Pregnancy Paranoia & DIY Cleaners

If you’ve been following along, by now you will know that I am a strange person with my own individual quirks. In this post, I’ll be carrying on with the story, but the recipe I’ll be sharing will be the one I am using today. So, you’ll get to see a bit of progress! It’s like getting two Nickys in one post 😉

At this point in the story, I’m still pregnant with number 2. I have these reusable wipes (which no. 1 is loving when she goes to the potty…), and two bottles of oil that I know nothing about, and, quite frankly, make me sick.

Here’s another back story, again when I was pregnant with baby no. 2. The day before I found out i was pregnant, I cleaned the bathroom. But this time, I decided to really blitz it. (I’ve heard of nesting. For normal people, this happens in the last few days before birth. For me, it happens in the blessed few short weeks at the start of pregnancy, before I suddenly feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, and then spend the next 6 months wishing I was dead.) I got a heavy duty “no need to scrub” foaming spray, sprayed every surface and tile, and rejoiced at the shinyness. I also coughed, choked, & felt a bit sick. But who cares, I didn’t need to put any effort in! Then, I realised I was pregnant. What had I done?!? At a vital point, when a tiny life was just just forming, I clouded it with harmful evil chemicals! What damage had I caused? Pregnancy messes with your mind as much as with your body. I freaked out, and for the next 9 months wondered what harm I had done. (For the record, she’s perfect. She’s dinky, but I don’t think that was down to me cleaning the bathroom, or the dodgy can of beans that gave me the worst food poisoning I can ever remember having.)

So, that was it. Out with every kitchen spray, bathroom spray, and anything else I could find. There needed to be a better way. (Isn’t there another way?!). It turns out, there was. Home made cleaners. The internet can be a wonderful place, and I found a cleaning blog. It was my first experience of this blogging thing. I did not know how it worked, but this lady had routines, and recipes, and convinced me that for just 15 minutes a day, I could have a clean house. Oh I wish that I could be one of those people. I tried so hard, but I just couldn’t do it. This was before I found out I was a slob, & found my true leader. I still wish I could be a clean mama person, but first I need to get rid of everything I own & get my brain rewired. So, for now, I’ll work with what I’ve got. For the record, I found Clean Mama’s printables amazing. For a few years one of her planners was the perfect one for me. If you are not a slob, but are still looking for great housekeeping tips or a cleaning routine, check her out. http://www.cleanmama.net

I’ve gone way off track, but stick with me! She had a recipe for an all purpose cleaner. All it needed was water, white vinegar, and essential oils! And I had ALL OF THOSE THINGS! I had to order a spray bottle, but Amazon has everything, so that wasn’t hard. So, I whipped up a batch. And it worked. But I didn’t know how it worked! Was it the vinegar? Was it the oils? And if it was the oils, was it okay that I was just using the ones I had lying around? Were they just for smell? In which case, I’m out, because they did not play nice with my nausea. I was also waiting for the point when we would get sick. Just because it looked clean, how did I know it was *actually* clean? Were the germs dead, or just in hiding? What about when raw meat slipped off the chopping board? A part of me did wonder if I was putting my family at risk, but time went on, and we didn’t get sick. I also didn’t need to ventilate the house every time I sprayed something.

Once I was used to the change, I wanted to change up the smell. But I had no idea which oils I could use that would still be effective. I had a tab open on the laptop with an essential oils page open for at least 6 months. It had all sorts of amazing ones I wanted to try, but what did they do? I was going to find out… one of these days…if I figured out where to look… I just kept going with the ones I had.

Fast forward to now. I have found out so much more about what essential oils do, and how they work. I found a company that not only insists on the best quality of oils (expect a whole blog post about that point), but they also focus on product education. They want everyone to know what they oils do, how they work, and how to use them safely. They want their customers to feel confident in using their products, which is so important. I mixed up a fresh bottle yesterday & we came up with a new blend to try. I have a book with information on every oil, and failing that, I can look on the doTERRA website. The book I use is called modern essentials, but there are others out there. My spray has oils that are anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, cleansing, purifying, but also beautiful smelling. I love the flexibility, but I also love keeping the air we breathe safe from chemicals.

So, here is 2019 Nicky’s recipe for a homemade all purpose spray. Try it. Then adapt it. Make it *your* home made all purpose spray.

*1/2 Cup White Vinegar

*1 1/2 Cups water

*20 Drops of essential oils. This time, we used Tea Tree (Melaleuca), Clove & Lemon.

If you are new to oils, or just starting with homemade cleaners, I would suggested starting with lemon oil & go from there. If you have started with a “Top 10” kit, you could also add Tea Tree, or On Guard Protective Blend. Oregano would be brilliantly effective, but your house would smell like a pizzeria. It’s not as awesome as it sounds, but it’s your call…

I can’t add videos yet, but here is the link to the video on facebook, where you can see me make it. https://www.facebook.com/NickyGoesNatural/videos/329033544485190/?t=0

Those two bottles I started with are long gone. Now, the only oils I use are doTERRA. If you would like doTERRA in your life, contact me, or go to http://www.mydoterra.com/nicolastanton .

(If you are already working with someone in doTERRA then ask them how to get these oils into your life).

The “Modern Essentials” book mentioned, as well as other great reference books, and glass spray bottles, can be ordered from the Essent Oils website [This is my referral link, so if you buy from it, I will receive a small percentage
https://bit.ly/2HrcZIB ]

I buy my vinegar off Amazon. I’ll add a link once I’ve sorted that out, but if you get stuck while waiting, white vinegar is available in most supermarkets.

Let me know what oils you used for your spray!