If you’re anything like me, you scrub your house from top to bottom when you have guests coming to visit. My parents are coming for Thanksgiving so I need to make it look like my poor husband and I don’t live like animals. And by posting about it here my secret is safe because my mother doesn’t know how to use the internet. Although Allison’s mom does so let’s hope she doesn’t say anything to my mother.
I got to cleaning last weekend. I previously mentioned that I can’t use any heavy chemicals when I clean, so for years I used the pricy “all natural” products, whatever that means. However, when I moved out of my parent’s house and started paying my own bills I switched to vinegar and baking soda, which is cheap and works really well as long as you don’t mind the smell of vinegar. I don’t mind the smell at all, but I use vinegar in my deodorant and hair conditioner (file that under things you don’t hear everyday) so sometimes it’s just nice to have another smell around the house. That’s why I switched to – you guessed it – essential oils. Certain oils, just like the plants they come from, are antibacterial, so they are great to use for household cleaning. They also smell way better than vinegar. My personal favorite oils and cleaning products are:
- Lemon EO – Duh, do I really have to explain this one? OK, I will. The acid in lemons has antiseptic properties. In fact, any citrus will do the trick. So if you aren’t a fan of lemon, you could also try grapefruit, lime, or wild orange.
- Melaleuca EO – Also known as tea tree oil, this oil is antibacterial, antiseptic, and antifungal. If you’ve ever had nail fungus then you probably know this is the go-to treatment by nail technicians the world round. I know this because one time my sister had a nail fungus and that’s what the lady told her to use, so clearly it’s a remedy used the world round.
- Lavender EO – Has antiseptic, antiviral, bactericidal, and fungicidal properties. Bet you didn’t know that!
- Peppermint EO – Has antiseptic properties and bugs hate it. I spray it all over the outside my house to keep the spiders away and it works like a charm.
- Baking Soda – We all know it’s antibacterial and it definitely adds shine to my toilet bowl.
- Salt – I use it for added scrubbing power in my scrub, but salt is also antiseptic so it actually does have some cleaning benefits too.
- Liquid Castile Soap – Soap made from vegetable oil, I most often see olive oil.
I could write for years about all the different recipes that exist for cleaning products, so I’ll stick to my top three. And because I enjoy seeing how much money I save, I thought I’d do a cost breakdown for each recipe. Remember that I pay wholesale rates for the essential oils so that’s why the prices I use are a little less than the prices shown in the links above. However, anyone can get a wholesale membership to buy the oils, shoot me an email if you’re interested.
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The comparison prices I’m showing are for the non-chemical cleaners. Obviously, if you’re interested in inhaling bleach and ammonia then you can get cheaper store products. Did you ever see that movie The Guilt Trip with Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen? If not, don’t read the next sentence. There’s a scene where Seth drinks the cleaning product that he makes and sells – that scene reminds me of these products, although they’d taste HORRIBLE. OK, spoiler alert over. And with that, give these recipes a shot and let me know what you think! Also, email me if you’re interested in buying essential oils (that are safe to ingest).