In the first baby step, I got rid of our plug-ins and candles. In this second step, or phase, I’ll explain how I switched out all of our cleaning products. This wasn’t as much of a “pull and toss” like the plug-ins were, but it only took about a week. I wouldn’t really consider this a “baby” step, since it involved getting rid of so many chemicals at once – but in the scheme of becoming a healthier home, it’s still only a step in the right direction.

I’m a fan of *smelling* how clean something is. It just seems right. A clean bathroom should smell like bleach, right?

Wrong!

Again, my asthma is sensitive. I would scrub our bathroom (and the other bathrooms in the house), and the smell of bleach would linger for days. Mmmm, clean. I had no idea that this “clean” smell I had grown used to was actually affecting our air quality and that the chemicals in the bleach itself was that lasting “smell”. You know, when you paint a room in your home, you aren’t supposed to hang out in there all day while it dries. Sure, there are newer paints with lower VOC’s that are apparently “safer” to be around – but I’m sure we all still stay away (or at least keep the kids out) of the room while the paint dries. What I’m getting at, is that bleach hangs out in our air even after it’s “dry”. While you’re in the bathroom scrubbing, you’re creating a sauna of chemicals for yourself. Also, if you clean your tub/toilets with it (or use it for laundry purposes), it then goes into the water supply and eventually has a negative impact on the environment.

So, I decided to start getting rid of all the chemical cleaners we were using. Bleach was the first I got rid of. Next were all the other bathroom cleaners with extremely harmful chemicals. Toilet cleaners, a popular “bubbles” cleaner, a heavy-duty soap scum cleaner, and then on to the kitchen cleaners. Now, I didn’t toss all of these cleaners without having something to use in replacement; my froind had already made me aware of the cleaning powers of essential oils. So at first I just used my basic three oils mixed with water in a spray bottle. Lavender, Lemon, and Thieves essential oils have the same cleaning power of all the nasty chemical-based cleaners, with one particularly awesome perk: they’re actually GOOD FOR YOU to breathe in. Isn’t that an innovative idea? Cleaning your bathroom/kitchen/etc and producing healthy air to breathe at the same time. Our bathroom then smelled like a spa instead of a hospital operating room. I didn’t feel nervous about sitting fruit out on our counter tops in the kitchen anymore, because the cleaner I used for said counters wasn’t going to contaminate the fruit (or any food). I wasn’t worried about the heat from the stove top mixing with cleaning chemicals, and another seriously awesome perk – I wasn’t worried about what I could or couldn’t use to clean my granite and stainless steel.

Over the course of that week, I found more and more uses (and replacements) for using my oil-based cleaners. The last cleaner that I swapped for oils was my beloved carpet steam cleaner solution. If cleaning my bathroom and kitchen made my house smell like a spa, I knew that cleaning my carpets the same way was going to smell so awesome. Having 3 dogs and a toddler leaves some interesting carpet messes to clean up, and it was so nice to clean said messes and let the dogs/toddler immediately back into the room.

No chemicals = no worries.

Finally, I got ahold of a bottle of Thieves Cleaner. This is Young Living’s own formula of the powerful essential oil, mixed with vegetable based surfactants, made into a cleaning concentrate. You dilute the cleaner with water in a spray bottle and away you go! I love how easy it is. I have probably about 5 spray bottles in my house of the cleaning solution, diluted. I keep a spray in the bathroom, the kitchen, the guest bathroom, and in the laundry room.

Here’s a quick list of everything it has replaced in our home:

• Fabric refresher spray
• Toilet Cleaner
• Tub/Shower Cleaner
• Glass Cleaner
• Pet/Carpet Stain Spray
• Carpet Cleaner Solution
• Laundry Stain Remover
• Countertop/Stove Cleaner
• Stainless Steel Cleaner
• Wood Floor Cleaner
• Tile Cleaner
• Oven De-greaser
• Bleach
• Lysol Spray

And that’s just in my home. Anything you clean with can be replaced with Thieves cleaner!

 

You’ll lose that bleach-clean smell, it’s true. Do you know what you gain in return? Peace of mind. Your health, your children’s, your pet’s, and the environment will all benefit. It’s truly amazing what a plant-based cleaner does for your home and the people/animals inside of it.

If you would like more info about Thieves oils & cleaners, email me!

oilymommyjdp@gmail.com

Or, go to Young Living’s catalog and browse for yourself (order through me, via email so that you receive the 24% discount!). My mission is not to make money off of selling YL brand oils – my mission is to help other mommies, just like me, who want a healthier home for their families.

Ready to order your starter kit and receive wholesale prices? Click here

 

Happy Cleaning!