How to Clean with Essential Oils

Creating your own cleaning supplies using essential oils can be a fun, healthy, and an environmentally friendly alternative to the using the typical harsh and chemical-laden cleansers in your household. Davina Wellness has a wide variety of oils that are excellent for cleaning your home, and to make the process easier, we’ve put together a list of popular recipes to get you going. Just remember, these recipes aren’t set in stone. You are more than welcome to swap oils and try new recipes with your favorite oils… That’s part of the fun!

Which essential oils are best to clean your house?

The oils most commonly used in these recipes are Lemon, Wild Orange, Tea Tree, Cinnamon, Body Armor, and Lavender, though there are many others you can choose. Davina Wellness makes checking your oils for cleansing power easy by listing the oil’s properties (such as antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic, etc.) in the description for each oil on our website. You can even filter the oils in our online catalog by their properties (see the filter in the left sidebar). For example, Grapefruit is a great replacement or companion oil for your personal recipes. It adds an uplifting freshness along with antibacterial and antimicrobial properties.

Recipe Ideas for Essential Oil Cleaners

Basic All-Purpose Cleanser

1 cup White vinegar
1 cup Water
1/2 teaspoon natural dish soap
15 drops Lemon or Wild Orange essential oil
10 drops Tea Tree essential oil

Shake and use as with any all-purpose hard surface cleaner.

Window and Mirror Cleaner

There are many variations for windows, here are a couple popular options:

¾ cup Vinegar
¼ cup Water
2 drops Peppermint, Wild Orange, or Lemon essential oil

Or

1 ½ cup Water
⅛ cup Rubbing Alcohol
2 tablespoons Vinegar
10 drops Peppermint, Wild Orange, or Lemon Essential Oil

Simply blend, shake, and spray onto window or mirror and wipe away with a clean paper towel or microfiber cloth as usual.

Basic Sink, Toilet, or Tub Scrub

1 cup Baking Soda
⅔ cup Natural Dishwashing Soap
½ cup Hydrogen Peroxide
60 Drops Body Armor (Immunity Blend), Tea Tree, Lemon, Eucalyptus, or Grapefruit Essential Oil (depending on your personal aroma preferences)

Apply to surface and let stand for several minutes.

Deodorizing Spritz

¼ to ¾ cup Water
2-3 tablespoons Witch Hazel or Rubbing Alcohol
10-20 drops Lavender essential oil
5-15 drops Frankincense, Chamomile, or Ylang Ylang essential oil (or others depending on your personal preferences)

Add to a small spray bottle, shake well with each use, and spray surfaces that need freshening.

Freshen Carpets

Add several drops of your favorite deodorizing oil such as Lemon, Wild Orange, Patchouli, or Peppermint to roughly 1 cup of baking soda (depending on the size of the carpet). Use enough oil to give the baking soda as much scent as you like. Test in an inconspicuous location if needed. Then mix oil and soda together well and let the mixture sit to allow the oil’s aroma to permeate the baking soda. Sprinkle blend on carpet and let sit several hours or overnight.

Remove that Sticky Icky Mess

Try Lemon essential oil alone or mixed with coconut oil or baking soda depending on the needed scrubbing power you need, and work in with fingers, clean cloth, or cleaning brush to the sticky residue you want to remove. (This even works with removing nail polish!) Then wipe off and wash off excess oil.

Is there anything else I need to know?

There are no preservatives in these recipes and water shortens the therapeutic life of oils, so making smaller quantities and using them up in a shorter amount of time, say every couple or three weeks, will help them stay fresh. These recipes are diluted enough that plastic containers should be fine, but in general, essential oils should always be stored in glass containers (because they tend to break down and degrade plastic) in a cool location away from sunlight. Also, as with any cleaner, remember to test recipes in inconspicuous locations first if needed.