With a growing number of Australians shying away from bringing heavy chemicals into their homes, essential oils for cleaning provide a safer alternative.
On a global scale, we’ve become increasingly aware of our impact on the earth. We’re ditching plastic straws, eating less meat, and cutting down on our fossil fuel consumption. Naturally, it makes sense for us to be more cautious on the types of products we use in our homes.
In all fairness, many people are already making a start on improving their home’s sustainability without even realising. Processes such as composting, solar panels and even catching more rainwater are all big factors in making our homes a healthier place to be, but there’s still one area that is routinely swept under the rug: the quality of our cleaning products. However, that’s all changing with the rise of essential oils for cleaning.
How To Use Essential Oils For Sustainable Cleaning
For the unfamiliar, essential oils are aromatic, volatile liquids obtained from plant material through steam distillation and named after the plant from which they are derived. Essential oils can be defined as either products or mixtures of fragrant substances, or as mixtures of fragrant and odourless substances.
The beauty of essential oils is that their benefits can be applied to a wide range of situations and circumstances. For some, burning essential oils at home is all about reducing stress, while others prefer to add them to a hot bath to reduce inflammation.
Although it may seem like a newer trend, essential oils for cleaning is a practice that’s been in use for centuries. Today’s household cleaners are filled with chemicals and toxins that can be dangerous for your home and family, but the sustainable alternative has none of these potential pitfalls.
In fact, just a few of the most popular essential oils for cleaning purposes include the following –
Lemon Oil – As lemon oil has a high percentage of chemical constituents with surface cleansing benefits, it is an incredibly useful oil for household cleaning and disinfecting. Simply mix lemon oil and water in a spray bottle to disinfect and deodorise countertops, sinks, tables, wood cutting boards, appliances and other surfaces found in the home.
Eucalyptus Oil – Aside from smelling magnificent, using eucalyptus oil for cleaning is an all natural antibacterial that’ll make your house smell fresh without the need for harmful chemicals. From tackling bathroom soap scum, getting rid of mould, being a natural flea repellent and even clearing out your sinuses, there isn’t much that this magical compound can’t do.
Lavender Oil – While lavender is widely celebrated as a floral lullaby and the perfect aroma for instigating a good night’s sleep, did you know that lavender oil also makes for a great kitchen cleaning agent? Simply mix a few drops with vinegar and water, and watch as its disinfectant properties get to work.
Tea Tree Oil – A few drops of tea tree oil in a spray bottle filled with equal parts vinegar and water will become a potent multipurpose cleaning agent – in fact, studies show that it can even prevent influenza and norovirus too. While the vinegar and water dissolve dirt and muck, the tea tree oil will go on to kill any bacteria, viruses and fungi present.
Peppermint Oil – Cleaning with peppermint oil kills bacteria, and prevents all kinds of pests from hanging out in your home. While its cool, invigorating and refreshing smell has made it incredibly popular for aromatherapy, its antibacterial properties also doubles as a natural pest and rodent repellent as well.
Pine Oil – There’s a reason why many cleaners either use pine oil or lemon oil as their base, so why ruin their qualities with extra chemicals? Pine oil is excellent for killing household germs like yeast spores and E.coli, and has also been proven to help fight mould and mildew. For gardening enthusiasts, its properties are also an excellent tool to combat weed infestations.
Clove Oil – During summer months the heavy rain and high humidity can build up mould in our homes, clove oil is an excellent mould remover because it actually kills the spores rather than only bleaching and hiding them. If we only bleach the mould, all the health risks (incl. asthma and allergies) will still be there whether you can see them or not. And it’s likely to grow back in no time.
Considering that more Australians than ever before are paying careful attention to their overall health, it makes sense that the same philosophy would apply to our home environments as well. As such, it should come as no surprise that a growing number of families are outsourcing these types of responsibilities to professional house cleaners that only use sustainable cleaning products – but where do you find them?
Ditch The Chemicals And Stay Clean With Goodwings
We all know that good help can be hard to find, particularly when it comes to finding a reliable housekeeper that you can trust. Offering four to six hour cleaning packages, just a handful of the services on offer with the Cleaning Angels at Goodwings include bed linen changes, washing, and topping up everyday household goods like washing powder, shampoos, toilet paper and much more.
Given the fact that eco-friendly cleaning agents have been demonstrated to be just as effective at tackling various chores as traditional cleaning products, the weekly or fortnightly packages on offer through Goodwings enable Queenslanders to continue on with a healthy lifestyle without sacrificing the cleanliness of their homes.
To find out more about the services on offer with us at Goodwings, get in touch to discuss how we can provide your household with world class cleaning solutions.
