sweater. jeans. shoes. stool. wool dryer balls.
Last week, in my post about Why I started using essential oils I talked about my desire to ditch and switch up the products in my home for safer alternatives. I thought I would talk a little more about that today. Mostly because, when I made this decision last year I immediately felt overwhelmed. How on earth was I going to find the time to research and replace all the household products we use on a daily basis, not to mention the cost of doing it. Unfortunately safer, better and more whole products are typically not the cheapest and for some families, the cost is even prohibitive. (As an aside, I find that really sad.) But anyway, I knew I would never stick with the whole safer products thing unless: A. I could simplify the process, and B. I felt like the products were as effective as the ones I was using before. Like I need my cleaner to actually CLEAN my bathroom.
So I wanted to share one simple tip with any of you who might want to start a ditch and switch without getting overwhelmed.
My simple tip is: start with one thing. Don’t try to replace everything at once. The cost and complication of it will overwhelm you and you’ll quit. Just try to switch one thing out. When I decided to do this, I decided to start with my laundry products. One, because when I read about all the cancer causing chemicals on dryer sheets I was like “get those outa my house now!”, and two, because we do approximately 7 million loads of laundry a week in this family and our clothes are rubbing against our skin all day everyday. It felt like a logical way to start. But you could really start with anything.
Side note: deciding to change my laundry products first is what led me to Young Living and got me interested in oils because everyone online was talking about how amazing Thieves laundry soap is.
Once I started looking into it, I sort of fell down the rabbit hole and now I’m basically a crazy oils lady. Kidding. Sort of. ;-)
So here’s what I’m using now:
For my laundry I’m using Young Living’s Thieves laundry soap. It’s gets our clothes amazing clean, is gentle on them and smells like heaven. It’s also ultra-concentrated, so I dilute it by 3 and it lasts for roughly 192 loads. Crazy.
For my dryer I now use wool dryer balls and I just put a drop of Lavender or Lemon essential oil on a few of them and toss them in with the load. (Tip: run them in the dryer for a minute or so before putting the clothes in to avoid oil transfer). My laundry has never smelled better guys. And honestly, I feel so happy every time I do laundry knowing that I’m using wholesome safe products.
To dilute thieves laundry soap:
Divide it into 3 parts. Leave 1 part in the original bottle. (I store the rest in a LARGER amber Mason jar- bonus it has ounces marks on the side which makes dividing the detergent super easy.). Add 3 capfuls of thieves household cleaner. Fill the bottle the rest of the way with distilled water and shake up. You can also add a drop or two of lemon essential oil but that’s optional.
Have you started the ditch and switch? Does the idea overwhelm you?
Are you interested in getting started with essential oils?
If so, I highly recommend signing up as a member and getting the starter kit. This does NOT mean that you have to sell anything, it just means you get 24% off the prices. I ordered the Desert Mist starter kit, it’s like $400 worth of product for $160. And you get the desert mist diffuser with it, and a bunch of information on how to use your oils, plus samples of the Thieves cleaner and a few other helpful things.
To enroll: ORDER HERE and make sure the number 18134032 appears in both the “Enroller” and “Sponsor ID” fields. Sign up as a Member, this does not mean you have to sell oils, it just means you are getting a starter kit & will therefore get 24% off retail prices. Next you can choose to set up your Essential Rewards monthly autoship, I highly recommend this as a way to order the things you wish to have outside the kit like thieves cleaner, laundry detergent, and additional oils you would want to purchase. (I ordered my thieves cleaner and laundry detergent on the same day as my starter kit, and I still haven’t even come close to running out of either. They last for a long time, even doing laundry and cleaning for 6 people.)
When you sign up as a wholesale member, you have the option of joining our private wellness group on facebook, which is where you can learn everything you need to know about using your oils & connect with an amazing, inspiring and super helpful community that can be a huge help in the ditch and switch process.
If you have any questions or are interested in getting started with oils, leave a comment or shoot me an email and I’ll help answer them for you!
shop my laundry room:
I’ve been trying to use cleaner products for a while now and I totally agree that it needs to be done slowly, it’s much easier and because it’s not overwhelming the chances of sticking with it are higher.