My girls love when I pull out my case of essential oils. Elsie (my 1 year old) goes nuts oooing and ahhing and sucking on all of them, and Poppy loves to arrange them in rows of colours, making miniature oily cities out of all of the bottles. During my journey into essential oils, I’ve tried to make using them a daily ritual. I’m always trying to think of ways to get them into our family. I diffuse different oils daily depending on our mood, sprinkle frankincense on my girls’ heads for extra protection, pop a few drops of lavender on our pillows to help with sleep, use oils in our foods as powerful antioxidants. I’m also rather obsessed lately about making my own products using essential oils, hence this DIY Chemical-Free Cleaning Workshop!

It’s a bit of a joke, really, that I’m holding these cleaning workshops. I actually really dislike cleaning! I’m the kind of person who cleans to keep the house relatively ‘hygienic’, rather than spotless and immaculate. Which reminds me, I really need to clean my windows. Like REALLY, really. Like, does anyone want to come clean them for me? Pleeeeease?! Haha. But since I’ve been making my own cleaning products using essential oils, I do get kind of excited to clean because they smell so amazing – and actually make me feel GOOD (rather than crappy and headachy and nauseous, like how I was feeling before when I would lock myself in the bathroom, trying to clean the shower and toilet with powerful toxic chemicals, while my girls were screaming and carrying on on the other side of the door. I didn’t, of course, want their little bodies in there with me, breathing the deadly fumes in).

I’ve been slowly trying to detoxify my body and my home. And making my own cleaning products is one very easy (and very effective!) way of doing this. The commercial products we use are so incredibly dangerous to our bodies and our minds. There really is no need to use them, when there are a bunch of safer alternatives. Most of these ingredients you’ll already have lying around, and most are super cheap, like bicarb soda, white vinegar and salt. We’ll be using some of these ingredients at the workshop on Saturday (2 July, 7pm at Alchemy Cafe) to make five cleaning products – washing liquid, bathroom surface spray, general purpose spray, dishwasher powder and laundry liquid detergent.

We’ll also be adding essential oils to these cleaning products. Extracted from plants, some essential oils can kill bacteria, germs and mould. The organic plants, before they were harvested and distilled, had survived in the outdoor elements, having been attacked with all kinds of fungi and parasites, and thus have built up antibacterial and antifungal properties which continue to be present in the bottled oils. They also have strong antiseptic and antiviral properties, and can help to purify the air. Essential oils are also added for their aroma, as most of the other natural ingredients are pretty ordinary smelling. Anyone who has made and used the dishwasher powder infused with orange and lemon oil can tell you how amazing their kitchen smells when their dishes are washing! The lavender and lemon bathroom surface spray is also very divine. Seriously, I spray it like crazy in the bathroom, while the girls are in there with me, and enjoy when the droplets fall on our face, because I know the oils are actually doing us good.

Some people think any old essential oil would be fine to use in cleaning products. I disagree. It’s important to use 100% pure essential oils (such as Young Living) as anything less will very likely contain toxic petroleum-based solvents and synthetic fragrances, which can cause problems in your body, just as the toxic commercial cleaning products can. I’d also be very wary of some oils that have ‘100% pure’ or ‘organic’ slapped on their labels. Unfortunately these terms aren’t regulated, so any essential oil company could potentially pop these terms on their bottles, when in actual fact they’re not ‘100% pure’ or ‘organic’. Young Living send their oils to the highest-tech forensic labs (which have no bias to the company) to prove that all their oils are 100% pure, and also to make sure that each batch of oils have been distilled correctly so as to fall within the correct chemical constituent range to be therapeutic. Anything that is not up to scratch, does not get sold as Young Living oils. That’s why I use Young Living essential oils, because I can trust that each bottle is not only 100% pure, but that they are also therapeutic. While your dunny or your dishwasher might not need an improvement in their mood or to balance out their body systems, the aromas that waft around your home and into your nose and limbic system while you clean will most certainly be working their therapeutic benefits on your own health wellbeing!

During the workshop we’ll be using a range of different oils in the cleaning products that you make, so you’ll get a chance to experience them first-hand. Below is a list of oils that are great for cleaning.

Essential Oils that work well for cleaning

  • Lemon – antiviral, antibacterial
  • Orange – great against grease and stains
  • Lavender – naturally antibacterial
  • Clove – mould killer, antiviral, antimicrobial
  • Rosemary – antibacterial, antiseptic
  • Tea tree – fights germs, bacteria and viruses
  • Grapefruit – antibacterial, antifungal
  • Peppermint – antibacterial, antiseptic
  • Ginger – antibacterial, antiseptic
  • Eucalyptus – natural germicide
  • Cinnamon bark – antibacterial, antiseptic
  • Thyme – one of the most powerful against germs
  • Pine – natural disinfectant, kills odours, purifies air
  • Lemongrass – antiseptic, deodorising
  • Thieves (Young Living blend) – powerful antibacterial
  • Purification (Young Living blend) – deodorizes and purifies the air
  • Citrus Fresh (Young Living blend) – air purifier

If you’re planning to come to our DIY Chemical-Free Cleaning Workshop on Sat 2 July, 7pm at Alchemy Cafe, bring along any toxic products that you have been using at home to chuck away in the ‘Toxic Bin’ – the person who chucks away the most products will win a prize!

The workshop is $25, which covers the cost of all the ingredients, containers and oils that you will use to make five cleaning products to take home to replace your old toxic ones. Spaces are limited, so we would appreciate if you can book in and pay prior to the night. You can purchase your spot for the workshop here