There are times when the room is “clean enough” but it could do with some freshening and tidying that is simple and quick to accomplish. I call this “extending the clean” at my house. It’s when if I do a little picking up and “freshening” of the room I can forego the actually heavy duty cleaning for a couple more days. In most cases this means I can wait until the weekend before I have to dedicate the time for actual elbow grease level cleaning.
One of the ways I like to extend the clean is to freshen the air of a room. That sometimes makes all the difference in the world in terms of how much it actually needs to be “cleaned.” This works because our sense of smell often triggers our emotions and in this case our thoughts of having to clean. If it smells good, it must be moderately clean. Amazingly, this does seem to work and also gives you motivation to do the little tidying up that result in that moderate clean look as well.
Who doesn’t love this time saving idea?
Over time I’ve found some aromas and scents work better in certain rooms for accomplishing that “extending the clean” desired effect.
Bathroom
Diffusing 3 drops doTERRA Lemon with 3 drops Peppermint and 3 drops Breathe give a nice crisp clean bathroom scent.
You can easily mix this in a spray bottle as well for quick spurts of clean and freshening the potty area as needed. Simply increase the drops to 10 each and mix in a 6 to 8 ounce spray bottle. Fill the rest of the bottle with water. Shake before each use.
Kitchen
I love a nice smelling kitchen. I won’t say it makes me want to cook but it does make me want to hang out in the kitchen and look like I’m about to whip up some fantastic super mom level snacks.
Having a diffuser in your kitchen is a practical replacement for plug-in air fresheners and has increased benefits for your health. Oils are very safe to use around food and won’t contaminate your counters or the air with chemical fragrances.
My favorite kitchen blends to use in a diffuser are:
3 drops doTERRA lemon, 3 drops Eucalyptus, 3 drops Lime
Or I like to replace the Eucalyptus with 3 drops Spearmint for a springy aroma that is fun and light.
I also like to use this blend for evenings when I’m actually scrambling to figure out what to cook for dinner after I forgot to take something out of the freezer earlier in the day. 3 drops Wild Orange, 3 drops Rosemary and 3 drops Juniper Berry
Also, for the times you have some “smelly leftovers,” you know like that leftover Chinese take out or double onion delight pizza, try this trick! Take 1/2 cup baking soda in a small bowl, mix in 3 drops Lemon and 3 drops Lime. Place the bowl in fridge.
Children’s Rooms
There is something about children’s rooms that constantly needs to be freshened. We usually keep our son’s bedroom door closed so we don’t have to lose our sanity seeing the toys, books and games scattered all over the place.
While he’s at school I like to diffuse 3 drops Frankincense, 3 drops Siberian Fir and 3 drops Grapefruit in his room. This gives the room a nice serene scent that is relaxing for him to return to after a stressful day at school while also giving it that fresh scent.
Just Cleaned (Maybe)
These are my go-to mixes for that surprise company that shows up and you really didn’t have time to clean. It gives the scent that you were cleaning “somewhere” and guests will be to distracted by the clean smell to notice otherwise.
4 drops Lemon, 3 drops Lemongrass and 2 drops Peppermint
Interested in more?
Extending the clean is a real time saver I have regularly pulled out especially when it’s been a long week at work or we’ve had a lot going on. I love a clean home but realistically I know some days I don’t need to feel guilty if I couldn’t make it look the way I would have if I’d had the time.
If you have questions about the oils I outlined in this post, please reach out. I’m happy to help.
amyk@draagonspitapothecary.com
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