The little birds...

If you watch little birds you will see they are busy and happy! Using whatever they can find they create the most gorgeous little nest.
I would be the little bird with some glittery thread in her nest!
We can be like this. Happily working away with the things that are available to us to create a beautiful and happy home.
All the while with a little song in our heart.

Banner by Free Pretty Things for You.

Sunday 11 March 2018

The Home Pharmacy. Cleaning products.

While cleaning products are not strictly part of the home pharmacy they are strongly related.  I began with wondering how can I use On Guard or any of the germ busting essential oil blends to kill germs on surfaces, wash hands and so on.

For a long time I have used Miracle Cleaner knowing that the vinegar and  Eucalyptus oil in this does kill germs and sanitises really well. Plus it smells so clean!  And I use the wool mix with Eucalyptus  in it that also has the same effect.  This plus sunshine is so good and things are so fresh and beautiful.  I will keep using these as they are great and so economical.  I have loved this as it is not full of chemicals and does not take my breath away when I use it.

More recently I have been shocked to find that many cleaners we use on things like dishes have toxic chemicals.  I sort of expected toxic chemicals in bathroom cleaners yet no so much in dish detergent! You can find a list of really common cleaning products that contain toxins that are known to cause cancer... (yet they are sold anyway) here on the Hopewell Essential Oils - Cleaning with Essential Oils page.  They have recipes for cleaning products plus down the bottom this most interesting list.

I saw that the big essential oil companies sell whole ranges of cleaning products. These appeal to me greatly.  The prices are high i.e. one product is 1.8 litres for $189!  They are diluted for use but still so is Miracle Cleaner for a couple of dollars a bottle.  So this is how I decided to experiment with making some of my own cleaners.
Because I am planning to use some as gifts I decided to go all out and get some lovely bottles and labels as these would also be endlessly re filled.

I ordered some labels and am so happy with them.  I got them from Mella + Moi on Etsy.  They make everything look professional.  I need to get more now!  They are easy to apply and there are so many choices.  I am kind of thinking my whole pantry needs these!  Mella+Moi also do roller ball labels which I would love.  They look amazing.  Making up roller balls to give as gifts is quite economical and a great way to get someone started in essential oils too!


I called my germ busting cleaner Thieves as to me that is the traditional name that goes along with the legend of the thieves that beat the plague.   This is said to be how this combination of oils came about.  That's good enough for me!

The larger spay bottles came from Essentially Audrey.  They came with a letter thanking me for supporting her small business. She has raw ingredients, bottles and recipes!
You will find recipes there for everything I made except I have used On Guard as my essential oil.

This is all very flexible...  On Guard is made up of Orange, Clove, Cinnamon,  Eucalyptus and Rosemary essential oils.  Thieves is made up of much the same with the difference of Lemon.  Plague defence is the same as On Guard ingredient wise.... Germ Fighter from Plant Therapy is another... they are all so similar.   So if you have some of these essential oils or all of them you can make a sanitising mixture without buying the actual special formula.

One batch I made is half water, half Vodka plus the essential oils. My ratio was one cup water, one cup vodka,  20 drops essential oil.   Vinegar could be substituted for the Vodka.  This is suitable as a room spray or a cleaner for things you want to disinfect.



I also have tried using my regular Miracle Cleaner recipe and adding Rosemary, Clove and Lemon to this (as I have those) or adding a few drops of On Guard.
I am very happy with this!

For my hand soap I just used a plain liquid soap and added some On Guard to it.  There are also Foam Soap dispensers available and they make soap go a really long way.   Again there are so many ways to do it.

Trying all this out I ended up with a great supply plus presents.

I also wanted a sanitising spray i.e. to wipe a surface when out and about.  I got some small spray bottles for this.   I decided to carry little packs of wet wipes and use a spray of this and then just wipe over the surface.  I used Vodka in mine but you could use vinegar also.  Both work.


Ok I need the nice labels on these too but I had to improvise! 



Currently I am waiting on tiny spray bottles i.e. purse perfume size.  It never ends once you get the bug!

I was listening to a Doctor being interviewed on TV last year and the subject was avoiding the flu.  He said hand washing is still the number one thing you can do to avoid picking up things.   This basic thing is still number one.

The scents of Eucalyptus,  Lemon,  Rosemary etc are all so good.  Things smell clean.   Of them all I slightly prefer the scent of Germ Fighter from Plant Therapy.  But they are all good and I have used more On Guard than anything else.  It is very satisfying cleaning with something that leaves a good scent.

If you have any tips on sanitising with essential oils,  recipes for cleaners you make,  tips for household management when there is illness in the house please share.  I am learning.  We are all learning.   I chose this subject today over The World Within Your Walls yet it goes together as a clean house is also something lovely.  I love it when I feel everything is clean and fresh!  So satisfying!

We have a public holiday here today and the weather has cooled. It is lovely.
Have a wonderful week! xxx

15 comments:

  1. Dear Annabel,
    We have used Essential Oils for years in household, laundry, and 'about anywhere' cleaning. We purchase the fragrance free baby wipes and pour the mixed herbs into the container saturating all of the wipes.
    We use the wipes daily for door handles, light switches, inside the vehicle as hand wipes, and to wipe off every store bought item we bring into the house.
    When we go shopping, I carry some in a ziploc in my purse and wipe the carts down good before placing anything in one.
    I mix rosemary, sweet thyme, wild oregano, lemon, and one drop of clove bud oil with distilled water. I carry a small pre-mixed bottle of Eucalyptus separately. I am more careful out in public with the eucalyptus spray because some individuals are extremely allergic to it.
    If you have an ant hill problem, spray tea tree oil and eucalyptus oil mixed with distilled water on the ants and ant hill.
    For mosquitos eucalyptus works quite well.
    Love and hugs,
    Glenda

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    1. Dear Glenda, Thank you for this tip with the baby wipes. They are so handy. This is great! I worked more on this today. I have quite a collection now. So I am stocked up for now plus winter time. Also I mopped the floors today with miracle cleaner and the whole house smells amazing. Feeling accomplished! :) Have a wonderful week. With love Annabel.xxx

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  2. I do very little cleaning with anything but water because I use microfiber cleaning cloths and I have had them for years. They clean so well that people often walk right into our full glass storm doors. I was so allergic for so many years and anything with a scent made me ill so we still prefer a house that smells like nothing. We use Shakley Basic H concentrate to mix up a few cleaners and we use Seventh Generation for dishes. All of those are 'green' products. I paid $16 for a quart of Basic H at least 10 years ago and we are still using it. I also use the old fashioned Bon Ami on a few areas when the microfiber needs some help. We have semihard well water with some iron so we do use chemical toilet bowl cleaners. I do agree that the best defense against illness is washing hands. When our kids were growing up we had a strict rule that anytime we left the house everyone had to wash hands when we came back in the door. Once we started that we were hardly ever sick. I still stress that keeping the body well hydrated is the second best defense since the body cannot detox if it is dehydrated. Also if you keep the pH of your body alkaline then infections cannot grow in the body and that includes cancer so that means lots of fruits and veggies.

    Please be careful with Lemon essential oil as it can thin the blood. A friend's husband had a brain bleed many years ago and it kept recurring. After the third surgery I was visiting at the hospital and my friend kept putting an oil blend on her hands that she had mixed up hoping to stay well at the hospital. I finally asked her what was in it and Lemon was one of the oils. She had been standing by his bed rubbing the well side of his head almost all day long! She was putting the lemon on his head and they could not keep the brain from bleeding. I told her that I thought the oil on her hands might not be a good idea since he was so sick and once she stopped using it the brain bleeding stopped. I did not tell her that she nearly killed her husband and I never will but I am so glad she listened to me.

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    1. Dear Lana, We always had the rule to have a wash when we came in the door. We did as kids and then I did this with my own girls. I stress it to Lucy now with her little ones.
      Very interesting on the lemon oil! This is another thing I like about Hopewell each bottle comes with the cautions. We might never guess some of those!
      I love Microfibre! It i the best stuff. I have a fair collection of it too for different purposes. Thank you so much for your information. With love Annabel.xxx

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  3. Hi Lana and with your hard well water and staining of the toilet have you tried sprinkling citric acid in there and letting it sit for 30 mins or so?. It works very well at getting off the mineral deposits and is naturally occurring in human waste and is septic tank friendly too :) . I spray a mixture of citrus vinegar mixed with a small amount of dishwashing liquid on top of the citric and then scrub after letting it sit.

    Sewingcreations15.

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    1. We have not found anything to clean our toilets well and we have tried them all. We have let them soak overnight and all kinds of crazy things. We do sometimes just sprinkle the brush with Bon Ami and scrub but it does not do as good a job as the chemical cleaners. We try to keep their use to a minimum since have a septic tank. Thanks!

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    2. Lana we had bore water in our last property. The toilet stained a terrible brown colour that did not budge with anything. A friend suggested using Coke, Coca cola. I used this and the stain lightened considerably.

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    3. Jane Allen, we did try the Coke and it did absolutely nothing except look gross in the toilet bowl. It must just be the combination of minerals and iron the we have here. But, our water tastes so good that friends come and haul it home in jugs! I'll take a some stains in the toilets and have the wonderful tasting water any day!

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  4. Dear Annabel...I can see this is going to be a new obsession for us all! Your sprays and washes look lovely, and those labels are a real find. I have made my own Thieves blend too. After your last post, I found a hand written Thieves blend that Mum wrote down and put inside a Home Remedies book that she passed on to me. The ratios differ from some I've read since you mentioned it, but it still has the Cloves, Cinnamon, Lemon, Eucalyptus, Lavender and Frankincense. What I've gathered from reading lots since then, is that these are all powerful anti-viral, antiseptic oils, that also repel pests (like mosquitoes, rodents, bugs and so on), and kill airborne germs, so it's not hard to see why it works. I'm not fond of the scent of Clove oil on it's own, so I reduced the proportions of Clove in mine significantly, and looking at lots of recipes, as you have, I think it's okay to do that, so long as it's in there. I guess the proof will be in it's effectiveness this coming Winter here, so it will be interesting! I worked in the Medical field for a few years too, and yes, you're right...hand washing is THE number one thing you can do to avoid getting sick. Also, keep some tissues in your handbag, and if you must use public facilities, do not touch anything once you've washed your hands. Use a tissue to touch door handles and doors. You'd be amazed at how many germs reside on those, just from people NOT washing their hands. Not wanting to turn anyone into a germaphobe, but it's a fact. The same goes for supermarket trolley handles, and the handles on supermarket baskets. It almost makes you wish gloves were in fashion...maybe we could start a trend? Fascinating subject Annabel. Thankyou! Love, Mimi xxx

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    1. Dear Mimi,
      I would dearly love to see your Mums hand written notes. What a treasure you have! Comparing the different brands and how they have made their own versions of this they are much the same. We can certainly make our own variation also using what we have.
      Glenda mentioned adding some of your mix into a packet of unseated wet wipes. Then you have thieves wipes. Genius. Another iccky germ place is the ATM or EFTPOS machine. In fact when Andy was so sick the doctor told him it was probably from the fact he has to hand a digital device to people where they sign it and hand it back. The doctors told him to wipe it and his hands each time.
      With Autumn here now and how badly the US had the flu (our news didnt really cover it but they had schools closed down, a big death toll...) this is a good time to learn what we can. Many thanks, Love Annabel.xxx

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  5. Dear Annabel,
    I am so blown away by these lovely bottles and labels! Yes, I have bookmarked that Etsy shop to purchase from at a later date.Thank you so much.
    Blessings,
    Leslie

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    1. Dear Leslie, I love them too! I feel tempted to go on and do laundry liquid bottles and so on. They look so much better! Also with the labels ...how I would love some for all my pantry jars! Dreaming about that With love Annabel.xxx

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  6. Annabel, I love the labels on the hand wash. Did you make them? Paula in Kansas

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    1. Dear Paula, I love them too! I put the link in the post it is Mella + Moi and they will do any style or colour. They are so nice! With love Annabel.xxx

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  7. Thank you for a very interesting article. I greatly appreciate the time you take to do all the research to put together your posts. I especially enjoyed this one!!

    Floor Disinfectant Hospital

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I really appreciate your comments thank you! The aim of my blog is the be a place of encouragement and happiness. Very rarely is anyone rude. Actually only twice so far! If you post a rude or aggressive comment I will read it but not publish it, thanks for understanding.xxx

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