How to Green Clean your Home Using Aromatherapy Essential Oils
More and more eco-friendly options are replacing products on the store shelves. However, nothing is more comforting than knowing you can make your own "green" cleaning products at home and know EXACTLY what is in them !
1
BASIC DISINFECTANT/CLEANSER: Fill a spray bottle 3/4 full with water (I use distilled so I don't have the mineral deposits). Add 1/2 to 3/4 cups of vodka (grain alcohol). I use grain alcohol so I have the scent of the essential oils, not alcohol. Add 4-6 drops of favorite aromatherapy essential oils (up to 4 varieties.)
Lavender
, lemon, tea tree, and pine are a good blend, and relatively inexpensive to use.
2
FLOOR CLEANERS: This is more a recipe for vinyl flooring. I'm not sure I'd recommend it for hardwood. Mix 1/4 cup white vinegar in bucket of tap water. Add 10 drops of pine, lemon, tea tree or other EO.
3
VACUUMING: Add a few drops of a chosen EO to a vacuum cleaner bag or to the water pan if it has one of those. Good choices are orange, grapefruit, lemon, peppermint.
4
WINDOW CLEANER: Mix 1 cup white vinegar with several drops lemon oil in spray bottle.
5
LAUNDRY: Disinfect laundry (and kill the dust mites in your bedding... the ones that don't drown anyway !) Add 15-20 drops of tea tree oil to your wash water or liquid detergent.
6
LAUNDRY (DRYER): Add a few drops of a chosen essential oil to a wet washcloth (make it an old one, oils stain usually.) This will softly scent your drying laundry. It will not soften however. To achieve this, also add 1-2 tennis balls. (a much less toxic choice than fabric softener sheets!)
Tips & Warnings
Good basic disinfecting/cleaning essential oils are: Lavender, tea tree, pine, lemon, grapefruit, spruce, lemongrass, and eucalyptus. This list is also some of the least expensive of the essential oils.
Be sure to get true aromatherapy essential oils, NOT fragrance oils. Fragrance oils are synthetic and useless for disinfecting and green cleaning.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4456383_home-using-aromatherapy-essential-oils.html
More and more eco-friendly options are replacing products on the store shelves. However, nothing is more comforting than knowing you can make your own "green" cleaning products at home and know EXACTLY what is in them !
1
BASIC DISINFECTANT/CLEANSER: Fill a spray bottle 3/4 full with water (I use distilled so I don't have the mineral deposits). Add 1/2 to 3/4 cups of vodka (grain alcohol). I use grain alcohol so I have the scent of the essential oils, not alcohol. Add 4-6 drops of favorite aromatherapy essential oils (up to 4 varieties.)
Lavender
, lemon, tea tree, and pine are a good blend, and relatively inexpensive to use.
2
FLOOR CLEANERS: This is more a recipe for vinyl flooring. I'm not sure I'd recommend it for hardwood. Mix 1/4 cup white vinegar in bucket of tap water. Add 10 drops of pine, lemon, tea tree or other EO.
3
VACUUMING: Add a few drops of a chosen EO to a vacuum cleaner bag or to the water pan if it has one of those. Good choices are orange, grapefruit, lemon, peppermint.
4
WINDOW CLEANER: Mix 1 cup white vinegar with several drops lemon oil in spray bottle.
5
LAUNDRY: Disinfect laundry (and kill the dust mites in your bedding... the ones that don't drown anyway !) Add 15-20 drops of tea tree oil to your wash water or liquid detergent.
6
LAUNDRY (DRYER): Add a few drops of a chosen essential oil to a wet washcloth (make it an old one, oils stain usually.) This will softly scent your drying laundry. It will not soften however. To achieve this, also add 1-2 tennis balls. (a much less toxic choice than fabric softener sheets!)
Tips & Warnings
Good basic disinfecting/cleaning essential oils are: Lavender, tea tree, pine, lemon, grapefruit, spruce, lemongrass, and eucalyptus. This list is also some of the least expensive of the essential oils.
Be sure to get true aromatherapy essential oils, NOT fragrance oils. Fragrance oils are synthetic and useless for disinfecting and green cleaning.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4456383_home-using-aromatherapy-essential-oils.html
