Citronella, Tea Tree Oil & Scent Fill
Disclosure: There are affiliate links in the article below that potentially bring me a small commission at no cost to you.
Citronella: Eliminating Pests
I will not to pretend to be an Essential Oil Master, but there are two that I would highly recommend for any home, mainly to eliminate the two enemies of the home: Pests + Smells.
We live in South Texas, and here there are two bug seasons. The first is in the Spring: Fly Season, and the second is in the Fall: Mosquito Season. Both are horrendous and make any outdoor enthusiast or backyard-lover question why they would ever consider being outside in the first place. It's also one of my children's (and my own) bad habits of leaving the door open as they are go in and out of playing outside and running inside to show me one of the fascinating discoveries they have uncovered in the mud. (Usually it's a rock.) So, our backdoor is left open quite a bit. In come the bugs.
In looking for a natural remedy that was both affordable, natural, and non-toxic, I quickly ran into Citronella Essential Oil.
I am not a huge fan of essential oils, mainly because of my years of deterrent from ladies sitting in front of me in church with their thickly applied, lavender essential oils. It just makes me sleepy and woozy. However, if essential oils have a use that does NOT make me fall asleep or disturb my mom-productivity, I'm all for it.
Citronella Essential Oil used in a diffuser, both indoors and outdoors is a no-brainer solution to keeping flies and mosquitoes away from your home and outdoor living space. It will not eliminate them, as nothing can eliminate Texas flies and mosquitos, but it will deter them and improve the enjoyment of the outdoor space.
I highly recommend HandCraft Citronella Essential Oil as a natural deterrent for flies and mosquitoes in your backyard, on your next camping trip, or next to that open backdoor that your beautiful and sweet child has left open for the last 5 minutes in a rush to wash a muddy rock in your bathroom sink.
It's available on Amazon. Click Here: HandCraft Citronella Essential Oil
Camping Essential Alert!
We have also found that a fantastic natural repellant for mosquitoes is to use the Citronella roll-on by UpNature. You can carry this with you on camping trips, hiking trips, or to your neighborhood park. I'd call it a family outdoor essential, camping essential, and backyard essential.
Click Here to find it on Amazon: UpNature Roll-on Citronella Essential Oil
Tea Tree Oil: Eliminating Smell
The other offender that is just not welcome at our home is smell. We lived in a rental for about 6 months in a life-transition recently. The home was older, and it just smelled musty. It was clean, freshly painted, and had new floors, but I had a hard time getting an old-house smell out of the air. You know the home-y feeling of opening the door after a long day, taking in a deep breath, and it smelling like a clean home? That wasn't quite there. Instead, it was a musty, repelling smell.
My family is a bit on the sensory sensitive side as well, so a bad smell is not something me or my oldest son can handle very long. So, off I went looking for a natural and non-toxic option to make the house smell like home. I was looking for something not just to mask the smell but to actually fix the smell.
I ran across a couple of products that use Essential Oils, particularly Tea Tree Oil. It worked really well in the diffuser to eliminate smell. It also has a "wake up" effect to the mind instead of the lavender "go to sleep" mode, so that was great for me as a mom. I would turn it off around 5pm however, unless you want your little ones learning cursive at 9pm.
Side Note + Other Uses for Tea Tree Oil
1. Molluscum Contagiosum Natural Remedy
My son came down with the most disgusting and vile of childhood viruses: Molluscum Contagiosum. No, that is not a Harry Potter spell and Yes, I was terrified my child had chicken pox. Anyway, I'll cut the gross story short, TEA TREE OIL is a natural remedy for it because of it's antiseptic and antimicrobial properties. Add a tiny bit into the bath and swim around. It's more natural and much more simple to to apply than rubbing thick creams on an anxious child.
**Be very careful to that the child DOES NOT DRINK THE WATER or even put it in the mouth as Tea Tree Oil is NOT for consumption.
2. Dandruff Natural Remedy
Tea Tree Oil can also be added to shampoo to create a natural remedy for dandruff and itchy scalp. I don't make my own shampoo, so I purchased this shampoo by First Botany on Amazon and I did not regret it. My husband had been using Head and Shoulders for several years, but we replaced it with this shampoo and it's definitely done the job. It's a tad for pricey than your average shampoo but the spa-effect is worth every cent, or should I say scent? :)
Scent Fill
The Tea Tree Oil was great while the diffuser was on, but when it was off, it didn't seem to absorb the smell like I needed it to. My neighbor has one of those bath and body works scent plug-ins, and my son has always wanted me to get one because it smells so good. I just can't handle the chemical and strong smell.
I found an alternative and it was Scent Fill, available on Amazon or their website. Click Here.
Some of their options are 100% natural, using plant-based ingredients. It's a plug-in, so it will keep it smelling nice at all times without having to refill the diffuser. We love the Natural Lemon and Citrus and the Clean Air Blend! It's also made in the USA and family owned.
We actually stopped using the diffuser after having Scent Fill in our home. One plug-in was enough to fill our kitchen, dining room, and living room. Two was a bit over-bearing, so we just used one.
I did it! I made the musty smell disappear and the old house smelled like home. Scent Fill for the win!
I'm hoping to leave it for the owner of the rental for when they sell the home; I believe it would definitely help sell the home. Realtors, get this product!
Create Your Own Website With Webador