Inadvertent Fustiness

Fustiness?  Um, yes.  Unfortunately.  Let me start by gushing about my new favorite & then we'll get into the funk.

I've fully embraced another way to use essential oils, which I know won't be a newsflash to folks who are into oils - but it's new to me.

And in short?  I'm in love.

It's called a Spa Vapor, and it's my new favorite toy.  It's basically a diffuser that uses water and essential oils to create a scented mist.

So, it's a humidifier and aromatherapy all wrapped up in one.  I loved it so much after the hubby got one for me for the bedroom for Christmas, that I bought another one for the living room a few weeks later.

The one I use in the bedroom is perfect because I fill it with calming, relaxation inducing scents, like lavender, or combinations of bergamot, marjoram, and others.  It creates such a soothing atmosphere for sleep, and I love how it leaves a faint, lovely scent in the bedroom even when it's not in use.

The aromas from the oils linger in the air after using it each night...which is perfect.  You'll agree even more after I tell you this fetid story. - And the title of this post will make sense.

The hubby gets up for work in the wee hours of the morning, so he has the pleasure of witnessing that closed up bedroom stinkiness that tends to happen when there's no airflow.  And I suppose it doesn't help that the Pugbull sleeps in the bed with us.

And I quote, "It's nice that the bedroom doesn't smell like a combination of dog and dirty laundry in the morning."  Hmmmm.  Dog and dirty laundry?  I had no idea I was all up in that.  Gross.

Let's all have a collective "ew" to the fact that the bedroom even had that unfortunate stuffiness going on.  I guess that's what you sign up for when you close the bedroom door, don't open the windows or have a ceiling fan, and snuggle up with a hound for 8 hours.  It is Alaska in February after all. It's not like we've got the windows open this time of year.

The hubby said, "Yeah - you could tell a bunch of mammals were nesting it up in here."  Again - ew.

So, hooray for the Spa Vapor!  Banishing bedroom stank for the rest of us.

In the living room one, I love to use any citrus essential oils.  My current favorite combination is 5 drops of rosemary and 5 drops of tangerine.  So fresh and lively!

Not to mention it'll be so festive around holiday time, when I can bust out with cinnamon and cloves and different types of spruce and pine. 

Another thing I love about it is the nightlight.  It has a light that rotates through a whole rainbow of colors.

This is the version I got - and I don't think it's even the most recent type.  I think there's a "Pro" model, but I didn't look into what the differences between the models are.  I'm happy with what I have.

If you're looking for a humidifier or aromatherapy option for your home, this is a great way to go.

And if you're inadvertently bunking up in a fusty room without realizing it...Spa Vapor to the rescue!  Try not to think we're completely disgusting.  I blame him:

It's Cheety's Elvis impression.  "Thank ya...thank ya very much."

Ta-ta for now.

DIY Pillow & Linen Spray

Marjoram
Photo credit: Forest & Kim Starr, via Wikimedia Commons

Pillow spray?  Hell yes!  I'm fully in love with it.  I jumped on the essential oils band wagon not too long ago, and pillow/linen spray is one of my favorite do-it-yourself ways to use them.

I don't know how I went so long without it!  It freshens up your bedding and adds such a subtle, lovely scent to your sheets and pillows.  I started with using scents that are relaxing and conducive to rest and sleep.  So that meant oils like marjoram, bergamot, & lavendar.  Not all together, of course.

I mixed one version with marjoram and bergamot and one version with just lavendar.  I haven't decided which one I like better, but I love the bright, calming addition the scent adds to the bedding.

It's great to spritz on the throw pillows and couch, too.  Nobody wants their throw pillows to smell like head, right? 

There are lots of different combinations you could use that are meant to encourage sleep. - Along with marjoram, bergamot and lavender, there's sage, chamomile, sandalwood, and tons of others.  There are all sorts of online resources you can consult to formulate your own blends for pillow/linen spray.  It's really whatever floats your boat. The recipe is really easy.  All you'll need is:

• 4 oz glass spray bottle (I used this one)
• 1 oz vodka
• 20-25 drops of preferred essential oils
• Distilled water to fill the rest of the bottle

The vodka helps the scent to linger a little longer and not dissipate, but you can also use witch hazel for the same effect.

It's funny, the first batch of pillow spray I made, I used what we had on hand. - Which happened to be a pricier brand of vodka we had in the freezer.  The hubby was all, "What are you Jay-Z?  Spraying the bed with freaking Ketel One."

It was only for the first batch!  I got mini-cheapie vodkas from the exchange after that first batch, but that didn't stop him from using every opportunity he could to call me Beyoncé or Jay-Z.

Of course, I had to get a little crafty with my spray bottle, so I made a label and printed it on a pattern of scrapbook paper I liked.

I love exploring new fonts, so I found one I liked - probably from www.dafont.com - one of my favorite fun, free font sites.  I adhered the paper to the bottle with mod podge and then coated the outside to seal it.  Makes a cheerful little label for the pillow spray, dontchya think?

I know you feel like channeling your inner flower child now.  Come on, you know we all have one!

Give a little DIY essential oil pillow spray a whirl.  It'll crank up the atmosphere in your bedroom and maybe even help you sleep better!

Ta-ta for now.

It's a Slippery Slope to Tree Hugger

I have a new fixation. - And I blame Clorox Greenworks.  I've used Greenworks products before, but I started using their toilet bowl cleaner on a regular basis not too long ago, which eventually led me to where I am now.  Wow, I'm opening with toilet cleaner?  I'm slippin'.  My point is that I've become slightly fixated on the seemingly endless ways to use essential oils.  So of course that begs the question, how did I get from toilet bowl cleaner to essential oils?  Good question.

I've been leaning towards finding other options for cleaning products for a while, since the bulk of the traditional cleaners most of us use to clean are chock full of harsh, and sometimes toxic chemicals.  I know I've had my share of times where I was cleaning in a tiny bathroom space and had to open a window to get some air from the fumes. Once I started using Greenworks products regularly, it planted a little seed in my mind about getting more serious about finding alternatives to harsh cleaning chemicals.

I had already started using white vinegar in the washing machine as a brightener & fabric softener, so it didn't take much to go a step further and start cleaning with vinegar, too.  It's my new go-to all purpose cleaner and I use it all the time.  It's completely replaced the 409s and Windexes that used to clutter under my sink.  It's funny, the smell of vinegar used to remind me of decorating Easter eggs when I was little, but now I have a totally new scent association - it means clean!

I was researching different "recipes" for using white vinegar to clean, and that's when I inadvertently discovered all the ways essential oils can be used.

The gist of the vinegar cleaner recipe I use is here, but I kind of wing it with the amounts, and I use a 32 oz bottle that I re-purposed after finishing the cleaner that used to be in it. I go with essential lemon oil because it smells great and is antiseptic, antifungal, and antiviral.

It smells so bright, and it's not nearly as harsh and full of chemicals as the standard spray cleaner.  I use it for about everything.  Wiping down the counters and stove, cleaning the sink and faucet, basically everything I would use 409 or Lysol spray for before.  I even clean the bathtub with it and a Magic Eraser.  I love that it's all natural, and I've never used a better window and glass cleaner than this simple little concoction.

That's basically all it took for me to dive head first into researching what else I could do with essential oils.  Turns out...a lot!  Did you know peppermint oil wiped around the outside of window and door frames will keep spiders away?  Me neither.  Handy knowledge considering the size of some of the spiders I've seen crawling across the floor!  If I can discourage them from even coming inside...well, YES.  Jury's still out on that one. - We'll see if it works.

How about that oregano oil is both antibacterial and an anti-inflammatory, so you can use it for cold sores, muscle aches, and a ton of other things?  Also news to me.  Another good one - if you put several drops of essential lemon oil on a cotton ball and vacuum it up, that dusty vacuum smell will be replaced by the lovely scent of lemons.  (at least for a few vacuuming sessions, eventually it fades and needs to be replaced)  How's that for channeling household tips a la the Ladies Home Journal?

After reading all about how to use essential oils, I've got a few projects I'm experimenting with. - Pillow/linen spray, homemade room diffusers, and I'm sure I'll find other DIY schemes to try out with my fancy new oils.  It's a slippery slope to full on tree hugger.

Ta-ta for now.