Cleaning with essential oils

[Moxie]

In an effort to be a minimalist (as much as I can with 5 kids), I've been cleaning with just vinegar and water. It works great but the bathrooms always have a vinegar smell. If I put essential oil in the bottle to improve the smell, will it leave oily streaks on my mirrors or damage Amy fabric that accidentally gets sprayed?

[happypamama]

Not sure about the fabric, but I like to add orange or vanilla to vinegar for cleaning or to a vinegar rinse for washing kitchen cloths.  I haven't noticed any streaks on mirrors with the oils.

[MamaBearTeacher]

I don't use it for mirrors but for general bathroom cleaning. The smell of mint, eucalyptus or lavender makes me happier than a neutral smell.

[Katy]

It helps the scent tremendously if you add enough oil (think 20-30 drops per spray bottle rather than 10), but some fabrics are sensitive to oil stains, so don't spray it on fabrics.  The oil doesn't get disbursed through the vinegar mixture unless you add a significant amount of alcohol, it just sits on top. It does alter the smell though.  Don't use rubbing alcohol, that smells terrible, get a cheap bottle of generic Everclear (nearly pure alcohol) from a liquor store. If they've banned it in your state, use cheap vodka instead.  Fill the bottle a little more than 3/4 full with vinegar, add your oils, then fill up the bottle with alcohol.

 

Orange, lemon, lavender, peppermint, or a mixture of them all smell wonderful.