ESSENTIAL OIL RECIPES FOR HOME

• Anti- Creepy Crawling Spray-  This spray works to prevent Spiders, Ants, and other insects from wanting to live in your house. Combine water, a drop of dish soap and the following essential oils (lemon, lime, orange and peppermint- about 10 drops each) in a spray bottle.  shake well and spray the perimeter of the house,and focus on areas where creepy crawlies like to hang out. This can be used inside and outside. I fill a big spray bottle from and spray the whole perimeter of all rooms, all door frames, all high corners where spiders try to hide, around the fireplace, all over my breezeway and even the perimeter of the outside of my house. It will keep creepy crawly bugs like spiders and house centipedes away for about a month at least!  We also keep a bottle in the basement by the bulkhead door, where the spiders are aplenty!! Very helpful! 

​

Get Rid of Ants in the House-

This past summer I had an ant problem... tons of little sugar ants kept showing up in m bathroom of all places... I still do not know the source of entry or why they came to our bathroom.  I was concerned it was the bottle of wine that fell off a shelf smashed in the basement and I thought maybe I didn't clean it up well enough...nope, checked the foundation near that part of the house... nothing that stood out...Anyhow I had Ants in MY House, and I NEEDED them gone! So I turned to our trusty internet and started googling natural ways to get rid of ants... first I found:

     Cinnamon keeps ants away and it dawned on me that my dad actually sprinkles cinnamon powder around his beehives to keep the ants away, and he said the cinnamon he sprinkles around the hives last a really long time, even when it rains!  So I went outside with a big jar of cinnamon and sprinkled cinnamon all around the perimeter of the house and again very much around doorways!   I didn't want to sprinkle cinnamon on our floors, for so many reasons so I kept reading.... and it said put cinnamon &/or clove oil on cotton balls and put them in entry areas.  The Ants will avoid it, as these are strong insecticides.  It helped but not fast enough... so I made a spray that really helped get rid of the ants.

• Anti-Ant Spray- Fill a spray bottle halfway with white vinegar and the rest of the way with water.  Add 10 drops of peppermint and 15 drops of lemon (or any citrus essential oil) .  (peppermint blocks their sense of smell, making it hard for them to find food, and also hard to find the scent paths they set up... Citrus oils contain d-limonene, which is toxic to ants, and blocks the scent trails, Vinegar naturally repels the ants, and it also masks their scent trails, so in combination this is fantastic!!!) Combine the ingredients in a big spray bottle and shake it up before use. I sprayed it on surfaces where ants where having a party and shut that party down, I would spray the perimeter of the room, and any place I thought they might be coming from.  I had to spray at least 2 x a day for 2 or 3 days but they eventually went away for good!

• Furniture Polish- 1/4 cup olive oil & 10 drops of lemon essential oil. Combine together in a glass jar.  Apply a small amount on a clean cloth. ( I use old socks or tee shirts), massage into the wood furniture and then using a dry portion of the cloth buff the furniture to a polish.  In second it will be shining. The lemon also conveniently removes sticky residues, so that is handy with a four year old in the house! Store in a cool dark place indefinitely.  Use as needed. 

• Multipurpose Cleaner- 1 cup distilled water, 1 cup vinegar, 30 drops lemon essential oil, 15 drops rosemary essential oil.  Combine all ingredients in a large spray bottle.  Shake well before using and them spray surface and wipe clean with a reusable cloth or a paper towel. 

Foaming Hand Soap- 1/4 cup plain Castile Liquid Soap, 2 tablespoons Aloe vera gel, 10 drops of essential oil, 1 cup distilled water.  Place all ingredients in a empty foaming handwash container.  Put the soap in last as it will foam up otherwise. Use 1-2 pumps of soap to cleanse and purify hands and rinse well with warm water. ​

     I get creative with the hand soap oil blends, a few of my favorite ones are:

• Orange and Peppermint or Wintergreen

• Lemon and rosemary

• Douglas Fir, Clove and Tangerine

• Orange, Clove and ginger

• Lemon, Lavender and peppermint

• Toilet Bowl Cleaner-  1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, 4 drops Grapefruit Essential oil.  Put the washing soda in the toilet leaving some out of the water.  Put 4 drops of essential oils in dry washing soda, using toilet brush scrub entire toilet

bowl.  It will quickly come clean.  I usually scrub and then let the cleaner sit in the toilet until we need to use the toilet again.   

• Body Wash- 1 cup Plain Castile Soap, 1/4 cup Aloe Vera Gel, 2 tablespoons olive oil,  Water and 10 Drops of Roman Chamomile, 10 drops Balance and 10 drops Serenity.  This is a great wash for children and adults.  It is calming, soothing and hydrating and the oil blend is heavenly.