My favorite sorts of homemade solutions or household hacks are the ones that help me “work smarter, not harder.” (Because we can all agree that the work involved in running a household is already hard enough as it is, right? Right.) :-)
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And the homemade solution that I’ll be sharing with you today definitely fits that description! This simple concoction takes 99% of the work out of cleaning up one of the trickiest types of messes: the sticky kind.
I call this concoction my DIY “Goo Gone” gunk remover, because like Goo Gone, it effectively cuts through sticky messes and makes them much easier to clean up. But rather than relying on caustic chemicals to get the job done, this DIY version uses just a few natural ingredients!
How Does It Work?
There are just three simple ingredients in this homemade cleaning solution. Each of them play an important role in the fight against sticky messes and stubborn gunk!
- Coconut Oil – Fat-rich coconut oil is surprisingly effective at breaking down sticky messes, even the stubborn ones like adhesive residue and sap.
- Lemon Essential Oil – Lemon essential oil is a powerful degreasing agent, and it lends this mixture a fresh, clean scent too!
- Baking Soda – Baking soda adds an abrasive element to help scrub away the loosened gunk.
So now that you know what goes into it and how it works, let’s get to the fun part! Here’s how to make and use your own gunk remover at home.
How To Make A DIY “Goo Gone” Gunk Remover
Ingredients:
- 1 part baking soda
- 1 part coconut oil
- Lemon essential oil
Directions:
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Add equal parts of baking soda and coconut oil, plus a few drops of lemon essential oil, to a small bowl and stir well.
To make enough for a single use, use 1 tablespoon each of baking soda and coconut oil and 1 drop of lemon oil.
To make enough for several uses, add 1/3 cup each of baking soda and coconut oil and 10 drops of lemon oil.
How To Use Your DIY Goo Gone
To clean up a sticky mess, smear a generous amount of the baking soda and coconut oil mixture over whatever you’re trying to clean.
Let the mixture sit there for about 15 minutes or so to give it time to work. Then use a scrubber of some sort to cut through the loosened gunk. Rinse it clean, and you’re done!
Use your homemade gunk remover to clean:
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- Sticker adhesive
- Tape residue
- Greasy hands
- Sticky messes on skin, floors, your pet’s fur, etc.
- Dirt-covered hands
- Crayon marks on walls
- Scissor blades
- Lipstick or mascara smears
- Bird droppings
- Tree sap
- Wallpaper residue
- Wax drips and spills
- …and more!
3 More Helpful Tips
- Play It Safe. To avoid damage, avoid using this mixture on leather, suede, silk, unfinished wood, and unsealed stones.
- Spot Test! If you’re worried about stains or damage, test the mixture first by applying it to an inconspicuous spot.
- Keep It Cheap. When I’m ingesting coconut oil or applying it topically, I always make sure to buy high quality virgin coconut oil. But when I’m using it for things like this, I have no qualms about using the cheap stuff to save money!
What’s the stickiest mess you’ve ever had to clean up?
