A water-based metal cleaning agent and a preparing method thereof are disclosed. The cleaning agent includes, by weight, 15-20 parts of polyoxyethylene alkyl ether, 15-20 parts of octylphenol polyoxyethylene ether, 10-12 parts of sodium citrate, 10-12 parts of sodium stearate, 10-15 parts of sodium dodecyl sulfonate, 8-15 parts of triethanolamine oleate, 15-20 parts of coconut fatty acid diethanolamide, 3-5 parts of sodium silicate, 3-5 parts of carboxymethylcellulose, 2-4 parts of a defoamer and 80-100 parts of water. The polyoxyethylene alkyl ether, the octylphenol polyoxyethylene ether, thesodium dodecyl sulfonate are firstly dissolved into the water, then the sodium citrate, the sodium stearate, the sodium silicate, the triethanolamine oleate, the coconut fatty acid diethanolamide andthe carboxymethylcellulose are added in order according to the ratio, the mixture is stirred until the mixture is in a semitransparent state, finally the defoamer is added into the mixture, and the mixture is fully stirred. The cleaning agent is scientific and reasonable in formula, high in cleaning power, safe, environmentally friendly, simple and convenient to operate and low in cost.