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The Non Crunchy Mom’s Guide to How to Use Essential Oils

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I created this Non Crunchy Mom’s Guide to How to Use Essential Oils because I couldn’t find one when I was ready to dip my toe in the healthy living pool that was filled with essential oil users. You don’t have to start making all of your own beauty and cleaning products to enjoy some of the benefits of essential oils.

a bottle of essential oil next to two white flowers with title text reading The Essential Oil Guide for Non-Crunchy Moms

A couple of years ago a bunch of my friends went super green and started using essential oils for everything and eating only organic food. I wasn’t quite ready to give up my dryer sheets and shampoo to join them.

Still, I was wooed by the promise of healthy skin, the ability to focus, and more energy. Plus, I didn’t necessarily WANT to expose my family to harmful chemicals, it’s just that those products are really convenient.

Surely there had to be a way to reap the benefits without making a lot of sacrifices or making dramatic changes to my lifestyle.

I do think that small, gradual changes have the best chances of becoming habits. So, I introduced essential oils to our home little by little. Today, I’m going to show you how to use essential oils if you want to start slowly.

What’s a Non Crunchy Mom?

If you only clicked on this post because you were wondering what on Earth a non crunchy mom is, let me get that out of the way first. To explain, it’s easier for me to describe a crunchy mom instead.

A crunchy mom is a mom who is passionate about natural living. You’ll also sometimes hear these moms referred to as “granola” or “tree huggers.”

My friend Carolina, from Mama Instincts, is someone I would consider a crunchy mom, though she claims she is “crunchy-ish.” She’s pro-attachment parenting, breastfeeding, babywearing, cloth diapers, and green living. She’s anti-chemical, processed foods, and anti-authoritarian parenting.

In contrast, a non crunchy mom (also known as a “silky” mom) is more focused on convenience. She uses disposable diapers, isn’t opposed to bottle feeding, gets her kids vaccinated and would never consider homeschooling.

I actually fall more into the “scrunchy” category. I like to make healthy, environmentally-friendly choices, but also enjoy the convenience some less healthy products provide. Thus, I consider myself non crunchy too, but non silky as well.

Silky moms probably wouldn’t even be curious about essential oils, so if you’re here, you’re likely a scrunchy mom like me. If so, read on! I have some great tips to help you easily live a little greener.

How to Use Essential Oils if You’re a Non Crunchy Mom

Okay, so you care about your family’s health, but you also have a lot to do. The good news is, you don’t have to empty all the drawers and cabinets in your home to start incorporating more natural ingredients.

Just like transitioning to healthier foods, you can ease into healthier products throughout your home by slowly introducing essential oils. Here are some easy ways to use essential oils:

two bottles for essential oils and yellow and purple flowers on top of a paper with different molecules drawn on it

Add a Couple Drops of Oil to Your Bath Water

Want to take a relaxing bath? Add a few drops of lavender oil to your bath water. Lavender is a very relaxing scent that has many beneficial properties.

Create a Room Spray

Instead of reaching for a chemical-based room spray, why not use something natural? You can mix 2 parts distilled water with 1 part rubbing alcohol and add your favorite essential oils.

For example, you could do 2 cups water, 1 cup rubbing alcohol, 5 drops lavender oil, and 5 drops lemon oil. Mix all the ingredients in a spray bottle and use the fine mist setting when spraying.

Use Inside Your Pantry

Did you know that mice and ants hate peppermint oil? Add a few drops of pure peppermint oil to a cotton ball and place in your pantry. If you have a large pantry, you may want to place these in several spots.

You can also add several drops of peppermint oil to a small spray bottle with water. Then spray the mixture along window sills and door frames to keep bugs out.

Keep Clothes Smelling Fresh

You can also add a few drops of essential oil to a cotton ball and place it in your dresser. This will keep your clothes smelling nice and fresh.

I keep a small glass bowl of essential oil soaked cotton balls in my closet. They not only keep the clothes smelling nice, they also repel moths.

If you are worried about moths, try lavender, rosemary, mint, thyme, or lemon.

Make Your Own Sugar Scrub

Want your skin to look fabulous? Mix 1 cup of granulated sugar with 4 tablespoons organic coconut oil.

You can then add your favorite essential oils. You’ll want to use 10 to 15 drops. You can also add food coloring, but it’s not necessary.

Give Your Clean Laundry a Scent Boost

You don’t need expensive products to make your laundry smell good. You can add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to a damp washcloth and toss in your dryer with your clean clothes. The essential oil will make your clothes smell great.

When you’re ready to go a little crunchier, replace your dryer sheets with wool balls. Then, you can skip the washcloth and just add a few drops of essential oil to the wool balls instead.

Freshen Your Carpets

Are your carpets smelling a bit funky? Mix a quarter cup of baking soda with 10 to 15 drops of essential oils and sprinkle all over your carpet.

You can actually mix and sprinkle the mixture using a parmesan cheese container. Let the mixture set on your carpet for at least 15 minutes before vacuuming.

The baking soda will remove the odors and the essential oils will leave it smelling fresh. [See note at bottom of the post if you have pets.]

Keep Your Bathroom Smelling Fresh

You don’t need an air freshener for your bathroom. All you need to do is add a couple drops of essential oils inside a tube of toilet paper.

This will keep your bathroom smelling great. This is one of my favorite ways to use essential oils because it’s so easy!

You can use the same trick in the kitchen with the paper towel roll.

Add a Nice Scent to Fake Flowers

Do you like to decorate with fake flowers? Add a few drops of essential oils to the flowers. You can even add the exact scent, such as rose or lavender.

Use a Diffuser

Last, but not least, add essential oils and distilled water to an ultrasonic diffuser. This will add a nice fragrance to your home and give you the ability to reap the benefits of the oils.

While I’m working, I like to diffuse rosemary because I believe it helps me focus better. In the afternoon, I sometimes switch to mint to perk me up. At night, I switch to lavender to relax before bed.

There are many more ways to use essential oils, but the ones I’ve listed above are the easiest if you’re just starting out and aren’t sure how much you will incorporate them into your daily life.

Hopefully, you now know how to use essential oils to replace some of the chemical-laden products in your home.  It can be easy and convenient to use this more natural alternative!

Which Essential Oils to Use

Because the whole point of using essential oils is to get away from chemicals and other toxic ingredients, DO pay attention to quality. Look for oils that are 100% pure.

Which Brand?

When I first tried essential oils, a friend of mine was selling Young Living so I bought a starter kit from them. Their oils are great and I love the blends since I didn’t know what I was doing. The downside for me was that in order to get the best prices, you had to commit to monthly shipments and I wasn’t ready for that type of commitment.

From what I’ve heard and read, DoTerra is similar. Great, high-quality oils with a better price for those who buy in volume.

Both Young Living and DoTerra will refund your money if you return the product within 30 days. With Young Living, if the product has been opened, you will only receive a credit that must be used on another Young Living product. With DoTerra, if the product has been opened, you can receive a full refund in the form of a credit to be used on other DoTerra products OR 90% of the purchase price returned to your original payment method.

Assuming you wouldn’t go through the trouble of ordering essential oils unless you planned on opening and using them, I find the refund policies of both leading essential oil companies lacking. Of course you are going to open it!

For that reason, I always recommend Rocky Mountain Oils to new users. They have a 90 Day No Hassle Return Policy. Buy it, open it, use it for up to 90 days. If, during that time, you realize that oil just isn’t for you, return it for YOUR CHOICE of a full refund or store credit.

a graphic of a purple drop with a leaf on it and title text reading Rocky Mountain Oils

Which Oils?

When you are still trying to figure out if essential oils are going to work for your family, you probably don’t want to invest a lot in several different varieties.

For most of the ways to use essential oils I’ve described above, you really only need a couple. In my opinion, the best starter oils are:

Important Note About Using Essential Oils Around Pets

If you have pets in your home, always make sure the oils are safe to use around pets. Otherwise, you could cause respiratory infections in your pets and some oils may even be fatal.

3 thoughts on “The Non Crunchy Mom’s Guide to How to Use Essential Oils”

  1. I love this. I used to live in the Pacific Northwest, so I always found myself on the border of being a crunchy mom.

    Reply
  2. I have been wanting to get into essential oils for a while, but haven’t because I just didn’t know enough about them. I also heard bad things happening when used on your skin, and some oils weren’t pure, etc. so I really appreciate the advice in this post.

    Reply

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