Healthy Cleaning

I make a lot of my own cleaning products. I have two little boys- one with severe chronic asthma- so I can't afford to be pouring chemicals around. My little guy needs a clean house (which is not always easy with toddlers) and clean air to breath.

So, we have air filters placed around our house. Spontaneously. And I use household items to make most of our cleaning supplies.

For instance, to scrub out bathtub, I make a paste out of dye-free/scent-free dish soap, baking soda, and a teensie bit of water. Works like a charm. Instead of using bleach, we use peroxide. It cleans in the same way as bleach, but does not have harmful fumes. The one scented cleaner I can use is Dreft. And oh my heck, do I love to do laundry with Dreft. It takes stains out of everything. I mean EVERYTHING. I'll prove it later.

The problem with cleaning with household materials, is that my house never gets the chance to smell clean. I learned from my mom (who took a Somatic Archeology and Aromatherapy certification) that lemon oil and lavender oil actually have disinfecting properties. Not only that, but when you buy something that is "pure certified" or whatever the heck you oil people call it, it's completely safe to breathe.

Side note: this may not be true for all kids with asthma. Don't jump right into this without giving it a little test first. Keep your nebulizer close. With my son, who has severe allergies to EVERYTHING (it seems), he does not have a problem with what I am about to tell you.

So here is what I do. On cleaning day, I set a pot of water on the stove (about medium heat) to lightly simmer (you don't want a boil, or even a rapid simmer. The oil evaporates too quickly). When the water is heated, I drop a couple of drops of lemon oil in the pot. All of the sudden, my kitchen not only looks clean, but smells clean. I've noticed that I can do this any time in the week when we have a bad diaper, and it eats that bad smell right up. It doesn't cover it up.

It takes about 5-10 minutes for the oil to completely dissipate. Then I take the pot off the stove.

Occasionally I experiment. This week I tried a combination of orange oil, lemon, and grapefruit. Our kitchen smelled like citrus heaven.

When I need a little extra oomph in the bathroom, I put some oil in my Scentsy warmer and let it dissipate. (I don't know if I'm allowed to say that. I sell Scentsy, but I can't warm it in my house because of my little boy. So I buy cute warmers and warm oil in them).

I buy DoTERRA because my Auntie sells it, but you can honestly use any "pure" oil. Some can be found in the organic section at Fred Meyer. If you live in Pocatello, ID, Time Laboratories in Old Town is a good place to buy oils. They are a great local business, so I encourage you ALL to support them. I believe there is also an Essental Oil company called Young Living. The founder is crazy, though (seriously, he delivered his wife's water birthed baby in a bathtub and left it there until it drowned. Don't quote me, I read the story 3 or so years ago).