Young Living Distributors creating community. Sharing the Wisdom of essential oils.

Shayla Pollert

Young Living
Independent Distributor
#910713

Natural Solutions to Everyday Household Cleaning and Challenges

Don’t think that essential oils can only be used for aromatherapy or massage therapy—they have so much more to offer!

While going about your daily household tasks you’ve probably stopped to consider the effects of the artificial flavoring in foods or the synthetic compounds in your household cleaners or dryer sheets. More than likely you’ve wondered if these mystery ingredients are even safe to use in your home.

Young Living's pure natural essential oils can eliminate these concerns when you incorporate them into your daily household routine. Replacing man-made synthetics with natural, plant-based essential oils removes questionable ingredients from your home and adds countless benefits. Whether you use Young Living essential oils to infuse your favorite dishes with flavor in cooking, or clean your home without harmful chemicals, or supplement your existing first-aid kit with plant-based solutions, they're sure to safely and naturally enhance your experience.

In the Cooking with Essential Oils section, you will learn the difference between common vegetable oils—olive, flax, sesame, canola—and essential oils and how to use YL oils effectively in your favorite recipes. Be sure to visit our Cooking with Essential Oils: Our Favorite Recipes.

If you want to know which harmful chemicals are in your home cleaning products, the Cleaning with Essential Oils section below will teach you which chemicals are known to cause everything from skin to ovarian cancer. With all the focus on choosing eco-friendly solutions you'll want to know which ingredients in your current cleaning products that you use every day should be avoided - and which essential oils and oil-infused products can replace them.

Every home should have a first-aid kit, and in the Essential Oils and First Aid section you will learn which essential oils are good natural complements to your existing kit.

And to make your transition to essential oil cooking seamless, Young Living also offers a selection of top-of-the-line titanium cookware. Discover why your cookware makes a difference in the Cooking section.

Bonuses to cleaning with essential oils

• Disinfect and sanitize
• Eco-Friendly
• Natural, and non-toxic
• Makes cleaning fun and uplifting instead of a drag
• Can add an attractive, environmentally friendly curb to a cleaning business

Whether you would like to make your indoor cleaning experience fun and even uplifting, or whether you would like to add a catchy and healthy "Environmentally friendly" aspect to your cleaning business to attract more customers, Young Living Essential Oils and Thieves Cleaning products can help!

Household Cleaning with Essential Oils

It can be daunting to live a healthier lifestyle, and one of the last areas you may think to change is your cleaning products. Most modern cleaning products require certain chemicals and surfactants (or cleansing agents) to make them work, and you should know what they are and their potential affects. It’s also important to find ways to limit your exposure to these toxins, and learn about safe, effective alternatives.

Here’s a brief run-down of some common chemicals in cleaning and personal care products:

• DEA (Diethanolamine)—Found in more than 600 home and personal care products, such as shampoos, conditioners, bubble baths, lotions, cosmetics, soaps, laundry and dishwashing detergents. Suspected of carcinogenic activity (causing or contributing to cancer) or of being potentially dangerous or hazardous to health.
• Propylene Glycol—The main ingredient found in anti-freeze; also common in shampoos, deodorants, cosmetics, lotions, toothpastes, processed foods, baby wipes, and many more personal care items. Implicated in contact dermatitis, kidney damage, and liver abnormalities; can inhibit skin cell growth in human tests and can damage cell membranes causing rashes, dry skin, and surface damage.
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)—Industrial uses include concrete floor cleaners, engine degreasers, and car wash detergents. Also found in shampoos, liquid soaps, conditioners, cleansers, toothpaste, and children’s personal care products. SLS is found in nearly all toothpastes, and is absorbed through skin contact and retained for up to five days.
• Talc—Chemically similar to asbestos, talc has been inked to ovarian cancer. It’s found in many body and baby powders, as well as many cosmetics.
• Alcohol—Most mouthwash products have a higher alcohol content than most alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, etc). Mouthwash products with alcoholic content greater than 25 percent have been linked to cancers of the mouth, tongue, and throat. Alcohol acts as a solvent inside the mouth, making tissues more vulnerable to carcinogens.

Essential Oil Cleaning Solutions

It may not be possible or cost effective to avoid all of these chemicals in your cleaning and personal care products, but there are plenty of ways to reduce your family’s exposure to them. Using therapeutic-grade essential oils is a safe, effective alternative to many store-bought cleaning products.

Some of the best single essential oils for cleaning include:
Cinnamon, Clove, Eucalyptus, Thyme, Spruce, Lemon, Lemongrass, Grapefruit

Some of the best Young Living essential oil blends for cleaning include:
Thieves, Purification, Citrus Fresh

"One day I decided to put Young Living Essential Oils to a real test. My floors were filthy and I wanted to see just how good of a job they can really do. I used one or two drops of Young Living's essential oil blend called Purification in a gallon of warm water and I washed my floors with it. I was astounded! My floors were so shiny and clean! They truly looked better then ever! There are approximately 200 drops of essential oil per 15ml bottle. Purification is a fairly inexpensive oil, less then $20.00 wholesale costs. One little bottle of oil will clean your floors 100 times at least, which means if you only used the bottle of Purification for floors, it would last nearly 2 years! That's a good buy!" ~Shayla

Ideas for making your own powerful, natural cleaning solutions:

Household Cleaner:

• Fill a spray bottle with water and a squirt of dishwashing soap.
• Add 3–5 drops each of lavender, lemon, and pine essential oils.
• Shake well.

Sanitizing Floor Cleaner:

• Add 1/4 cup white vinegar to a bucket of water. Add 5–10 drops lemon, pine, spruce, melaleuca, or Purification essential oil.

Kitchen and Bathroom Purifying Spray:

1 quart spray bottle
2 drops Rosemary
4 drops Lemon
3 drops Eucalyptus
4 drops Lavender
water

Put water into spray bottle, add each of the essential oils. Shake before using. This spray can be used to clean all surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom. It also makes a lovely air freshener and is particularly useful for when the cold and flu bugs are going around.

Tip: a 4oz. spray bottle can be used to make a mini version of this to leave in the bathroom for instant freshening.

Window cleaner:

1 quart spray bottle
1 cup White Vinegar
10-15 drops of Lemon Essential Oil
water

Add vinegar to the spray bottle, water and essential oil. Shake and use.

Stain Removal:

• Use a drop or two of Lemon essential oil on stains, let stand and rub off with a clean cloth or throw into laundry cycle.
• Or, try Thieves Household Cleaner - put a dab of the concentrate on the stain (quite often works on old grease stains too), rub in, let sit for a minute and launder. Tip: do not let the Thieves Cleaner stay full strength on a stain for more than a couple minutes before laundering.

In the Dryer:

• Instead of using toxic and irritating dryer sheets take a dampened washcloth with 5-10 drops of lavender, lemon, melaleuca, bergamot, or other YL essential oil, toss into the dryer, dry laundry as normal.
• While the essential oils will not reduce static cling, they will impart a lovely fragrance to the clothes. Tip for Static Cling: static cling is a result of over-drying, simply adjust the temperature and time levels until you find the combination that ends static cling - simple and saves money too.

Fighting Dust Mites:

• Recent research has shown that eucalyptus essential oil kills dust mites that live in bedding.
• Add 25 drops of Eucalyptus essential oil to each load of laundry for an effective dust mite deterrent.

Hot Tubs and Saunas:

• Use 3 drops per person of lavender, cinnamon, clove, eucalyptus, thyme, lemon, or grapefruit to disinfect and freshen the water.
• For saunas, add several drops rosemary, thyme, pine, or lavender to a spray bottle with water and spray surfaces. This water can also be used to splash onto hot sauna stones.

Tiny Ant Repellant:

1 quart spray bottle
15 drops Purification essential oil blend
10 drops Peppermint essential oil

Fill spray bottle 7/8 full with water, add essential oils, shake, spray.

Tip: if spraying is not practical (in cabinets), simply put several drops of both Purification and Peppermint on a cotton ball and set the cotton ball in a corner of the shelf of the cabinet. Peppermint is also known to deter rodents.

Shopping List for Young Living's Most Popular Oils for Cleaning

• Lavender essential oil
• Lemon essential oil
• Pine essential oil
• Eucalyptus essential oil
• Cinnamon essential oil
• Thieves® essential oil blend
• Purification™ essential oil blend
• Citrus Fresh essential oil blend
• Thyme essential oil

"It has been said that homemakers have one of the most health deteriorating jobs out there. Aside from the obvious lack of social exposure to uplift and encourage positivity, the reasons for this are astounding. Studies prove how devastating household cleaning agents are on one's health, and it has been found that indoor air can be more polluted then outdoor city air! There are times I have been in other peoples homes as they were using typical household cleaners, and have experienced allergic reactions straight away in the form of a scratchy throat. As soon as I left the environment the scratchy throat would leave.

I love using these blessed essential oils for cleaning purposes in my home. In addition to not having to worry that I am hurting my family and myself, I have the peace of mind that comes with the emotional uplifting effects of aromatherapy, plus I am delighted to know that the oils are adding to the health of my family at the same time! Another exciting benefit is everyone that comes to visit me comments on how wonderful my home smells; in addition to this it is a comfort to know that if someone with a cold comes to visit, the antimicrobial effects of remaining oil particles in the air will help to protect my family. Household cleaning and indoor environments don't get much better then that!" ~Shayla

For more natural, eco-friendly idea's and tips on cleaning your home, check out my articles below:

• Ten Ways to Create a Natural, Green Clean Home and Life

• Chemical Air Fresheners or Natural Thieves Disinfectant Spray?

• Homemade Laundry Detergent and Fabric Softner

• Essential Oils, Natural Flu Prevention, and Green Cleaning

• Deodorizing Diaper Pails and Cloth Diapers Naturally

• Pregnancy and Kids-Our Children and Chemical Pollution