Those ready-made disinfecting wipes in the plastic containers can be so convenient for sanitizing and eliminating messes. Our family doesn’t use toxic conventional cleaners, and with a large family the cost of natural store-bought cleaners adds up fast. These natural disinfecting wipes are super simple to throw together and are a safe, effective solution to clean surfaces around the home.
Disinfecting Wipes With Essential Oils
Many of my cleaning products (and beauty products) contain essential oils. When used properly, they can be potent germ killers that are still safe to use around little ones. According to my research, all essential oils are anti-microbial to some degree, but lemon and tea tree are particularly effective. Both of these oils have a wide degree of safety for all ages when used as a surface cleanser. When these essential oils are combined, they may provide powerful protection against a wide array of pathogens, including potentially E. coli, MRSA, and salmonella.
Soap Is Safer
The 2013 FDA decision to ban several antibacterial soap ingredients caused quite a stir! Their decision was based on a lack of evidence for the long term safety of these antibacterial substances. In collaboration with the EPA, they also found some potential risks of these chemicals.
The official release also stated that evidence shows that at least for hand washing, plain soap and water is as effective as antibacterial soap when used correctly.
Of course, disinfecting surfaces is important, especially when it comes to surfaces touched by raw meat. Other types of household cleaning also require a little more power than traditional soap and water. Still, to respect the levels of healthy bacteria in our home, I use any disinfectant sparingly.
Castile Soap and Vinegar Are Not Friends
I’m a big believer in the power of vinegar. A lot of cleaning recipes use vinegar as a disinfectant, but vinegar and soap do not mix when it comes to cleaners. Since this recipe for natural disinfecting wipes also uses castile soap to break down greasy residues, vinegar won’t work here. (Lisa Bronner, from the Dr. Bronner soap family, spells out why vinegar and soap don’t work together as a cleaner in this article.)
Alcohol: Not Just for Drinking
Since there’s no vinegar in this recipe, alcohol serves instead as a disinfectant and degreaser. Alcohol evaporates quickly, allowing the cleaning solution to dry fast. (Certain rooms, like bathrooms, benefit from a fast-drying cleaner to help prevent mildew growth due to wet surfaces).
Many people have isopropyl or rubbing alcohol around, but this recipe calls for another kind of alcohol… vodka!

Natural Disinfecting Wipes Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup vodka (NOT rubbing or isopropyl alcohol)
- 3 TBSP castile soap
- 1½ cups distilled water
- 30 drops tea tree essential oil
- 35 drops lemon essential oil
Instructions
- In the large bowl mix together the alcohol, soap, water, and essential oils.
- Place two of the washcloths or fabric squares into the glass container, then pour about 1/3 of the cleaning solution over them.
- Repeat this process until all of the cloths and solution has been used. (This approach guarantees evenly wet wipes.)
- Put the lid on the container and move the container around, tipping it upside down and back again to make sure the cloths are fully saturated.
How to Use:
- Remove a wipe from the container, and wring any excess liquid out over the other wipes. Use it to disinfect and clean surfaces around the house.
- Since these natural disinfecting wipes are sturdier than the store-bought disposable ones, they hold up to scrubbing surfaces much better.
- Test any new surfaces in an inconspicuous location if there’s any concern the wipe could damage the material or surface to be cleaned.
Notes
- To wash: Launder with other kitchen towels. I always keep a small laundry basket on hand in my pantry for towels and wipes. I wash them together in hot water with a splash of hydrogen peroxide and regular laundry detergent.
- I am comfortable using these and have never had a problem using natural disinfectants like this. Please note that these are not broad spectrum disinfectants like those used in hospitals and should not be treated as such. This recipe is designed for household use and not as disinfecting wipes for skin.
Other Natural Disinfectants to Keep on Hand
These wipes are my go-to cleaners for most kitchen messes. I also keep white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide on hand for big kitchen messes.
White Vinegar
Vinegar is used in food preservation for a reason: it inhibits bacterial growth. It isn’t technically a disinfectant, but it is an effective degreaser that has some antibacterial power too. I keep a bottle of white vinegar in a spray bottle in our kitchen for use on sticky messes, grease, and sometimes as a first pass on raw meat before using these wipes.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Another natural disinfectant that I keep in the kitchen is hydrogen peroxide. I add a spray bottle top to a regular hydrogen peroxide bottle and use this to disinfect cutting boards and raw meat dishes before washing them regularly. We use food-grade hydrogen peroxide to keep our pool clean without chlorine too! Now that I keep this 35% food grade peroxide on hand, I can make a stronger concentration for use in the kitchen. Just make sure to always store hydrogen peroxide in a dark-colored opaque bottle to keep it from breaking down in light.
This article was medically reviewed by Dr. Shani Muhammad, MD, board certified in family medicine and has been practicing for over ten years. As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor or work with a doctor at SteadyMD.
What are your favorite natural cleaning tips? Are natural disinfectants part of your routine? Let me know!
Hello, great recipe, I can’t wait to try it! I just have one question regarding the essential oils. I thought that the only way to safely dilute essential oils was in water? Do they dilute fine in the soap as well?
Water is actually not a good way to dilute essential oils as they won’t actually dilute and will float on top of the water. From a chemistry standpoint, alcohol works much better (which is why it is in this recipe) and mixing EOs and alcohol first allows them to dilute in water much more effectively. Soap is chemically also better for dilution for this reason.
Hi Katie, My family and I will be traveling a LOT this summer. How would this work as a traveling toilet seat spray? Would it clean the seat quick enough for it to be immediately sat on after a spray and wipe? Also, where did you find your storage container? If this works quick enough I may use some of our old t-shirts as “disposable” wipes so we can clean the seats and dump the t-shirt scraps when done.
It would probably work, but I usually just keep a spray bottle of natural disinfectant for this.
How long have you found the wipes can store? Have you ever tried more than 6 so that they can be made less frequently? Thank you.
I’m curious why you keep rubbing alcohol away from food surfaces.
I don’t want to buy alcohol, expensive and I was almost an alcoholic!! So won’t use this recipe for cleaning!!
Plus against my religion!!
Can you make any recommendations for if I want to make a similar spray for surfaces in a medical office? I am a Naturopath and generally avoid the chemical medical sprays and wipes but would like to have some confidence in what I am using in the office.
I found your “stronger hand sanitizing spray” recipe with alcohol and essential oils and aloe gel. Any other suggestions?
Jessie Speirs ND
You could try a food grade hydrogen peroxide spray in a high dilution or any alcohol based formula with a high enough concentration should work.
Are these 2 oils in wipe recipe safe around cats?
I like this idea of easily available cleaning wipes.
Because the blend uses drinking alcohol, do we need to replace it regularly to avoid spoilage?
If there’s at least 50% alcohol which is antibacterial, if we wished to reduce the cost by omitting the essential oils, do you think this will still be effective?
The essential oils add a nice scent and a little bit of extra germ fighting, but you are right that the alcohol is the active ingredient. So you could definitely omit them if you prefer.
White vinegar paragraph: last line – I think you meant to say “surfaces touched by raw meat” rather than just “raw meat.” As written, it sounds lie you’re advocating using these wipes on the raw meat itself.
Thanks. Fixed 🙂
The best part is this week i was thinking to myself that I wish wellness mama did a post on this. THANK YOU <3