Thread: Essential Oils
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Old 01-11-2010, 10:01 PM   #1
Céline
Avalon Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,285
Default Essential Oils

Using essential oils around the house has more then one benefit. It brings a sense of peace and tranquility...or can stimulate the appetite! As well as being a green way of cleaning !

Here are some ideas i gathered and put together...

Dishwashing Soap:

Add fragrance or help the antiseptic action of your liquid soap, add several drops of essential oils such as lavender, fir, spruce, pine, lemon, bergamot, , orange or Basil.

In Your washing Machine:

Essential oils can help with the cleanliness and fragrance of laundry. eucalyptus oil in the wash cycle...You may also add several drops of essential oils to the rinse cycle, such as fir, spruce, juniper, lavender, cedar wood, or rosewood.

Place a washcloth dampened with 10 drops of lavender, lemon, melaleuca, bergamot, or other essential oils in your dryer. Wont work on static cling, but will add a great scent and has no chemicals like bounce etc


Surface Cleansers

Fill a plastic spray bottle with water and a squirt of dishwashing soap. Add 3 to 5 drops each of lavender, lemon, and pine essential oils. Shake the spray bottle well, and your homemade cleaner is ready to spray. (do not use on limonium it may stain, so do a test first)

Additional antibacterial and antiviral oils that are excellent for cleaning include cinnamon, clove, Eucalyptus , thyme, juniper, Melaleuca altemifolia, spruce, lemongrass, and grapefruit.


Floors and Carpet:

By combining essential oils with common household products, you can create your own nontoxic aromatic floor and carpet cleaners. To clean hard floors, add l/4 cup of white vinegar to a bucket of water. Then add 5- 10 drops of lemon, pine, spruce, Melaleuca alternifoli.

If the floor is especially dirty, add several drops of dish washing soap. This will clean even the dirtiest floor.


To make a carpet freshener, add sixteen to twenty drops of essential oils to a cup of baking soda or borax powder.

Mix well and place in a covered container overnight so that the oil can be absorbed. Sprinkle over your carpet the next day and then vacuum the powder up.

You may also saturate a disposable cloth or tissue with several drops of essential oil and place it into the collecting bag of your vacuum. This will diffuse a pleasant odor as you clean. If your vacuum collects dirt into water, simply add a few drops into the water reservoir before cleaning. This refreshes both the carpet and the room.

Insecticide and Repellent: Dust Mites, Fleas, Ticks, Ants, Spiders, etc.

Many of us use synthetic chemicals to deal with insects. Essential oils and oil blends, such as lavender, lemon, peppermint, lemongrass, cypress, Eucalyptus globulus, cinnamon, thyme, basil, Thieves, Purification, and citronella, effectively repel many types of insects including mites, lice, and fleas. Peppermint placed on entry ways prevents ants from entering.

If you need moth repellents for your linens and woolens, avoid toxicommercial mothballs made of naphthalene. Natural essential oils, like citronella, lavender, lemongrass, Canadian red cedar, or rosemary, can just as effectively repel moths and other insects.

You can make a sachet by placing several drops of essential oil on a cotton ball. Wrap and tie this in a small handkerchief or square of cotton. Hang this cloth in storage areas or add it to your chest of linens. Refresh as often as necessary. You can put this sachet in your bureau drawers to keep your clothes freshly scented. Lavender and rose are classic scents but i love to use a variety of floral scents, Geranium is my present favorite!

For children chamomile is an especially fragrant and relaxing. scent without being over powering
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