If you get light-headed just reading the ingredients on your cleaning products, take heart: There’s another way.
These make-in-minutes, super-cheap recipes create potions that use sweet-smelling essential oils that won’t fumigate your home, while having superpowers to fight grime and bacteria.
And much like you would make changes to a food recipe, you can modify the oils to suit your own olfactory senses.
Citrusy All-Purpose Cleaner
- 15 drops of essential oil of lemon
- 5 drops essential oil of sweet orange
- 5 drops essential oil of rosemary
- 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1-1/2 cups filtered water
Funnel all these ingredients into a spray bottle, seal, and gently shake. There’ll be a battle of odors here, with the acidic vinegar likely winning out against the sweet-smelling oils, but don’t let this deter you.
The vinegar scent disappears quickly, but that citrusy, herby zing lingers on. And these oils aren’t just there for their scent alone. Lemon oil is a natural disinfectant, orange oil busts grease, and rosemary oil has some antibacterial and antiseptic qualities.
Lemon-Scented Window Cleaner
- 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 2 cups filtered water
- 10 drops essential oil of lemon
Mix all these ingredients in a spray bottle.
Spray on any glass surface and polish with a microfiber cloth. You’ll have sparkling panes and mirrors in no time, and that wondrous essential oil of lemon will kill off the bacteria left behind by mucky fingerprints.
Eucalyptus Toilet Bowl Cleaner
- 25 drops essential oil of eucalyptus
- 1/3 cup Castile soap
- 2 cups filtered water
- 1-1/3 cups baking soda
Fill a squeeze bottle with the water, baking soda, and eucalyptus oil.
Seal the bottle and shake. Next, add the Castile soap. Shake again. Squeeze around the bowl. Leave for 15 minutes, then scrub with a toilet brush, flush, and you’re done.
Aside from having a deliciously fresh aroma, eucalyptus is a natural germicide.
Lavender-Thyme Dish Cleaner
- 20 drops essential oil of lavender
- 10 drops essential oil of thyme
- 5 drops of essential oil of tea tree
- 1 cup filtered water
- 1 cup liquid Castile soap
- 2 tablespoons baking soda
This one does require some stovetop time: Bring the water to a boil, then mix in the oils. (Thyme and tea tree goes to war on salmonella while emitting a pleasant aroma along with lavender.) Add the rest of the ingredients slowly. After that, remove from heat and allow to cool.
Once cooled, pour into a squeeze bottle. Shake gently before using.
Peppermint-Lavender Floor Cleaner
- 5 drops essential oil of peppermint
- 5 drops essential oil of lavender
- 5 drops of essential oil of tea tree
- 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
Pour the vinegar into a bucket, fill that bucket with hot water and add the oils.
Works on stone, tile, and wooden floors. Not only is peppermint oil anti-bacterial, it may also deter mice and other pests.
Tea tree oil is antibacterial, antiseptic, and antifungal. Not only is lavender oil antibacterial, too, but its aroma has soothing properties that can calm your whole household.
Lavender Linen Spray
- 6 drops of essential oil of lavender
- 2 tablespoons witch hazel
- Filtered water
Fill a spray bottle with the witch hazel and lavender. Shake, top off with water, shake again, and then spray away.
Cinnamon and Sandalwood Air Freshener
- 10 drops essential oil of cinnamon
- 10 drops oil of sandalwood
- 1 cup filtered water
A spritz of this subtle-but-effective scent erases stinks in seconds. Fill a spray bottle with the water and the oils. Cinnamon scent boosts brain power, and sandalwood is calming — perfect for a hardworking, stressed out home!
Essential oils do mix, so if any of the scents in these recipes don’t appeal, play around with other oils. Just keep the quantities the same. For example, if you switched sandalwood for orange oil in this air freshener, stick to the 10 drops specified in the recipe.