People have been Cleaning with Hydrogen Peroxide for years. There are so many benefits of Hydrogen Peroxide, you should always keep a bottle or two in your home. It can help you save money and avoid more harmful products with nasty ingredients. You may just find your new favorite use for it!

*This post contains affiliate links.*

Benefits of Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen Peroxide – or as it’s known in it’s chemical compound, H2O2 is water, with an extra oxygen molecule.

Unlike harmful and toxic chemicals, hydrogen peroxide breaks down into just oxygen and water, making it easy on the environment. This makes Cleaning with Hydrogen Peroxide a no-brainer to me!

Hydrogen Peroxide is also really cheap, making it one of the most cost effective and useful household products you probably have in your cupboard right now. It’s only a couple dollars and you can do so much with it!

*NOTE: I will refer to Hydrogen Peroxide as H2O2 a lot in this post… It’s shorter to write out, and I’m going to write it A LOT, plus… It just looks cooler!

RELATED POST: Tips for a Successful No Spend Challenge

Safely Using H2O2

While there are many great and safe benefits of hydrogen peroxide, it is really important to never ingest it. You can safely use it to wash fruits and veggies or rinse your mouth out, but always dilute it and always spit it out and rinse your mouth afterward.

Ingesting hydrogen peroxide can lead to blisters and sores, diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

There are tons of medical reasons to use hydrogen peroxide. Most of us, at some point in our lives, have probably applied it to a cut and saw the little bubbles that form as the oxygen is released and the water is left behind.

Cleaning with Hydrogen Peroxide is perfectly safe too, in most cases, we dilute it evenly with water.

RELATED POST: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint Right Now

Cleaning with Hydrogen Peroxide

1. You can clean toilet bowls, tile surfaces, tub scum, and even whiten grout with H2O2. This can end up saving you a ton of money. A bottle of hydrogen peroxide costs a few dollars, imagine how many products you can replace!
2. Clean and Whiten Your Grout  – Spray H2O2 directly on dry grout, let it sit for a bit and then scrub it down with hot soapy water. (use an old toothbrush to really get in there!)
3. Add a few drops of H2O2 to your dish washing detergent to help your dishwasher get your dishes really clean.
4. Disinfect your Cutting Boards – After I cut meat on a cutting board I always spray down the cutting board with peroxide to kill germs and bacteria. You can never be too safe!
5. Clean your Berries and other fruits in a dish with hydrogen peroxide. Just let them soak for a few minutes and then rinse with water. Some people even find that this helps fruits and veggies last longer!
6. Whiten your Laundry with a cup of hydrogen peroxide. You can use it in place of bleach! You can also remove stains by spot cleaning the area.
7. Deep clean towels, dishrags, and wash clothes by letting them soak in hydrogen peroxide.
8. Pour a half cup of hydrogen peroxide into your toilet bowl and let it sit for about a half hour, then scrub it down. Make sure to disinfect your toilet brush too, just pour some hydrogen peroxide over it too!
9. Disinfect counter tops by using equal parts water and hydrogen peroxide. Spray down your counter tops and wipe them down.
10. Clean your kids toys by spraying them with a mixture of 50/50 water and hydrogen peroxide. Wipe them down and let them dry. Cleaning with Hydrogen Peroxide is a much safer way to clean toys than the typical store bought cleaners!

RELATED POST: Recycling Old Clothes

Health Uses for H2O2

1. Clear up your Acne – Rinse your face with hydrogen peroxide to help clear your acne. Some people find this works better then expensive face products. Make sure you use a good moisturizer afterwards!
2. Heal your Minor Cuts – Clean your cuts and soak your infections with hydrogen peroxide.
3. Lighten your Hair – Dilute the peroxide 50/50 with water. Use a spray bottle after a shower, when your hair is still wet. Comb it through your hair. This works best on light colored hair.
4. For foot fungus, spray your feet with a mixture of water and H2O2 before bed. Use a 50/50 mixture, and let it air dry.
5. Whiten Your Nails – If you have ever left nail polish on a little too long, you have probably experienced yellow nails. You can use hydrogen peroxide and a cotton pads to get rid of the yellow. Just let the cotton pad soaked in hydrogen peroxide sit on your nail for a couple minutes.
6. Help Canker Sores heal by swishing a mixture of 50/50 water and hydrogen peroxide.
7. Clean lunch boxes, coolers, or reusable grocery bags by spraying them down.
8. Help Ear Infections – I use H2O2 anytime I feel an ear infection coming on. I pour a cap-full in my ear and lay on my side for 3-5 minutes. I swear by this method, it has helped my ear infections a lot!
9. Clean Your Teeth – Brush your teeth using a mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide, and you can use water and hydrogen peroxide (mix 50/50) as a mouthwash too! This kills bacteria and helps whiten teeth. You can also soak your toothbrushes in hydrogen peroxide to clean and kill germs.

Other Household Uses for H2O2

1. Help seeds sprout by adding 1 ounce of peroxide to 1 pint of water and soak the seeds overnight. I can’t wait to try this when I plan my garden this summer!
2. Help your plants ward off fungus and bugs by spraying them with a little H2O2 in a spray bottle with water.
3. Run your dehumidifiers and humidifiers with hydrogen peroxide in some water every now and then. This will make sure your machines are clean and mold-free.
4. Inducing Vomiting in Pets. This is something we hope we never have to do, but keeping a bottle of hydrogen peroxide on hand in case our pets ever swallow anything they shouldn’t can save a life. Be VERY careful and always follow your vets guidelines when inducing vomiting!

RELATED POST: Growing Broccoli Indoors

These are just a handful of things you can do with hydrogen peroxide. There are so many benefits of hydrogen peroxide when cleaning, I’m on a mission to eliminate harmful chemicals from my home so I’m definitely going to look into more uses. Plus, I’ll end up saving a lot of money because I don’t need to buy tons of cleaning products!