Friday 28 March 2014

Home Made Multi-Purpose Spray

So far I have blogged mainly about what we stuff down the cake hole, as my grandfather would say.  True, that is the main way we get poisons and other foreign materials inside of us, but there are other ways too - like what we surround ourselves with.  If you haven't figured out what I'm getting to yet, I am talking about namely, cleaning products.  Have you ever considered that, to an extent, what we clean our homes with ends up inside of us... not an altogether inspiring thought.

There are some some products that claim to be all natural.  My answer?  So is arsenic.  I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but honestly, the chemicals we spray around all the time cannot be good for us.  On top of that, are they really that effective?  Think of a time you have had an infection and went to the doctor for some antibiotics.  The doctor probably told you to be sure to take the full course of antibiotics.  Why?  Well, if you took the pills for just a couple of days and then stopped when you felt better, what you have done is killed the weak bacteria.  The stronger bacteria are still there and when they reproduce to make you sick again, they reproduce with an immunity to the antibiotic, making it harder to get rid of the infection.  The same goes for cleaning products.  Most multi-purpose sprays are anti bacterial, and unless you spray really well and let the spray have a chance to take effect, all you do is kill the weak bacteria and give the strong bacteria a chance to grow stronger.  Usually, just some warm soapy water will do the job, but there can be sticky stubborn spots that will not come off no matter how hard you rub!  Here is my "recipe" for homemade all-purpose spray... it works really well and even my vinegar-hating sisters have trouble smelling the vinegar in it!  :D


In an empty spray bottle, put one teaspoon of bi-carbonate of soda and 1/2 teaspoon dish washing soap.  Then pour in two tablespoons apple cider vinegar. Give it a gentle shake/mix (not too hard or you will end up with a pretty mess on the floor and no spray to clean it up with!  :P )  Fill the bottle with warm water and, with the lid on, gently shake to combine.  When the bubbles have settled down, add a few drops (or as much as you like!) of eucalyptus oil or what ever your favourite essential oil is.


As I said, this spray works really well and is a much better, healthier option for everyone in the house.

4 comments:

Clare said...

This sounds great I hate the smell of cleaning sprays! Where can I get some essential oils???

If I can find some I'm so going to try this!

Emily Dempster said...

Some essential oils can just be bought from the supermarket or from places like Big W. Other more 'exotic' oils could probably be purchased from a chemist or a health/naturalist shop or even a florist. The basic ones though such as eucalyptus and lavender etc are available at the super market.

Unknown said...

you know ladies, the chemist in the mall has a lovely range of essential oils, if you want to wander from clove, tee tree or lavender. Mandarin is really gentle on the senses and in terms of being relaxing, an aromatherapist friend of mine recommends mandarin for older folk and babies over and above lavender. My absolute favourite can be bought at the farmer's markets.... lemon myrtle is just beautiful, in my humble opinion :)

Emily Dempster said...

I LOVE lemon myrtle!!! It is really nice and we get our lemon myrtle products from the farmers market too... :) Its good to know about the chemist at the mall - I'll have to keep that one in mind. Thanks! :D