Following my previous post which features lemons, vinegar and bi-carb we’re looking at herbs and oils this time

Cleaning with herbs

Herbs make amazing air fresheners, dried mint, lavender and sage popped into homemade muslin sachets keep wardrobes smelling fresh and clean

If you have a fire popping herbs wrapped in newspapers in amongst the logs gives off a beautiful scent

Sprinkling lightly crushed lavender seeds onto a niffy rug or carpet and leaving for twenty minutes before hoovering up freshens them up a treat

Cleaning with oils

Tea tree oil is a natural anti-bacterial oil, most people have a bottle stashed away. You need a very small amount, to make your own spray cleaner dilute a few drops in water and spray onto surfaces, if you’re cleaning mildew you need a bigger kick, so add 20 drops to a large bucket of water and use on a brush on the surface, this one’s great for a sweet smelling bathroom!

We looked at a vinegar floor wash last time, now I find the smell of vinegar pleasant but if you don’t then orange and lemon oils make good floor cleaners, together they smell great, dilute 15 drops of orange essential oil and 8 drops of lemon in 1 gallon of hot water, you can add some soap flakes to the piping hot water for extra cleaning power, a tablespoon should do the trick and dissolve well

Orange oil can be used to polish wooden furniture to a gorgeous shine just add 10 drops of orange oil to a cup of olive oil, dip an old rag in and give your wooden furniture a lovely shine, use a dry cloth to buff everything up afterwards!