How To Clean With Essential Oils

Essential oils are an easy way to get rid of odours and bacteria. Here's everything you need to know about cleaning with essential oils in place of harsh cleaners, so you can get back to a natural home.

Essential oils are beloved for their natural, healing properties. You may have used, or heard of using, essential oils as a form of aromatherapy to induce calmness and relaxation, relieve stress, reduce headache pressure, or to feel more awake and energized - but have you ever thought about cleaning your home using essential oils? 

These powerful, plant-derived oils are not just aromatic and fragrant, they also contain antibacterial, antiviral, and detoxifying properties, making them highly effective as cleaning products for your home!

What are essential oils?

Essential oils are naturally occurring, highly potent, concentrated chemical compounds found in many botanical plants and fruit plants, such as lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, and lemon. 

Pure essential oils are extracted from a variety of botanical plants. The oils are derived using either a distillation process or mechanical methods, such as cold pressing. These oils can be derived from varying sources of the plant, including the stem, roots, flowers, leaves, or fruit of these botanical plants. 

Which essential oils are antibacterial?

Certain botanical plants are known for their antibacterial, detoxifying, and antiviral properties. Some of the more popular essential oils, that also contain these antibacterial, disinfecting agents are: 

Lemon - a refreshing, clean and invigorating in scent, known for its purifying and antibacterial abilities

Peppermint - offers a cool, fresh aroma, that is quite powerful and strong, peppermint oil is both antifungal and antibacterial 

Tea Tree - powerful and strong, tea tree oil is well-known for its antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic and antiviral capabilities

Clove - with warm, earthy, spicy notes, clove essential oil is antiviral and effectively kills bacteria

Lavender - sweet floral notes and calming effects, lavender is a strong deodorizer and antibacterial agent

Eucalyptus - with a clean, aromatic scent comparable to pine, this essential oil has antiseptic and antimicrobial uses

Can I Use Essential Oils to Clean and Disinfect My Home? 

The answer is yes - because these essential oils are derived from natural sources and contain detoxifying and antibacterial properties, you can use them in various ways to clean your home! These essential oils, in a diluted form, can be used to remove stains, clean carpets and other fabrics in your home, deodorize rooms, and sanitize surfaces. They are a much safer, non-toxic alternative to many traditional home cleaning products, and they are also more eco friendly and safer for the environment. This is why they are often found in many natural, alternative home cleaning products as well.

How to Clean Your Home Using Essential Oils

So, now that we know a little bit more about which essential oils contain antibacterial and disinfectant properties, we can get down to cleaning and disinfecting your home! Here are curated list of the best ways to use essential oils to effectively clean your home:

• Use Lavender Essential Oil to Deep Clean Your Carpet

Lavender is a lighter-scented essential oil to use to clean and deodorize larger surfaces of your home, without an overpowering scent - plus with it’s odour removing abilities, it can help to remove any germs lurking deep in the fibres of your carpet or rug. To make a natural carpet cleaner using essential oils, mix together ½ a cup of baking soda along with 6 drops of lavender oil into a small airtight container, like a mason jar (you may need to increase the amounts depending on the size of the carpet you wish to clean). The baking soda will help to lift any dirt and also acts as a deodorizer as well, working hard to absorb any odours. Place the lid tightly onto the container and shake vigorously to mix. Sprinkle a generous amount of the mixture onto your carpet or rug and leave for 1-2 hours. You can also leave it to work overnight. To remove, vacuum the carpet thoroughly, passing over the area a few times to ensure all the remains are picked up.

• Make Surface Cleaning Disinfectant wipes with Essential Oils

Disinfectant wipes can easily be made with essential oils and a few ingredients you already have in your homes, such as paper towels and Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol. We suggest using lemon or clove essential oils for your DIY disinfectant wipes - both provide a fresh clean scent to any surface and their bacteria-killing properties make them great for DIY surface disinfectant wipes for your home and all hard surfaces, such as countertops and tables.

• Clean Your Floors Using Eucalyptus Essential Oils

Many household floor cleaners contain harmful chemicals, making them not so pet safe and friendly. Cleaning your floors using a diluted essential oil solution is a safe and effective way to mop your floors - without any toxic chemicals. Eucalyptus Oil is a great floor cleaner because of its clean, aromatic pine-like scent. It’s also a strong antiseptic, disinfecting and preventing bacteria growth. To make your own floor cleaner using eucalyptus essential oil, you will need to combine the following into a mop bucket: hot water, 1 cup of white vinegar, 1 tablespoon of castile soap and 15-20 drops of peppermint or eucalyptus oil. Always ensure to test a small area first. If your home has hardwood floors, refer to our guide on how to clean hardwood floors for all the need-to-know tips before you start!

• How to Clean and Disinfect Laundry using Essential Oils

Have your laundry smelling fresh and clean with the invigorating scent of essential oils! Washing your clothes with essential oils is very easy to do - we suggest washing your clothes with lavender or peppermint oil, both kill odors and have disinfecting agents that will leave your clothes clean. The best way to wash your laundry with essential oils is by adding a few drops directly into your washing machine, along with an unscented detergent or place in the fabric softener dispenser cup with a little bit of water. You can also place a few drops of essential oil onto a small, dry cloth, and throw it in your dryer, along with your clothes, to sanitize and keep your clothes smelling nice, without harsh chemicals.

• Deodorize your Home with Essential Oils

Purifying and deodorizing the air in your home using essential oils is an easy, safe and chemical free alternative to toxic air fresheners and deodorizers! We recommend using clove or tea tree oil. Both have disinfecting properties and are good for purifying the air of viruses. They also work hard to remove any lingering, stale smells from your home - leaving your place smelling cleaner and fresher! Whether you wish to use a diffuser to dispense essential oils into the air, or make a DIY air freshener, we’ve got a list of alternative ways to naturally deodorize your home using essential oils! 

Shop our products

As we have mentioned, at Natura Market our natural, non-toxic cleaning products are derived from safe, plant-based ingredients - including essential oils, so you can feel comfortable combating bacteria, viruses and odors, using products that are safe for your family, your home and the environment. Shop our carefully curated selection of cleaning products here.

Conclusion

With their antibacterial, antiviral, and detoxifying properties, essential oils can be highly effective as cleaning products for your home. Clean your home with powerful, non-toxic, plant-derived essential oils for an easier and safer alternative to toxic cleaning products.