Everyone enjoys a clean home free of dust, dirt, bacteria, and allergens. Removing these agents is crucial to attaining a healthy and comfortable indoor environment. However, store shelves offer an overwhelming number of household cleaners with ingredients that create health and environmental concerns. With harsh chemicals associated with eye, skin, and respiratory irritation, or concentrated formulas classified as hazardous, typical household cleaners can deeply impact your family’s health. These cleaners also negatively impact the environment by exposing the population to allergens and irritants, nutrient-loading water bodies, and toxicity to aquatic species. Using essential oils instead of chemical cleaners reduces potential health risks and addresses ecological and environmental concerns—all while keeping your home fresh and free of grime.
What are essential oils?
Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts that retain the natural smell or flavor of the plant. Obtained through distillation or cold press methods, essential oils feature unique aromatic compounds with many benefits, from cleaning to self-care to cooking. It’s important to note that any essential oil obtained through a chemical process isn’t considered authentic or pure. Once you extract the concentrated oil, combine it with a carrier oil — such as coconut or argan oil — or dilute it as part of a solution ready for any application. Because essential oils are highly concentrated, diluting them is necessary to use them safely and effectively.
Why clean with essential oils?
Whether you have children, pets, roommates, or live alone, you can rest assured essential oils don’t cause hazardous indoor conditions. As an alternative to cleaning products with dangerous toxins and chemicals, essential oils are natural and safe to use in the home. Standard cleaning products released into the environment or rinsed down the drain enter our water supplies and air, affecting the interior of your home and many aspects of your community. The more you use these chemical-based cleaners, the more significant the ecological impact. Essential oils are potent, powerful, and effective cleaners for most household surfaces without producing dangerous conditions indoors or outside. They also offer versatility, leaving every room clean, from the bathroom to the bedroom, while providing an inviting, homey aroma sans artificial scents or harsh aerosols. Creating your cleaning solutions with essential oils also means you’ll know what products are in your home. You can craft signature blends that work well for your family instead of using mass-produced, harsh cleaners.
Best essential oils for cleaning
Depending on your cleaning goals and how often you clean, different essential oils work well to tackle various jobs. Whether looking for natural spring cleaning hacks or safe and subtle daily-use products, essential oils bring something new to your repertoire. To clean with essential oils, you’ll need to dilute them and create a cleaning mix. Generally speaking, a good recipe is equal parts white vinegar and water with a few drops of essential oils. You can also use a cloth with a few undiluted essential oil drops for light cleaning. Make sure to test surfaces for potential reactions since pure essential oils are potent. Below are a few of the most versatile and popular essential oils used for household cleaning:
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon oil is a natural home deodorizer with powerful antiseptic properties. Plus, the scent of cinnamon creates an inviting and cozy environment for family and guests. Cinnamon is also known to fight mold, mildew, and fungi while being effective against insects. Make a mold-resistant spray using cinnamon oil in areas more susceptible to gunky buildup.
- Eucalyptus: Eucalyptus oil has antiseptic, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties. When used inside the home, eucalyptus oil can even help provide relief from seasonal allergies. It’s also a powerful tool for fighting mold and mildew. Make a deep clean scrub using eucalyptus oil for cleaning the bathroom to provide sanitized surfaces and soothing scents.
- Lavender: Naturally antibacterial and anti-odor, lavender oil features a soothing scent with calming properties that help reduce stress and induce restful sleep, like a gentle lullaby. Mix up a lavender oil spray to clean your mattress or refresh sheets and comforters between washes.
- Lemon: Lemon oil provides a classic, fresh, citrusy scent without any heavy artificial fragrances that cause headaches. Not only does it smell great, but it eliminates existing odors instead of masking for an authentically fresh result. Lemon oil is also antiviral and antibacterial while effortlessly dissolving any dirt it touches. Try making an all-purpose cleaner that shines on wood floors and furniture while polishing leather.
- Peppermint: A natural pest and rodent repellant, along with having antibacterial and antifungal properties, peppermint oil leaves a cool, refreshing, and invigorating atmosphere in the home. Particularly great at giving windows and mirrors a streak-free shine, peppermint oil mixes well with lemon lavender and eucalyptus for a double-duty cleaner. Peppermint oil also leaves a lovely, fresh scent in your bathroom after cleaning.
- Pine: Pine oil is fantastic for killing household germs like yeast spores and E.coli. It’s also another great mold and mildew cleaner. If you prefer woody smells to citrus, pine is a perfect alternative to lemon oil for a fresh, clean scent. Use pine oil to clean large surfaces easily — like walls and wood floors.
- Tea tree: One of the most potent cleansing oils, tea tree oil fights germs, bacteria, viruses, and bugs. Tea tree oil also removes musty or mildew odors in bathrooms, attics, and basements. Tea tree oil is also great for cleaning makeup brushes without leaving behind residue that could irritate skin. An all-purpose tea tree cleaner is fantastic for general cleaning — especially for often-touched surfaces.
- Thyme: Antiseptic, antibacterial, and calming, thyme oil has been used in aromatherapy practices for years thanks to its soothing scent. Use thyme oil as a powerful cleaner in and around the kitchen to reduce the potential for food-borne pathogens. Thyme oil also works well to keep your dishwasher clean.
- Wild orange: Orange essential oil features purifying and uplifting properties, leaving a clean, citrusy scent behind. The enzymes in oranges eat away at bacteria and prevent them from growing back. Try a wild orange cleaner on cutting boards, appliances, and anywhere you find tough grease.
From wild orange to lavender, a good rule of thumb is always to use less. A few drops here and there in a diluted solution go far. This technique also makes your essential oils last much longer. No matter what essential oils you decide to incorporate into your household cleaning, pay close attention to the kind of essential oils you purchase. Many essential oils are on the market today, but not all have the same safe and natural processes. Any authentic essential oils will be 100% pure. Verify this by reading the labels to ensure they don’t have any additional ingredients. Using essential oils in and around the home creates a positive environment for every household member. Feel good about the products you use in your home and the ecological and environmental impact they make by cleaning with essential oils.
