Essential oils are known to be potent antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antiviral. These benefits make essential oils a great addition to a home or multipurpose cleaner.
Before diving in, let's talk about essential oil brands. You'll often hear that essential oils brands aren't all equal, but which one should you buy? What's best? I'm often asked about my favorite brand of EOs. I look for brands that offer organic, especially for citrus oils, like the ones we'll be using for this recipe. I also want a company that provides GCMS reports.
There are many great companies out there that check the boxes. If you want to learn more about essential oils you can check out these resources.
What are the Characteristics of Essential Oils?
This blend is a great starting point for making your multipurpose cleaner. You can use the recipe as written or as a starting point, adding vinegar or castile soap if desired. Combine all the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake before every use.
Supplies:
glass spray bottle
stainless steel funnel
essential oils
label
New to essential oils? You can find a cleaning kit or any single oil you need at Plant Therapy to get started.
What oils to include in your cleaner and why:
Citrus oil is an effective antiviral agent. It also works well as a degreaser for kitchen cleaning. Citrus oils can be added to the product in a dilution of 3-5% of the total product. You can use a single oil or a blend of citrus oils totaling 3-5% combined.
Clove oil is an antimicrobial oil that can kill or disarm infection agents, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Clove, at a 1% dilution, can inhibit numerous pathogenic bacteria such as staph and e.coli, also agents causing fungal infections. Clove oil should be no more than 2% of the total dilution.
Substitute lavender essential oil for one of the citrus oils in this recipe. It is also an excellent antimicrobial oil that would make a great addition to this recipe and smell amazing. Add a minimum of 1% to achieve a concentration high enough to be effective. This would be six drops per oz, so for this 4-ounce recipe, you would want to add 24 drops.
Cleaner Recipe
2oz distilled water
2oz unscented alcohol (vodka)
48 drops of sweet orange essential oil
48 drops of lemon essential oil
24 drops of clove essential oil
Mix all the ingredients in a glass spray bottle. Shake thoroughly to combine. Shake periodically to make sure the oils are evenly dispersed. Label your bottle with the ingredients and date created.
Get another cleaning with essential oils recipe in this post.
Why alcohol? The alcohol provides some antimicrobial properties and works as a preservative in this product. Additionally, the alcohol helps to keep the oils dispersed through this product, whereas water alone would not.
Let's dive deeper into cleaning with essential oils with this guide!
Cleaning with Essential Oils - Your Guide to All Natural Cleaners
This guide explores cleaning with essential oils which is one of my favorite ways to use them. They have powerful antimicrobial properties that make them a perfect cleaning tool. How do we know if our cleaning products are formulated to be effective? In this course, you'll learn about different microbes and the M.I.C. and how to formulate effective antimicrobial cleaners.
You get recipes for hand sanitizers, all-purpose cleaners, window cleaner, kitchen and bath cleaners, soft scrubs and more!
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