I remember giggling with friends about folk they knew who made their own cleaners…rolling my eyes and thinking about how life was too short for all that kind of faff!
Now I look at myself and see how my thinking has done a complete u-turn.
I talked a little of why my thinking changed in this post…a bout of sickness and excessive use of bleach made me reflect on the chemicals that lingered around our house as a result of scouring and scrubbing.
Air fresheners that couldn’t be plugged in near pets or keeping sprays away from surfaces where children may come into contact.
None of it sat right with me.
A little research into essential oils and I felt drawn in. I have always loved hearing of the use of nature in medicine and have often marvelled over the number of plants and extracts that are used in healing. Essential oils seemed to be a natural extension of this. The earth is beautiful, wild and abundant; we are to cherish it and nurture it. I want to tread lightly and leave few marks. Hard and probably quite unobtainable but I at least want to try.
I have found one way of doing this is to completely change up my cleaning routine, I’m still in the process for a few things but am definitely well on the way. The first thing to tackle was what i needed to start…
* GLASS BOTTLES
Initially I used an empty olive oil bottle, washed it out and used the spray of an old vinegar spray I had. Plastic bottles are known to leach chemicals into the contents of the bottle so glass is a must if you’re trying to avoid chemicals around your surfaces!
I have since bought more glass bottles here.
* ESSENTIAL OILS
I buy the Tisserand range which I get from my local health store. There are numerous recipes for combinations that can be used for cleaning…Pinterest is a perfect place to find exactly what you’re looking for! Lemon is still my go to and I have even started cleaning with a few drops directly dropped onto a microfibre cloth.
* MICROFIBRE CLOTHS
I have loved using these and find they do a much better job than the sponges I used to use. I also colour coordinate their uses (pink/blue in bathroom for tubs/toilet, green for kitchen surfaces and yellow for living surfaces).
* CASTILE SOAP
These are readily available and the range of Dr Bronners are varied so you can choose your favourite! They last for ages and are fairly traded which is a bonus!
* BAKING SODA
There are so many uses for baking soda, this is just one case in point…any google search will lead you to a wide range of uses within the home.
* WHITE VINEGAR
Vinegar is one of those well known natural cleaning agents, check out this post for household uses for vinegar!
Having all these in your cupboard will get you started…you may feel you have paid out a bit of cash to get started but I honestly can say I spend far less on these natural ‘ingredients’ than I would have on the many spray cleaners I would have bought in my weekly shop.
When looking for something specific I often refer to Wellness Mama or Hello Glow. Keep them on favourites and you’ll have plenty of inspiration!
Let me know if you are starting the natural journey or have any other natural cleaning or beauty ideas…I’m always on the hunt for new ones!
xx
