Tub Scrub!

If you are anything like me, your bathtub is the very last thing you ever clean in your home. It seems ironic, in a way, since everyday you shower with soap in that thing, yet it still needs to be cleaned somehow!

We have hard water in our town too, so the build up is always frustrating. I have tried multiple homemade solutions, plus many store bought varieties, even some that almost made me pass out from the fumes, however nothing has even touched the stains...until now!

Introducing, the hands-down best tub scrub:

Thieves Concentrated Cleaner and Baking Soda!!!

Place 1/4 cup of baking soda in a jar, add concentrated thieves cleaner until you have enough to form a paste.

Grab a scrub brush and wet it and the tub down. Dip in baking soda mixture, and get to scrubbin'!

It took some elbow grease, but the built up scum and mineral deposits came off!!! I was shocked and very, very pleased!

Now! I just need to remember to do it more often so I can prevent future build up!

Happy Oiling,
Mandy

Do you STINK?!

With so many family affairs, company parties, last minute shopping trips with mobs of people, and stress over whether or not your fudge will turn out this year, we are probably all wondering the same thing. Will my deodorant hold up?

Maybe you still use the store bought stuff that contains not so great stuff. Maybe you've switched to a better brand, maybe you are going a-la-natural. In any case, I have a better solution for you!

Last year I changed from a regular ol' mainstream to the cute little rock in a tube. It worked GREAT!...for about three months, then summer hit. About that time I started using essential oils. I played around with Stress Away, Purification, and Tea Tree. All worked great neat or slightly diluted, however, my overly sensitive skin didn't like having that much concentrated oil in my pits long term.

Fast forward to this month. Nothing is working. The rock has grown stalactites that cut my skin when I use it. The oils irritate me. So I have been using my husbands regular ol' guy deodorant in lue of a better solution. So, I finally bit the bullet and created my own deodorant paste! Goodbye toxic man smelling stuff, goodbye irritation, goodbye scratchy rock, heeeelllooo no more stink!


Get the STINK Out Natural Deodorant:

6 tablespoons Coconut oil
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cornstarch or arrowroot powder
15-20 drops of essential oils

Place ingredients into a glass jar and stir until combined. (If your coconut oil is super solid, you could warm it up a bit on the stove or in the microwave)


Essential Oil Suggestions:

Gentle Baby- gives it that baby powder scent most women's deodorant has

Purification- get the smell out with the best smell-removing oil!

Shutran- got a stinky man in your life, this is the oil you want for him!

Tea Tree- great oil for skin overall

Lavender- bring a calm smell with you wherever you roam



Happy Oiling,
Mandy

Clean Those Floors: With Thieves Cleaner!

We just finished potty training one kiddo. Now the baby has diaper rash that needs airing out. These circumstances call for some major clean up duty. Diaper free kiddos ALWAYS equal some sort of mess!

I know, I know we brag on Young Livings concentrated cleaner all the time. It's only because it is so.freaking.awesome. I no longer clean with any other product in my entire house. Bathrooms? Thieves cleaner. Kitchen? Thieves cleaner. Dishes? Thieves cleaner. Dusting? Thieves cleaner. So, naturally, when it comes to my floor, I use my Thieves cleaner there too! (I only wish I had had a bottle of this when we potty trained the puppy!)

We have about five different ways to clean our floors. I have all the floor types too: carpet, tile, and pretend wood floors. So here are different ways I use it to clean all our different floors.

Carpet:

Carpet Cleaner: place 2 cap fulls of thieves cleaner per gallon of water in the reservoir and clean carpets!

Carpet Freshener: fill mason jar with baking soda, add a few drops of thieves cleaner (or any essential oil, I love doing cinnamon around the holidays to make my house smell festive! Or, cool tip, most carpet loving insects hate tea tree!). Cut a circle of paper the size of the mason jar lid, then poke holes in paper to make a homemade sprinkle jar! Sprinkle mixture around carpets, let sit over night or at least 2 hours, then vacuum!

Spot Cleaner: mix one cap of cleaner to two cups of warm water. Use sponge or rough towel to dip in mixture and then scrub spot on carpet.


Tile:

Electric Floor Cleaner: I have a plug in floor scrubber that works on hard wood, fake wood, and tile. I use one cap of the Thieves cleaner in the water tank and fill the rest of the way with water.

Mopping: when the tile gets super dirty and has stuff stuck in the grout cracks that the electric cleaner can't get to, I use a heavy duty deck brush and scrub the tiles. I mix two caps of Thieves cleaner to every gallon, dip the deck brush in and scrub the floor. After I am done I use a towel to mop up excess water...but the glory of Thieves cleaner is, you don't have to rinse like you do with soap!


Hardwood/Fake Wood:

Electric Floor Cleaner: what I love most about this machine is I can move from tile to the wood floors without stopping! I use the same ratio. Also, I found it at a garage sale for a quarter of the regular price! Score!

Spray Bottle and Swiffer: this is my favorite method to clean the wood floors. I put one cap of Thieves cleaner in a spray bottle, top off with warm water, and spray the floor as I clean with my swiffer mop (Ok, ok the kids usually spray the floor while I follow them around hurriedly, trying to keep pace!). I put towels or old worn out cloth diapers on my swiffer head instead of buying the throw-away kind (plus ewww they put all sorts of nasty smelling stuff in those wet wipes!). I use to have a swiffer like mop that had a reservoir attached that you could refill. The kiddos played too hard with it one day and it's long gone now! But you could use Thieves cleaner in them as well, just stick to the same ratio of one cap of cleaner to two quarts of water.


Happy oiling, Mandy

On-the-Go Hand Cleaner

It's that time of year again. Everywhere you go people pull little bottles from their pockets to wipe their hands down with. I don't know about you, but I find the addition of alcohol to be a little drying, and quite unpleasant if you do a quick rub down and then eat your lunch!

Fortunately essential oils offers a different approach!

Introducing: On-The-Go (alcohol free) Hand Cleaner!

The first recipe is a spray bottle method. Having it in a spray bottle can be super convenient for washing down your table at a restaurant, cleaning the handles of a shopping cart before your kiddo starts chewing on it, cleaning off your hands, or even doing a quick breath freshening.

Thieves On-The-Go Spray Cleaner:

15-20 drops of Thieves blend essential oil

Place in glass 2oz spray bottle and top off with water or witch hazel (whichever you prefer).

This second recipe mimics those convenient gel bottles everyone carries about, without the addition of alcohol.

Thieves On-The-Go Gel Cleaner:

2 TB Aloe Vera
1 TB Witch Hazel (or Water)
1/2 tsp carrier oil (almond, olive, fractionated coconut, etc)
10-15 drops of Thieves oil

Mix together in small squeeze bottle (approx 1oz) and use as needed.


There you have it! On the go cleanliness for all!

Frankincense and Lavender Natural Body Wash

I got this recipe and idea from Mommypotomus blog.  Every time I saw the picture I couldn't help but want to try it.  My belly is getting really big now from two babies stretching it out and I wanted a soap with a LOT of moisture.  Frankincense and Lavender have always been known for their awesome ability to support skin health, so those are the oils I chose for this recipe.  And forget the skin wellness properties, they smell AMAZING together.









Here's the recipe:

• 1/2 cup of Castile Soap (I use dr bronners)
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1/2 cup of Olive Oil
• 20-30 or more of Essential oils.  I used 30 and I think it could have used more.

I thought it was weird at first to use honey for body wash, like it would be sticky or something but it's not at all!  It actually makes it a little thicker and more luxurious.

I absolutely love this body wash.  I don't love making products all the time, I'm more inclined to buy something.  But this is something I will keep making.  I already ran out of my first batch so that is on my to-do list for today!

Enjoy!!

Get your own oils Here or Email us for Questions!

Spot-B-Gone!

I have three boys. And a dog. And dirt in my backyard. And paint in my art arsenal. I also feed my kids things like berries, juice, chocolate, and occasionally brightly colored popsicles. Then, there is me. I spill *everything* on myself. I constantly battle grease stains on my shirts and, unfortunately, have thrown away some beloved items of clothing because I could never get them out! BUT! No more! I have discovered an alternative to tossing my treasures. Thieves Cleaner! Yup, it strikes again! I am pretty sure I will never let myself be out of this stuff for the rest of my life!

Spot-B-Gone w/ Thieves Cleaner

1 Tbsp Concentrated Thieves Cleaner

1 Tbsp Warm Water
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
2 Tbsp hydrogen peroxide

Mix ingredients in a 4 oz spray bottle and shake gently until combined. Spray on spots until saturated, then wash normally.


Mud? Chocolate? Wine? Grease? Berries? Paint? Nope. Not a problem anymore!

What spots challenge you?

Happy oiling, Mandy

Marker on the Wall? Use Lemon Essential Oil

One thing that's inevitable when you have kids is marker on the wall... or on the door frame, floor, counter..... almost anywhere.

My son, who now is 6, had a few coloring frenzies on the wall.  The first one was below the big white board we have in the kitchen.  He was coloring on the white board with a dry erase marker and then decided to color on the wall.  He was too young to really know it was wrong, because he was coloring on the white board a foot up... so why not color on the wall?   I wasn't sure what to use,  we only had natural products in the house and my 'go to' was vinegar with water.  At this point, I only had a few oils, and the thought of using them didn't even occur to me.  The vinegar kind of faded the marker as well as take some of the paint off!!  That was not a great solution.  I year later I ended up painting over it.

But then came my daughter.  She had this urge to draw everywhere, that budding artist.  She's drawn on my yellow and white striped wall, in the hallway, on the floor and the worst one is that she drew with Sharpie on our closet door frame!!   We had left that one there since not many people come over and go back in our bedroom closet... but it wasn't pretty.

Fast forward a year or two when I first got my kit,  I noticed some people using lemon to clean off things on their wall and floor.  So I got the urge to try it.  I remembered the Sharpie on the door frame.  I was so curious... did it work?  I dropped a few drops of Lemon essential oil on a rag and gave it a scrub.  Lo and behold, IT WORKED!   It did take a little elbow grease but I was surprised how easily it did come off after being there for over a year.

I was shocked at how well it worked.  Now that my kids are a little older now, they know not to draw on the wall but I have a feeling that the two little ones I'm about to have are going to have some urge to draw on the wall.  I think all kids do.  

Give it a try!  You'll be amazed!

*note- I would try it on a small area first to make sure it wouldn't take paint off or ruin furniture.  But I've never had it do that :)

If you want to get Lemon Essential Oil, you can go here and get started with your own kit.  Or you can email us and we can order it for you.

Thieves Household Cleaner: The many uses

Thieves Household Concentrated Cleaner is hands down the one product I will continue buying from Young Living no matter what. I have tried relentlessly to replace my (eep!) bleach wipes, bathroom, and counter top cleaners! I really wanted to go all natural, but making my own cleaners just never had the powerful punch I was use to after using harsh toxic cleaners for most my life. Enter essential oils into my life, and, after several months of buying oils for various reasons, I finally bought a bottle of the household cleaner. I was totally blown away. After using vinegar and baking soda combinations that just kind of spread the dirt around and did nothing for stuck-on-whatever that kiddos leave behind, I was so happy to find a natural solution that worked well, and cost so very little!

Here is a break down. A bottle of Thieves Cleaner costs $22.00 for a 14.4 ounce bottle of cleaner. The bottle is concentrated, so you put one cap-full of cleaner into a spray bottle, and the 14.4 ounce container can make up to 30 bottles of cleaner. That is .73 center per bottle of cleaner!! You can't get anything as cheap as that, that cleans as well as this does!

The back of the bottle shows how to dilute for levels of de-greasing in your kitchen. Here is a list of ideas on what the "normal" dilution of 1:30 would be used for:

• Walls
• Windows
• Counter tops
• Table tops
• Toilets
• Floors
• Cupboard doors
• Shelves
• Fridge and freezer
• Children's toys
• Dog toys
• Dash and doors in vehicles
• Appliance fronts
• Microwave
• Inside motorhomes, campers, and trailers
• Light fixtures and light switches
• Fire place
• Doors and door knobs
• Wood furniture
• Dusting
• Cell phone
• Bbq
• Garbage Cans
• Under the sink
• Pots and Pans
• Exercise equipment
• Oil and grease stains
• Eyeglasses
• TV and computer screens
• Kid and dog messes

Here are 11 other ways to use your Thieves Household Cleaner:

1. Laundry Assist: Place 1-2 cap-fulls in the soap dispenser of the washing machine. Or make this spot remover spray for stubborn clothing stains.
2. Dishwasher: Put one cap-full of cleaner in dish washer and run as normal. 
3. Floors: Place half a cap-full into refillable bottle for spray mop and top off with water. Or mix 1 cap-full with 4 cups of water and 3-5 drops of Lemon essential oil to mop tile, hardwood, and laminated floors.
4. Carpet: Fill carpet cleaner reservoir with approximately six cups to one gallon on water, then add a cap-ful of thieves cleaner and 2-4 drops of Purification essential oil. 
5. Bathrooms: Dilute thieves cleaner as recommended in spray bottle and use to wash mirrors, floors, counters, toilet, sink and bathtub. For inside toilet use our Cleaning Bombs and for hard water stains or stubborn tub stains make a Salt Scrub Faucet Cleaner. 
6. Windows:  Use cleaner diluted for everyday use, or mix half a cap-full with 1 tsp vinegar and 2-3 drops of Lemon essential oil in a spray bottle to clean windows, mirrors, and window sills. 
7. Toys: Use regular dilution and spray over toys, then let air dry. Or fill sink with hot water and add one cap-full of thieves cleaner and half a cup of vinegar, let toys soak for ten minutes, then air dry. 
8. Hand Cleaner: Mix half a cap-full of cleaner with half a cup of water and place in a 4 ounce spray bottle to use as an on-the-go hand cleaner.
9. Grout and Tile: Mix half a cap-full of thieves cleaner with a cup of water. Spray on tile or grout and let sit 10-15 minutes and then scrub with brush. 
10. Fruit and Veggie Wash: Fill sink with water and add one cap-full of thieves cleaner. Let veggies and fruit soak for 10 minutes to remove grime, stickers and wax. 
11. Foaming Hand Wash:  Mix a third a cup of unscented hand soap with a quarter cap-full of thieves cleaner in a foaming hand wash container, then top off with water. Gentle shake and you are all ready!

What would YOU clean?

Happy oiling, Mandy

Take the Stink Out of Your Laundry

** I wrote this post for The Good Oils a few months ago.  You can see it there too :)

Who has stinky clothes after working out?  Yep… it happens to everyone.  And then you wash your clothes, throw some extra soap in and then when you take it out of the dryer… and they still stink!  Well, not as bad before you washed them, but they smell more like detergent plus B.O.  No one wants that.

The last time that happened to me and my husband, I thought of my oils.  Which one would take away that crossfit stink?  Purification!

I usually wash all of our work out stuff together in one load.  One night I noticed my husbands shirt still smelled bad so I washed everything over again.  I added 5 drops of purification into the laundry detergent.  Guess what?  The clothes smelled wonderful.  All of the B.O……. GONE!  I was pretty impressed by that little bottle of goodness.

I had tried a couple different things before purification, including – using more soap and using vinegar with my laundry soap. Neither of those worked as well as adding purification in to the laundry detergent.

So next time you get back from a run, a crossfit workout or the gym, put that purification in your wash!!!

***

I have also been using Citrus Fresh Essential Oil in our laundry as of lately, instead of Purification.  I just switched because I think it smells good for the summer.  But you can choose your favorite oil to add to the laundry!  All of them smell wonderful!

You can Visit Mandy and I at The Good Oils, too.  We blog there as well as here.   And also- if you wanna get your own oils see the Get Your Oils HERE page.

Make Your Home Smell Good... Naturally!

A big part or making your home clean is... lets face it... the smell.  I know when my kids were smaller and now being pregnant its harder to clean as often as I really need to.  But one thing I know I could always do, since I've had my diffuser, is to make my home smell nice.

There are so many uses for essential oils but the way they make my house smell is by FAR my favorite thing.  I always feel like I can turn a rainy day into a sunshiny day just by diffusing some Lemon and Joy essential oils.  That I can throw tea tree oil in my diffuser in the the bathroom and ward off the smell until I have a chance to clean.  Or, now that I'm pregnant, put some oil in the diffuser so I can stand the smell of the kitchen.  There's something about the kitchen when you're pregnant, even if it's clean, that is so unappealing.  Plus, I can do all that with only one or two drops of oil!

When I first purchased my kit, I figured that at the very least, I would have a wonderful smelling home!

Here are some diffusing ideas for your home.  Don't forget - a little oil goes a long way.  I like to start out with only 1-2 drops and move up from there.

Featuring the Home Diffuser

Tea Tree in the Bathroom
Sometimes I can't stand the smell of the bathroom.  Maybe you've got a little boy who dribbles on the floor.  Maybe you're pregnant and all smells bother you.  Maybe you just want to smell a refreshing smell while you shower.  Tea Tree essential oil is the one!!  Just add one or two drops in your diffuser!

Featuring the Bamboo Diffuser

Lavender for the Bedroom
Lavender always smells great for the bedroom.  It kinda sets the mood for a calm atmosphere, which is exactly what most people want in their bedroom.  Just add one to two drops into your diffuser.


Purification for the Kitchen

Featuring the Home Diffuser

Sometimes when you're cleaning up the kitchen it's nice to have a nice clean scent going through the kitchen as well.  I like diffuse 1-2 drops of Purification Essential Oil when I clean up our kitchen!

Featuring the Bamboo Diffuser

Joy and Lemon for Any Room
Joy and Lemon is a combo that really can't be beat.  When it rains here I like to add them to my diffuser.  It makes the house smell like sunshine!  I just add one drop of each in to my diffuser.





As you can see there are so many possibilities to make your home smell fresh and clean as well as like sunshine ;).  I have a lot more combos that I like to use but these ones are my favorite!  If you'd like your own wonderfully smelling home go to our Get Your Oils Here page!

So... What are your favorites?

Clean Your Sink

The first trimester (and beyond) has been pretty rough with these twins.  It's worse than the first two pregnancies I've had.  I've had a big gag reflex this time.  Just one little thing and there it is.  One day I was brushing my teeth, which funny enough made me gag too, and I dropped my toothbrush in the sink.  I looked in the sink.  YUCK.  My sink was so dirty from the lack of care - because when you're in the first trimester there's just no energy left to clean.  I threw my toothbrush away.  I couldn't handle the thought of my toothbrush touching that sink.  I just can't stand that film that builds up on the bathroom sink after a while.  It's so disgusting especially because I'm pregnant now.  Looking into that sink is just like make-me-gag-now.  I think it's also because I use a lot of coconut oil products.  And somehow it gets stuck in my sink?  Or maybe it's the toothpaste? Or Soap?  Probably all of those.  Anyway, it always needs a good cleaning - and I always wait too long.  I knew I waited long enough, I had to clean it.  But of course, I waited as long as I possibly could until I knew someone was coming to my house.   

That's when I had a brilliant idea.  I used a spray bottle,  mixed my Thieves household cleaner in as usual with water but this time I added baking soda.  (If you aren't familiar with Thieves household cleaner, it is a concentrated all natural cleaner that you dilute in a spray bottle.  There are instructions on how to dilute on the back of the bottle as well as usage suggestions.)

It worked perfectly.  All I had to do was spray it into the sink and scrub it out with a wash cloth.  I barely had to scrub, too, it was more of a wipe it out kinda thing.  It was hands down the best natural thing I've used to clean my sink.  Plus the Thieves household cleaner smell is my favorite. 

Recipe 

In about a 24oz container filled almost all the way full with water - add..

• two capfuls of Thieves Household Cleaner
• 1/4 cup of baking soda 

The only problem was that the spray bottle clogged a little with baking soda.  So now the only mission is that I need to find something that can handle the baking soda with the cleaner.  And I think I've got a pump dispenser that used to have some body wash in it that is going to work perfect.  But you can also mix it together and pour it in to the sink as needed.  Which is exactly what I am doing until I've used the last of the soap from the body wash and can transfer the baking soda sink cleaner over.   I just dump it in the sink or wash cloth straight from the spray bottle.  So pick out your favorite way to store the cleaner.  No matter how you store it, it works!!

If you want to get your own Thieves household cleaner with your own account see our Resources page.  Or, if you send us an email, we can ship you some cleaner and you can pay us through paypal.  Enjoy!

Cleaning BOMBS!

 Toilets are gross. They are even grosser when you live with four boys. Somehow I always end up cleaning it, and since the baby is crawling around and sticking his hand (read: mouth) on everything these days, I really hate using bleach cleaners he could accidentally ingest.



Previous attempts at homemade toilet cleaners resulted in a not so long lasting fresh toilet. In other words, it got moldy and gross again within days of cleaning. Enter essential oils, and ta-da! The toilet is super easy to clean, STAYS clean for as long (if not longer) than the bleach alternative, AND it's fun to clean the toilet. Yup. You heard me. Dropping a fizzy, floating cleaning bomb in the toilet makes a really disgusting job a bit more enjoyable! Not to mention how much more willing the boys are to help me when they get to drop something in the toilet!

The big boys LOVE helping make our cleaning products. They measure and pour and mix everything up for me, and even press it all into the molds. I make sure to have them stand back as we pour in the borax, as it can be an irritant when breathed. 

                                       

We picked Lemon and Orange for our oils this time. I have also done Thieves, Purification and Tea Tree with great success. I would say my favorite is Purification; however, the boys love Orange so they wanted to try it this time. :)

Cleaning Bombs

2 cups Baking Soda

1/4 cup Citric Acid

1 TB Liquid Soap (I like Dr. Bronners)

1/2 TB Vinegar

2 TB Hydrogen Peroxide

20 drops of Essential Oils (Lemon, Purification, Thieves or Tea Tree)

1. Combine first three ingredients in big bowl.

2. SLOWLY add vinegar while mixing, then add hydrogen peroxide the same way (if you add too fast the citric acid will fizz all the fun out before you can drop them in the toilet!).

3. Mix in oils last. If the mixture holds its shape when you press it together, you are done! If not, SLOWLY add drops of water until it does.

4. Press into molds and pop out onto a cookie sheet or counter to air dry over night. Once dry store in a closed jar until ready to use.

5. To use drop one "bomb" into toilet bowl and let sit 10 minutes, then scrub as usual!

NOTES:

~You can use ice cube trays for molds. The "mound" shaped bombs we made with half a large plastic Easter egg! The boys liked those ones the best! You can also use candy molds, a small cup such as a shot glass, or whatever small container you have. Once we even used a recycled egg carton!

Happy oiling, Mandy

Air Freshener

One of my favorite uses for my oils is a really simple one.  Air Freshener.  I used to buy regular air freshener but I always figured I could make something with a few less ingredients.

There are a lot of uses in my house for Air Freshener.  First one is my doggy.  She's usually pretty clean but when it rains she comes in smelling like, well, a wet dog.  I spray the air not the dog.  I also like having it in the bathroom for people for a poopoui and for that smell that comes along with little boys who miss the potty.  Sometimes we also use it before people come over to freshen up the couches and air.  

Air Freshener Spray

Recipe

• 2oz Amber Glass Bottle
• 5-7 drops of Purification Essential Oil
• water

(You can find the amber bottles on our Resources Page)

Fill up your amber bottle with water then add 5-7 drops of Purification Essential Oil to your bottle.  Screw on the lid.  Shake before use!

Purification Essential Oil

It almost feels like cheating to post this recipe because it's so easy.  But it's really nice and makes everything smell so yummy!  You can try it with different oils too.  Lemon Essential Oil would be another great one to try.  I might have to give Lemon a try next time.

You can also add your own label like Mandy did for my bottle.  I made the bottle shown in the picture above at Mandy's House.  She had a "Make and Take" where we made several different cleaning items.  She is going to post those on the blog soon!

Hope you enjoy your Air Freshener!  Leave a comment and tell us how you like it!