfaces.
- It is also not recommended to use vinegar based cleaning solutions on stainless steel appliances.
More Natural Products For The Home
Want to make your own household cleaners and helpful products? These are some of our favorites:
- DIY Any Spray
- Homemade Itch Relief Spray for Bug Bites
- 2-Ingredient Natural Roach Killer
- DIY Yoga Mat Cleaner
- Homemade Garbage Disposal Cleaning Tablets
Printable Instructions To Make Pine Needle Cleaner
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DIY Pine Needle Cleaner (Homemade Pine Sol)
Ingredients
- Fresh Pine Needles
- White Vinegar
- Lemon Essential Oils
- Quart Mason Jar with Lid
- Coffee Filter or Cheesecloth Or mesh strainer
Instructions
- Add pine cuttings to your mason jar and pack in enough so that the jar is full, but you can still put on a lid.
- Fill the rest of the jar with white vinegar, covering the pine needles.
- Add 5 drops lemon essential oil and screw on the lid.
- Shake to mix, then place in the pantry to steep for at least 2 weeks.
- Strain to remove pine needles and pour into spray bottle, 2/3 full. Fill remainder of bottle with filtered water and shake.
Notes
Pin our Homemade Pine Sol Recipe on Pinterest:
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I used cedar needles. Will it still work?
I’m not sure, as I have only tried this with pine.
Hi there! Thanks for this recipe!
I just made some brew and let it sit for 2 weeks. Smells great! I’m wondering if I can leave the extra in my pantry with the lid on until I need to make more? There was extra left over.
I always keep the extra!
We made the pinesol exactly and it’s not turning gold, 100% pine needles, and has been sitting for about 3 weeks
It might just need a little more time. Give it a good shake and let it sit another week or 2 and see how it looks. Hope this helps!
I made this, and today marks 4 weeks it’s been sitting. The vinegar was still so very very strong. I am going to use it and see what happens, if my family can stomach it when I clean. The others are still sitting in the pantry. But 4 weeks seems like a lot, how long do these really need to sit?
4 weeks should be plenty – it will still have somewhat of a vinegar smell, that is normal. Perhaps I don’t notice it as much because I actually like the smell of vinegar 🙂 Hope this helps!
Made a few jars of this. Just strained them and one jar is cloudy while the other 2 are clear. Have you had this happen? Is the cloud one still okay to use or should I not risk it?
If you’re concerned I would toss the cloudy liquid, or spot test first. Usually mine are fairly clear, though tinted yellow. Hope this helps!
Please add a disclaimer that this should NOT be used in a home with cats. Pine oil is toxic to them.
Thanks 🙂
Thank you for the feedback!
Does the jar have to be glass while steeping?
For things like this I prefer glass, as essential oils can leach into plastic.
What color is it going to be when it’s done soaking in the vinegar and Lemon essential oil.
Mine usually is a dark yellow color.