6 Ways to Use Essential Oils for Non-toxic House Cleaning

Many of us know the value of essential oils used in skin care and, of course, in an aromatherapy treatment (eg. an essential oil massage) itself, but did you know that simple baking soda, plain white vinegar and a few favorite essential oils are about all you need in your cleaning pantry for daily cleaning and sanitizing of your home? 

Often there is an entire supermarket aisle dedicated to the many, and often confusing, sink and tub powders, cleaning creams, antibacterial wipes, toilet cleaners, floor cleaners, window cleaners, etc. - there's a product for every different part of the home.  Really though, there is very little need for such a ridiculously huge number of chemicals.

Baking soda is about as efficient as any cleansing cream or powder, and plain white vinegar and/or certain essential oils, such as eucalyptus, manuka, thyme or australian tea tree, are highly effective antimicrobial alternatives to the never ending number of cleaning solutions we seem to think we need.  And, even though there are many new 'green' alternatives also beginning to line the supermarket shelves, they're not all necessary.

'Green Cleaning' Your Home

The benefits to using ‘green’ alternatives - baking soda, vinegar and essential oils for keeping your home clean and sanitized include:

• Eliminates toxic chemicals from our home, ground water, septics and water courses (pond, rivers, etc);
• Bonus aromatherapy treatment - pleasant and effective aroma-therapeutic elements are not possible from synthetic fragrances.
• Compare the fake fragrances to the aroma of real eucalyptus leaves in a newly cleaned bathroom, or the fake floral smell of synthetic dryer sheets with real lavender drifting out of an opened linen closet from essential oils sprinkled on napkins and left between towels and sheets;
• It tells chemical manufacturers that we’re not interested in poisoning our planet any more, and encourages them to think of greener, sustainable alternatives.

Getting Started

* BATHROOM sprinkle some baking soda onto a moist rag and use this to clean bathroom surfaces.  Rinse thoroughly.  To sanitize, wipe surfaces with a clean cloth soaked in vinegar then wipe dry after allowing it to sit a few minutes.  For a fresh aroma, place 5-7 drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil onto a rinsing cloth and wipe this over hard surfaces.

* LINENS:  Place 8-10 drops of Lavender Essential Oil onto a piece of rag or paper towel then place between linens and sheets in the cupboard.  Enjoy a delicate lavender scent each time you walk past the cupboard!

* SHOE DEODORIZER?  Place a cup of baking soda into a jar with a tight-fitting lid.  Add 20 drops of Lavender Essential Oil.  Shake well to disperse the essential oils then use this as your deodorizer!  2 tablespoons of this powder in each shoe, shaken around to coat all of the inner shoe surfaces, left overnight or, even better, for a week, then tapped out, will do wonders to eliminate the smell from those old sneakers! And the deodorizing effect last for a very long time.

* TOOTHPASTE ALLERGY?  I have an allergy to 99% of commercial toothpastes.  Instead of using these I make a tooth powder with baking soda pre-mixed with a few  drops of Spearmint Essential Oil.  A small amount of this sprinkled onto a wet toothbrush is all that is needed for the cleanest teeth, ever.

* WINDOWS: a 50:50 water/vinegar solution in a sprayer can replace those highly fragranced synthetic cleanser.  Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil for fragrance if you like (you'll need to shake before using to disperse the oil).

* REPLACE DRYER SHEETS: that are highly doused in toxic synthetic fragrances with a 6? square out of a clean rag that has been covered with about 10 drops of your favorite Essential Oil.