Fall is in the air!
Although I am a summer girl at heart, autumn has turned a new leaf in my life! Beautiful colored leaves, cooler weather, sweaters and boots, and pumpkin-flavored everything, and let’s not forget fall holidays! We finally can get outdoors without worrying about the mosquitoes attacking Ollie, Lille overheating, and all of the midwest humidity.
We look forward to the slower rhythms of our days once school resumes for everybody else, and we love the holidays. My whole family is looking forward to Thanksgiving, the shopping that comes after that, the family time that the whole holiday season brings, and all of the delicious food.
Unfortunately, one of the not-so-great parts of fall is that cooler weather means more illnesses. We are around people constantly with our kids, and already this fall, we have had a stomach virus fly through our church kiddos and we had a parent come over to visit with their daughter with a fever. Winter wellness is very much on my mind.
There is an old sayings that states, “Prevention is easier than cure.” I take that saying to heart and do all that I can to help keep my house as clean and germ-free as I can. In the past, I have used harsh cleaning chemicals to do that – bleach, disinfectant sprays, and wipes, etc. However, since transitioning to essential oils, I am excited that now I am able to clean my home with naturally derived ingredients – no harsh chemicals, dyes, or synthetic ingredients.
Young Living has a fantastic essential oil blend called Thieves that is used in a full line of products. I include the Thieves Household Cleaner in almost all of my homemade cleaning products. Thieves is a blend of clove, lemon, rosemary, cinnamon, and eucalyptus essential oils. Not only does it help give my cleaning products more “punch,” but it smells amazing! I use the Thieves Household Cleaner to make my own laundry detergent, soft scrub, and all-purpose cleaner! Here are the recipes as follows.
LAUNDRY DETERGENT
**Check out the graphic below for an awesome way to get mini-class about everything Young Living!
2-gallon bucket
2 gallons water
½ cup Super Washing Soda (you should be able to find this at most grocery stores)
½ cup Baking Soda
¾ cup Castile Soap
¼ cup Thieves Household Cleaner
Large wooden/plastic spoon
2 1-gallon glass pitcher (to allow easy pouring)
Measure ½ cup super washing soda and pour into 2-gallon bucket. Add just enough hot tap water to cover the washing soda, and stir well to dissolve. Measure out ½ cup baking soda and add to the water/washing soda mixture; stir well to dissolve. Fill your bucket all the way to the top, leaving about ½ an inch to the top (make sure to do this before adding the castile soap to avoid bubbles!). Measure ¾ cup castile soap and pour into the bucket. Measure and add in ¼ cup Thieves Household Cleaner. Carefully stir until well mixed. Pour detergent into large glass containers. I use a pitcher to make it easy to pour directly into the detergent compartment on my washer.
To use: Pour 1/3 cup of detergent into the specified compartment on your washer and wash as normal. If you notice that the contents have settled to the bottom of the jar, just give it a good shake before you use it!
(modified from: dwellinginhappiness.com)
Thieves Cleaner recipes! Laundry soap, soft scrub, all-purpose cleaner.
SOFT SCRUB
3 cups Baking Soda
1 TBSP Distilled Vinegar
½ cup Thieves Household Cleaner
30 drops Lemon Essential oil
Small glass container or jar
In a large glass bowl, add Thieves Household Cleaner, vinegar, and Lemon essential oil. Slowly add in baking soda, stirring to combine. Once completely mixed through, transfer to your desired container. Use wherever a little more scrubbing action is needed.
(modified from: oilyrockstars.com)
ALL-PURPOSE CLEANER
1 capful of Thieves Household Cleaner
2-3 cups water
Spray bottle
Add 1 capful of Thieves Household Cleaner to a spray bottle. Fill to top with water. Use anywhere and everywhere!
I also use the Thieves Dish Soap to wash my dishes. But my newest obsession is using the dish soap as dishwasher detergent!! All it takes is 4 drops of the dish soap in my dishwasher to get my dishes sparkling clean (if you wash your dishes by hand, just a few drops used with warm water will do the trick). I love that by using this product I don’t have to worry about toxic chemicals making their way from the soap to the plate to my body!
Although I could go on and on about how much I LOVE using Thieves Household Cleaner to clean, my absolute favorite way to use Thieves essential oil is to simply diffuse it (but I also have a killer deodorant recipe that you have to try!). This keeps my home smelling fresh and clean naturally – once again, avoiding filling my home with icky chemicals.
I know that one of the big concerns about getting started with essential oils is that they are not cheap. However, since I started making my own cleaners, I’m actually saving quite a bit of money each month that used to go toward cleaning supplies. Keeping my house clean without toxic chemicals and saving money – what could be better?
As you approach this season of sickness, what are some ways that you are preparing to fight off germs? If you are feeling that your current cleaning regiment is in need of a change, perhaps it’s time to give essential oils a try!
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