Around here, Friday is the day to “fluff the nest”, which is just a much cuter way of saying “clean the house”. Am I right? So my Friday posts are all about tidying up and getting the house fresh and in order for the weekend. Some weeks my nest-fluffing comes more easily than others. I need motivation each Friday.
Good Friday morning! I’m just popping in quickly this morning to share one of my biggest motivators for cleaning.
THE SMELL OF CLEAN!
I am extremely motivated by my sense of smell! I love the fresh aroma of a spic-and-span house just after cleaning. It doesn’t last long, especially once the dog makes her reentry. But while it does last, it’s glorious! So to keep that fresh scent going throughout the week, I keep a homemade spray on hand.
My favorite clean scent is anything CITRUS: lemon, orange, and grapefruit! And my quickest way to acheive a citrusy clean smell is by adding drops of citrus essential oil into my cleaning sprays. I start with a solution of water and vinegar (more on vinegar in another post), add a few drops of dish soap, and a few drops of lemon, orange, or grapefruit oils, or a combination. I know there are MANY other scents out there, and I do change mine up a little depending on the season, but citrus is definitely my go-to! I will also add On Guard during cold and flu season.
Smaller bottles of this spray stay on my kitchen counter and under my bathroom sink for daily wipe-downs (or in some cases, wipe-ups), and bigger bottles of it are stored with my cleaning supplies for weekly scrubbings. I keep a little dish of these most frequently used oils right by my kitchen sink for when a bottle needs a quick refill. In addition to its kitchen and bathroom uses, I also use this same solution for mopping, dusting, and glass-cleaning, and love the results!
I hear there are many additional uses for essential oils but cleaning is the main thing I currently use them for on a regular basis. I order my oils through my sweet friend Melissa. She is very educated on the numerous uses of essential oils. If you’re local and would like to get in touch with her, send me a message!
In my next “Fluff the Nest Friday” post, I’ll share the ratios for this solution and many other uses for vinegar in the home. And as a bonus, I’ll also share the result of a science experiment Country Girl and I performed on the effectiveness of vinegar. I’m kind of a nerd that way. Ha!
[…] I simply print Money Saving Mom’s cleaning checklist each time (I keep it in a file on my phone), and follow along until everything is done. I do change a couple of things on the plan to customize it. In the photo above (my son asked me to add the heart rock to the photo 😊), you’ll see circles for checking off each chore. I tackle mine in a little bit different order than she has hers listed here, so I use those circles to number the order in which I need to complete them. I might mark a line through something that doesn’t apply, or add an extra task like mopping. Money Saving Mom’s list doesn’t include mopping, because the idea is a quick clean, but if I need to add that then I allow myself an extra 30 minutes to my cleaning time. Also, she finishes with lighting a candle, but I prefer to begin with lighting a candle because the aroma helps motivate me even more! […]