Natural Body Guru

Many rooms in a home or apartment open onto the hallway and the smells from each room mingle to form a unique aroma that is distinct to that home. Most hallways have no windows so smells linger and fill the area with stale air creating a kind of scent smog. Hallways need a fresh pleasant fragrance rather than the spicy herb scented aroma of the kitchen or the heavily scented oils that might be used in other rooms.

A good suggestion for a hallway fragrance is the citrus oils of grapefruit, lemon, lime or bergamot essential oil. Any of these oils can be blended with lavender to give an uplifting aspect or geranium to impart a calming effect. Use the geranium when company is coming because it will make them feel good as soon as they enter your home. If someone has a cold or flu, add 2 to 3 drops of rosemary to the citrus base using a total of 8 drops of essential oil in 2 1/2 cups of water in a plant-spray bottle. Spray the carpet and stairs in your hallway to help freshen up the entire area.

Hallways get a lot of traffic and are likely  to gather dust and scuff marks. Washing down the paintwork and baseboards is much more pleasant when you use the uplifting aroma of citrus essential oils, especially when you know that they are also antiseptic, disinfectant and can play other useful roles.

Are you familiar with natural, oil based air fresheners? I see many air fresheners advertised but most of them have chemicals that may be harmful to the body or the environment. I even read that some of the plug in types can cause house fires. These natural oil based air fresheners have been formulated to be used as a burning oil or  as a spray air freshener. You can use these natural products as a spray in your car, your bathroom or any room in the house. You can also use this same product as a burning oil in a diffuser.

These oils are concentrated and their fragrance lasts a long time. If you are using a diffuser and you find the fragrance too strong, you can add water to the oil burner to dilute the scent. There are several delicious aromas to choose from and you can even mix fragrances to make your own blend. You can choose from cherry-orange, cherry-pineapple, vanilla-pineapple, canteloupe, mango, jasmine, or banana-strawberry.

In today’s world most of us are very conscious of what we are doing to the earth’s ozone layer with commercial aerosol air fresheners. When you use essential oils to scent your home, you are providing your family with a much better option and your home will have a delightful aroma. You can scent your home with essential oils in the following ways:

• Use  about 8 drops of essential oil to 2 1/2 cups of water and spray as finely as possible towards curtains and carpets. Test curtain and wood materials before spraying to avoid water stains.
• Purchase a light bulb ring or use one drop of essential directly on a light bulb in a standing lamp. Make certain the light is turned off before applying the oil because essential oils are flammable. Once the oil is applied, turn on the light and the heat from the bulb will release the scent into the room.
• Turn a log fire into a fragrant event by applying one drop of essential oil (try cypress, pine, sandalwood, or cedarwood) to each log. Your guests will think you are using imported wood for your fire!
• Diffusers are an easy effective way to scent a room. Wipe them clean before applying a different oil or blend. If you don’t have a diffuser, place a bowl of boiling water with 5-6 drops of essential oil in a centrally located place in the room. Remove the bowl when the water cools and keep it out of the reach of children and pets.
• Add 4 drops of essential oil to a cotton ball and place it close to your heat source in winter months or put as many drops as you like in a humidifier.

Have you ever heard of chlorofluorocarbons? That is the chemical ingredient in commercial air fresheners that is depleting the earth’s ozone layer and also doing who knows what to your family’s health. Essential oils are a much better option for making your home smell nice. There are several different ways to disperse your oils through the air as we have discussed before (see How To Use Essential Oils III.)

Diffusers are a very easy and effective way to fragrance a room. Be sure you use a diffuser made of a nonporous material so that it can be easily wiped clean when you want to change oils. There are many different types of diffusers on the market these days but even a bowl of boiling water with a few drops of your favorite essential oils added and placed centrally will leave a lingering scent all over the room. Try using the bowl before you purchase any kind of diffuser to see how well it works. If you use a bowl of hot water, remove it when the heat is gone and be careful to keep it out of the reach of children.

Kitchen smells run the gamut from the wonderful aroma of freshly baked cookies to the stinky smell of burnt popcorn. Kitchens have a trash area where garbage is tossed, a spot for wet coats and muddy boots, and a corner for dog bedding and the cat’s litter box. Essential oils are a natural alternative to commercial air sprays because they cleanse the air for you instead of masking odors; they are harmless to food, humans, and the ozone; and many of them are antibiotic and antifungal so they may even help keep you from getting sick.

• To cleanse kitchen surfaces add 4-6 drops of any one of the following essential oils to one pint of water: eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, lime, grapefruit, pine, or lemongrass. For a kitchen synergistic blend combine the following essential oils: 10 drops lavender, 15 drops lemon, and 5 drops eucalyptus. This mixture is disinfectant, antibacterial, and leaves a lovely fragrance when used on kitchen surfaces. You can add 8 drops of this formula to 2 1/2 cups of water in a plant spray bottle to spray the air or surfaces.
• To kill germs on dishtowels soak them in a bowl of boiling water and 1 drop of eucalyptus, thyme, tea tree, or lavender. Let the towels soak  until the water is cool then wash as usual. This will keep your towels germ and bacteria free.
• To lighten the chore of dishwashing and uplift your spirits at the same time, add 5 drops lime, 3 drops bergamot, 2 drops lavender, and 1 drop orange essential oil to your dishwashing liquid. The natural aroma of these essential oils will make a boring task take on a much lighter note. If you use a dishwasher, simply add 2 drops of lemon  essential oil to the detergent you use in your machine and stir it before closing the door.

Essential oils lose their therapeutic properties after about two years but do not toss them out! Put two drops at a time down kitchen drains to create a nice scent when hot water runs down. Also use them in the water you use to wash windows and trashcans both inside and out. Essential oils make kitchen work safer and much more pleasant.

Like many people, I am sensitive to certain smells. The usual heinous smells make me gag as well as a few other smells, most notably new car smell. Some people relish the scent because it makes them excited about being a new owner. I try to dispel the smell as soon as possible.

Thankfully, I found a scented air freshener that quickly neutralized the new car smell and replaced it with an aroma I enjoy. All I had to do was take the little air freshener bottle from my purse and give a few quick sprays before entering the car. The scent didn’t just mask the odor, it eliminated the smell. The light citrus scent I sprayed took its place making car rides wretch free.