Essential oils and spray bottles: It really is that easy to clean green

When you buy cleaning products, no matter what kind they are, you spend anywhere from $3 to $10 bucks per product. If you clean daily or weekly, which is preferable, you can expect to spend several hundred dollars on cleaning products annually. The more environmentally friendly products, which also happen to be the best smelling, almost always cost more because of the high quality natural ingredients. Guess what? There is a way to get the great smell, the clean surface, and the dead germs all while actually enjoying the process of cleaning, by spending alot less money. Consider purchasing these few items today and enjoy cleaning your home with non-toxic, all natural products that not only do the job and smell exquisite; they do it all for a fraction of the cost of store bought products and last a whole lot longer.

Buy several medium sized spray bottles and organic cotton baby diapers or linens instead of paper towels. You'll need a 3 gallon bottle of white vinegar ($5), a few boxes of baking soda ($4), a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (.70 cents), as well as an assortment of essential oils. Tea tree, lemon, and lavender are antiseptic, antifungal, and antibacterial essential oils. Add up to 30 drops to a spray bottle of distilled water for basic cleaning of counters, surfaces, kitchen and bathroom. Adding 3-10 drops of other oils like pink grapefruit, geranium, jasmine, orange, sage, or eucalyptus customizes the fragrance of your cleaning spray to your preference. Use a 50/50 mixture of water to hydrogen peroxide for germ killing spray and fill one spray bottle with white vinegar to clean windows, glass, and metal sink fixtures. It works better than those blue window cleaners, hands down!

Also, try spraying white vinegar on your hair after the shower for extra shine! The baking soda can be used to control oders in cat boxes, refrigerators, bathrooms, sprinkled on carpets and left to sit for half an hour before vacuuming, used as a laundry detergent and is an excellent abrasive scrub for the bathroom and kitchen. Spray the tea tree or lavender water mixture on wounds, abrasions, or itchy pets for instant relief and to promote the healing of skin. Spray white vinegar on furniture or clothing that is covered in mildew or mold. The beauty of using natural products for cleaning, is that they are safe to use on your body in a number of ways, stretching their value and improving your quality of life.

It takes no extra work to clean green, it is just a matter of buying the basic ingredients to get you started. Price check essential oils online or if you are in a city, head down to the nearest eastern import, health food, hippie head shop, or new age bookstore. Often you will find local, handmade essential oils at farmer's and flea markets, art, music, and fiber festivals and sometimes at county fairs, which is a wonderful way to directly support your local economy.

Again, these products are toxin free and can be used in a number of different ways, unlike store bought cleaning products. The versatility of essential oils mean they can used to scent a bottle of apricot or almond oil to smooth over your skin, condition unruly hair, massage a loved one with, tossed into a bottle of unscented lotion to create your own signature fragrance, into your bathwater, candles and insense burners designed to hold water and oil. Try throwing in half a cup of baking soda, half a cup of sea salt and one cup of epsom salts into your next bath along with a few drops of your favorite essential oil. You will emerged refreshed, cleansed and completely revived.

Spraying your dry laundry with lavender or rose water is the kind of extra touch that makes living at home, just a little bit classier and a whole lot more enjoyable. While it may sound frivilous; it is really just a matter of making different choices the next time you go shopping. This small change will make a big difference to you and to your living environment, in the moment you clean and in the long run as studies have shown that the air inside the average household is 5% more toxic than the air outside because of cleaning products, pets, and personal grooming products. When it comes to the air you breathe as you sleep at night and the surfaces you touch, why not make the healthy choice? It is really not that complicated.

So just do yourself a favor the next time you have an urge to shop. Buy 6 spray bottles, baking soda, vinegar, epsom salts, hydrogen peroxide, and an array of your favorite essential oils including tea trea, lavender and lemon and then you will never have to worry about buying another cleaning product or toiletry for a long time. These few items will last you for a couple of years. That is enough savings to pay for a new computer or to treat yourself to a vacation. The most important gain however, is feeling treasured in your own home and actually enjoying the benefts of aromatherapy that you are sure to reap each time you clean up.

Green cleaning is a cinch!