Warm weather inspires us to clean out the old and dusty, and welcome in that sunshine with a clean home. Unfortunately, many of today’s household cleaners contain toxic chemicals that can not only harm your health; they’re unsafe to children and animals as well. It’s very simple to create your own household cleaning products using essential oils. These are safe, smell great, and do a wonderful job cleaning your entire home!
Essential oils are more than good smelling, geo-friendly products. Essential oils have potent antimicrobial effects as well. Here are our top five picks of essential oils you can use to do your spring cleaning.
Lavender: The smell of lavender is incredibly relaxing, but it’s also known to be an anti-bacterial. It’s a great deterrent to insects such as moths (as we’ve mentioned in a previous blog) and can be added to any homemade cleaning product.
Pine: Pine smells clean and acts as a disinfectant and deodorizer.
Peppermint: A wonderful air purifier, peppermint also acts as a pest repellent. You can mix peppermint with other essential oils when creating your cleaning products. Try mixing with lavender, eucalyptus rosemary or lemon.
Lemon: Lemon is the epitome of the clean smell! Uplifting and powerful, the acidic properties in lemon make it an excellent antibacterial and antiseptic cleaner. Use it to remove stains, or add a few drops to a gallon of water to clean tile floors. It mixes well with orange and grapefruit essential oils as well.
Melaluca: Otherwise known as tea tree oil, melaluca is a premier sanitizer and works well with mold, mildew, musty smells, and other grungy deterrents.
Cleaners You Can Make With Essential Oils:
Make a carpet cleaner by mixing 15-20 drops of any of the above mentioned essential oils into a cup of baking soda. Let the mixture sit overnight for the oil to absorb into the baking soda, then sprinkle on the carpet before you vacuum. Reuse an old Parmesan cheese container to shake the baking soda onto carpet.
You can also add baking soda soaked with essential oil to sachets to use as odor absorber, or use it as a gentle abrasive scouring powder.
Make a disinfecting toilet bowl cleanser by combining one cup of water with one-quarter cup of liquid Castile soap and add 20 drops of lavender or lemon essential oil. Add the mixture to a 22 oz. spray bottle.
At your next massage appointment, let us know which type of cleaning product you’d be most interested in making, and we will share with you the essential oils we feel will do the trick. The best part about essential oils is that you not only can make a household cleaner, you can use the oils for a myriad of different products!
