Category Archives: Household Tips

Remedy: How to repel stink bugs naturally

Posted in Essential Oils, Household Tips, Remedies by

I never knew about stink bugs until about five years ago, when I returned to live in Ohio after living 19 years in Nevada. We never had stink bugs when we were growing up in Maple Heights… did we? Well they are very weird and yes, if you smash them, they stink. And the stink does not easily wash off. They descend on Ohio like a swarm. For example, about 8 of them were clinging to the screen on the outside of my back door. They sneak in and make loud buzzing sounds when they fly. Time to whip up a bottle of Stink Bug Repellent Spray! Read the easy recipe below.

stink bug

Non-Toxic Stink Bug Repellent Spray

  • One cup water
  • 20 drops Peppermint essential oil

Shake it up and spray wherever bugs hang out, around window sills and corners. Mice also hate Peppermint so this remedy kills two birds with one stone, but doesn’t really kill anything at all. Totally non-toxic and it smells good too! It evaporates quickly so re-spray as necessary.

You can buy the best Peppermint essential oil (harvested in Washington State) HERE or ask me for a free sample.

DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent

Posted in Household Tips by

laundry-ingredients

I’m one of those people who gets itchy from using commercial laundry soap and I’ve discovered how inexpensive DIY laundry soap is! So I’ve been on a quest for the perfect DIY recipe for laundry detergent for over 3 years. This is my favorite so far:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Washing Soda
1 T. doTERRA OnGuard cleaning concentrate**

  1. Boil 1 quart water
  2. Dissolve above 3 ingredients in hot water and occasionally stir until cooled down enough to pour into a plastic jug
  3. Pour into a gallon jug
  4. Top off with cold water and let it overflow because it will bubble up.

Use 1 cup per load (it will be watery)

** You can make the following substitutions for the doTERRA Cleaning Concentrate (although the doTERRA Cleaning Concentrate is my favorite – I’ve tried them all):
2 T. Dawn dishwashing soap
1/2 cup liquid castile soap (such as Dr. Bronner’s)

genie-jugs

You might need a pair of jugs for this project 

Remedy: Fleas

Posted in Essential Oils, Household, Household Tips, Pets, Remedies by

genieanddoggies

Sweetie Pie and Frieda were born and raised in the high desert of Northern Nevada, where fleas do not live. So we were not even prepared for the onslaught of the parasitic creatures who thrive in the humid swamps and rain forests of Ohio. We were consumed and inundated with fleas immediately upon arrival… they must have smelled us coming. It took me about three months to finally rid our home of fleas.

I tried every natural method (that I knew of) at the time. Ultimately I had to go for the strong chemicals of a Frontline product, but I hated putting that poison on my dogs.

This season I’m experimenting with the natural plant medicine of essential oils… hoping that I can keep the fleas away without going back to the poisonous methods I used before. So far, so good! I’ve been using the TerraShield blend from doTERRA. I put about 10 drops in a spray bottle with water and spray the dogs before they go outside (I live in a very woodsy area… lush with bugs of all sorts!). If I don’t have any TerraShield on hand, I use a combination of lavender and lemongrass… bugs hate it! I also spray the outdoor rug that my dogs like to lounge on while they are sunbathing. No fleas!

It smells so nice that I don’t mind spraying it all over me when I go for an evening walk or hang out in the backyard with the pups. No mosquito bites!

Of course the most difficult part of this procedure is remembering to spray yourself (and dogs) before you go out. You must reapply frequently with this natural method. So when I do forget and get mosquito bites, I apply a drop of melaleuca oil and that takes the itch away remarkably well. I always have melaleuca with me in my keychain kit.

What a great discovery after all these years!

To purchase TerraShield or any of the Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade essential oils, you can go to my essential oil retail website or contact me about how to purchase wholesale.

Addendum 11-19-17

In the meantime, vacuum a lot! As an added flea/bug deterrent, sprinkle this DIY Carpet Freshener on the floor. Fleas hate lemongrass and all bugs and other creatures hate peppermint, so I take a Dollar-store cheese sprinkler, fill it halfway with baking soda, add 20 drops lemongrass and 10 drops of peppermint. You could also add lavender (I don’t because my dogs don’t like it!) Put your hand tightly over the openings on top and gently shake the container until oils are mixed into the baking soda. Sprinkle this mixture all over, especially in corners and crevices. Let it sit at least 10 minutes or even overnight. Then vacuum. This will also make your house smell awesome!

DIY carpet fresh

Here’s another excellent blog about natural insect repellents: Bug Spray and a trip to Africa

 

Remedy: Get rid of mice without killing them

Posted in Essential Oils, Household Tips by

When I first moved into this century-old cottage, which I am renting in a woodsy area in the middle of the city, I agreed to accept the house “as is,” including the formerly mouse-infested basement.

I agreed because I love this little house a lot.

This was the most disgusting job I’ve ever had to do and I wasn’t sure that I had the gumption to tackle it myself. I thought about hiring someone to do the job for me, but I was only procrastinating… I had to clean this shit (literally) up myself.

With the help of a borrowed shop vac, gifted steam cleaner, shop towels, bleach, and lots of elbow grease, I thoroughly cleaned that basement so that I finally felt safe enough to start moving my basement stuff down there.

The wooden shelf above the utility sink was the first shelf that got scrubbed and then covered with contact paper. Perfectly clean and easy to wipe down.

The nice contact paper shelf at eye level also made it easy to spot mouse droppings one day, when the temperature dropped down into the 50s. A mouse! I must get rid of it!

I knew there must be a natural way to repel this mouse so I did my research and learned that mice hate the smell of peppermint. I happened to have peppermint oil in stock and so I put some peppermint oil drops on some cotton balls and shoved these into crevices and corners near the site of the mouse-dropping.

It worked for a couple of days… then on the third day–rats! He was back. Not as many mouse droppings as before, but still… I want him entirely gone.

I pondered to myself… “How can I keep a perpetually consistent smell of peppermint going in this corner?

AHA!

The SpaRoom Aromafier that my friend gave me to try!

Aromafier

The diffuser is about the size of a computer mouse (how ironic!) and it comes with a USB adapter. I happened to have an AC adapter on hand (it also runs on batteries), so I plugged it into the wall near the dryer vent (where I think the critter sneaks in), and I aimed the diffuser fan at the suspected entry point. I put about 8 drops of peppermint oil on the pad, and it’s quiet as a whisper so I’ve been running the Aromafier 24/7 and great news…. no more mouse droppings! It’s been over a week now, so this method works.

I found that I have to replenish the peppermint oil about every other day (every 48 hours). It smells nice and no more mousies!

For more information on essential oils or the Aromafier, contact me.

nomiceallowed

No mice allowed!