Spring Cleaning with Essential Oils

Hello all! I have to tell you, I am SO very happy today.  It’s SPRING!! Woo-hoo.

Okay, I know, a bit overboard. But I’m from Pennsylvania and I’m sick of snow. Now, that being said, there are absolutely zero guarantee’s that Spring means the snow is over. But I’m going to hold out hope that it means we are nearing the end of winter and that soon I will start to see green again. Things blooming, color returning to my yard.

For me it also means I can start getting ready to air out the house and think about the “Spring Cleaning” that needs to happen. Not that it’s something I’m looking forward to or anything but after being closed up for the winter months, my windows need to be opened, walls need to be wiped down, carpets need to be scrubbed, and so on and so on.  Finally getting some fresh air into my home, I do not want to ruin it with the smell of cleaning chemicals. So let’s try some “green” cleaning this year and make your products using natural ingredients and adding essential oils.

Look, I know that it’s not easy to go all green and healthy all at once. I get it. Hell, I still have good ole fashion cleaning products under my sinks. Not gonna lie to you. I can not lecture on the use of commercial products because they still reside in my home. However, I am working on making small changes over time to make it more sustainable for my family and myself to live with. I love natural, I love essential oils, I love the safety of non-commercial products. However, it’s not always financially sensible or time-sensible (like that word) to give them up. If you don’t have the time or the money to give it all up, start with one thing.

My first product I got rid of was dryer sheets. I went to the dollar store and bought a package of those re-usable dish rags, around here they are the blue and white ones. the are folded into 4 sections and each package usually has about 8. I cut them into 4 pieces. While at the dollar store, grab a container. I have a glass one that I keep my “solution” in and then a plastic one I keep the saturated rags in because my family doesn’t want to have to stick their  hand in the solution. Yes, my family is a group of cry-babies. BUT, I love them, so whatever. Okay, so now into your glass jar, lets add a cup of good ole white vinegar. Let’s add a cup of water – straight outta the tap will do ya. To that we will add our oils. Now, this is 100%  your preference based on fragrance. I have used Lemon – but my hubs didn’t like smelling like lemons, so I tried lavender. Daughter didn’t like that. Cry-babies, told  ya. So now I have a stock blend that has some peppermint, lemon, lavender and some orange. To my 2 cup solution, I add about 10-15 drops of oil. Then add your cut up rags. If you can handle touching the solution, you can grab a rag, squeeze out some of the liquid – not all – then throw into the dryer. When you take it out of the dryer, throw it back into your solution jar. Ta-da.

Now, let’s go with an all-purpose spray. While at the dollar store, grab an empty spray bottle. Big debate on glass vs plastic. I’m not gonna tell you which to use. When I couldn’t afford anything else, it was plastic from the dollar store and I’m pretty sure it’s probably not the PET plastic that is recommended if using plastic. Look, use what you have, what you can afford or what makes you feel all rainbows and sunshine. Because it’s going to be preservative free, you will need to remake it every few weeks anyway so you don’t need to make gallons of it and keep it safely stored in glass/PET/whatever!

Okay, now that we have that covered, let’s grab your bottle, add 1 1/2 ounces of water, 1 tsp vinegar and 15 drops of oil. Lemon, Peppermint, Siberian Fir, Lavender, Sweet Orange, Tea Tree are all good ones to use for their hardworking properties to kill off the bacteria and other unwanted house guests (don’t spray your in-laws or kids; I mean you can, it won’t kill them). But you can use different oils if those don’t fit your fancy. Shake it up and spray. Like I said, replace this mix about every 3 weeks since we didn’t add any preservatives.  To make more of a scrubby type cleaner, grab a container – again whatever floats your boat, glass or plastic and add in 1 cup baking soda, 3 Tbsp castile soap and 40 drops of oil. Yep – 40! I like the above mentioned, if you don’t, it’s cool – use what you like. Mix it all together. It’s a bit of a paste – if you want it thinner, add more castile soap. You can then add to your sponge and scrub away. If you would like to receive a PDF of some cleaning recipes, please click here.

Alright friends, happy cleaning!!!

<3 Much Aromalove, Theresa

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