A couple of weeks ago, I tried my very first homemade disinfecting spray made with Tea Tree, Lemon and Lavender Essential Oils. I really liked the way it worked and left a nice, clean smell in my house. So I decided to try another DIY cleaner recipe. It used vinegar and essential oils… and turned out horribly. (Aside: If you knew how many times stuff I made didn’t work out…you’d probably laugh at me!)
I absolutely love using vinegar to clean toilets and as a fabric softener. But that vinegar and essential oil cleaner was an epic cleaning failure. I sprayed down my kitchen and bathroom counters with it, and unfortunately, the vinegar smell lingered. And lingered. My husband came home and asked why did our house stink like rotten Easter eggs. It was pretty bad. I’ll have to keep experimenting to see if I can make a vinegar-based cleaner that doesn’t leave behind a vinegar smell.
For now, I will stick with an alcohol/essential oil solution. Rosemary Essential Oil is a great choice for cleaning because of its natural antibacterial and antiseptic properties. And it leaves behind a pleasant, clean fragrance. I like for my home to look clean, be clean and smell clean. Rosemary EO is one of my favorite cleaners because of the way it smells.
I spray and wipe down my home’s surfaces with this Rosemary cleaning spray. And then sometimes I spritz them again and allow them to air dry for extra disinfecting.
Please note that Rosemary Essential Oil should not be used by anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding.
Here is the recipe I used for Rosemary Essential Oil Cleaner:
- 1 cup rubbing alcohol
- 1 cup water
- 20 drops Rosemary Essential Oil
Combine all three ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake well and you’re ready to clean.
What are your favorite essential oils? Do you clean with essential oils?
Where To Buy Essential Oils:
I usually buy essential oils at Amazon and Vitacost. If you shop through my Vitacost referral link as a first time customer, you’ll get a$10 off coupon (and so will I).
Tara J. Brady says
Hi there! I just happened upon your blog and thanks for sharing this post! I make a TON of things that don’t work also. It’s…. a problem. Lol. I hate wasting oils when the experiment doesn’t work out, but I love when it does!!
VINEGAR TIP- If you’d like to use vinegar but also want to mix it with other things to mask the smell I definitely recommend Dr. Bronners Sal Suds. NOT CASTILE SOAP. You cannot mix castile soap with vinegar since they will cancel eachother out and leave you with salty water. But Sal Suds (for those who haven’t tried it) is considered a detergent. It has the same pH as soap, so it is gentle and can be used pretty much exactly like Castile (AKA on everything) EXCEPT the BEST thing about it is that you can mix acids with it! You can use citric acid effectively with it and.. VINEGAR! It is wonderful for this reason. Sal Suds has Fir & Pine oils in it so I think Rosemary would fit in extremely well, really any essential oil that are more “earthy” or minty works I think! It is extremely concentrated like Castile soap so it lasts forever!
One other idea- I also wanted to cover the smell of vinegar because….well it is just yucky lol I saved a large jar (or a quart mason jar works!) and added lemon and orange peels (any citrus fruit works) and added a squeeze of lemon juice, I let it sit for 2 weeks and WOW! It smells great and dang it does that stuff clean well! I now LOVE it for cleaning.
I hope this helps!!
Nicole says
Hi Tara,
Great ideas! I haven’t tried Sal Suds yet, but I have seen it in other DIY cleaner recipes and now your comments have got me even more curious about trying it. Lately, I love cleaning with my Peppermint Castile Soap because the scent is so refreshing. I love the suggestion for saving citrus peels to put in the vinegar for cleaning. I do that, too! Thanks so much for your comments. Happy cleaning! -Nicole
Ginny says
Thanx so much for this eazy, peazy homemade disinfectant! Will be making it very soon…like tomorrow. Saturday’s are usually my major cleaning today but I’m gonna start tomorrow.
It’s funny that I should come across your recipe. I used rosemary oil in a homemade tile floor cleaner at my daughter’s house. She has a dog, and when I finished cleaning the walls, floors, etc, she said it smelled as though they didn’t have a dog. So I’ll be using this when I do some cleaning at her house. Which reminds me I’m running low on rosemary oil so I have to purchase another bottle, the biggest bottle I can afford ASAP!
I’m wondering if vinegar could be used in place of the rubbing alcohol. Rosemary should mask the smell of the vinegar. Not that the smell of vinegar smell bothers me. I’m used to it. But I purchase and use vinegar way more often than rubbing alcohol. But I’m gonna buy a large bottle of alcohol at Walmart or the dollar store.
Nicole says
Hi Ginny! That is really good to know that the Rosemary masked the dog smell. I make my own mopping solution too, but haven’t tried the the Rosemary EO in that one but definitely will next time I make it. Vinegar is also a great ingredient in homemade AP cleaners, so I’d say it would be worth a try to see how you like it. I buy my vinegar in bulk too. 🙂 I use it as my fabric softener, so I go through big bottles pretty fast.
Thank you for all your helpful comments and suggestions. Happy cleaning this weekend! –Nicole
Maryann D. says
I love trying different things using Essential Oils. I have never used Rosemary essential oil, but I would like to try this! I do love lavender and peppermint.