About Toilets: After cleaning the pot, I like to swish a half cup of Borax into the water and then drip 2 drops of some essential oil on top of the water. The oil spreads to create a film on the water and IMHO two drops is enough to cover the water sitting in the bowl. Lower the lid and leave it until next use. The toilet will smell super fresh and clean until someone does something stinky in there. However, I have it on good authority that if you drip essential oils into the pot before making a deposit, it works wonders to contain unpleasant gaseous uprisings into your air space.
Cost per use: ROUGHLY a 10 ml bottle will net you about 200 drops. Two drops of a $5.00 oil costs about a nickel … not counting shipping, tax, spillage or whatever else you might want to factor in.
When a bottle of essential oil gets low, the oil won’t drip out unless you pry out the plastic drippy thingie. I poke mine into an incense burner and leave it on the counter top. There’s a lot of good aroma in the plastic still available to help freshen the bathroom. When the bottles themselves are empty, I use them and the caps to freshen cupboards. They keep wafting good stuff into the air long after there isn’t enough liquid left to make a drop.
Below are the cheapest, most potent and fresh-smelling oils I know of. Graphics are educational cards I made/make for myself and the girls. We have 3-ring binder style photo albums with pocket pages to keep our essential oil info. Links are to my dealer who is great on quality, customer service and cheap shipping. If you want to learn about essential oils in little bite-sized servings, sign up for her tip of the day.
Varieties of Eucalyptus: Globulus is the most common one bottled under the generic name Eucalyptus. (Note: Best sources list the Latin name on the label.) IMHO, Globulus is harsh smelling, Lemon is icky (I’d rather mix euc and lemon), Red River Gum is very nice, Radiata is okay but if I’m going to spring for a more expensive choice, I get Smithi which is gentler and the preferred choice for children and elderly. IOW, for potent fresh scent, I go with Red River Gum; for therapeutic use, I use Smithi.
10 ml bottles
$5.00 for Eucalyptus Lemon, Eucalyptus Globulus, Eucalyptus Red River Gum
$6.00 for Eucalyptus Radiata, Eucalyptus Smithi
Varieties of Citrus: Strongest and freshest-smelling citrus are lemon, lime and orange.
10 ml bottles of Lemon and Lime are $6.00
10 ml bottles of Orange are $5.00
10 ml bottles of Pine are $5.00
10 ml bottles of Peppermint are $6.00
Note: Spearmint has similar therapeutic properties, but is sweeter and milder smelling. Both aromas are what you’d expect from using toothpaste all your life. 🙂
I keep my oils in unfinished wooden boxes I got at a craft store. I used a woodburner to decorate the outsides, then oiled the wood inside and out with vegetable oil. My favorite for this purpose is the pure olive oil that’s still green. It’s expensive, but I only use it for small craft projects, because I can’t stand the taste of olives. I bought a small bottle once because it gives the wood a richer tone than the oils I use for cooking. N.B., Avoid getting essential oils on painted (and some plastic) surfaces. Turpentine is an essential oil, if that gives you any clue as to why.
polination.blog 
This is GREAT info, Chrissy! Thank you sooo much for this! I think I may try eucalyptus and pine for my bathroom diffuser/toilet sprinkles. Both are fairly inexpensive, and have the lovely antiseptic type of fragrance I’d like to have in my tiny bathroom. Thanks again for this awesome post!
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Also, thank you for the phrase ‘gaseous uprisings’! 😀
I’ll have to find a way to work it into my little bathroom sign above the toilet sprinkles bottle!
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While I do agree that essential oils have a lot of merit, we need to be careful when putting some of them on our skin. Oils such as Lavender can be skin irritants and can have estrogenic properties. Although I love lavender, and grow it prolifically, I have had some bad reactions to it. Make sure to test them carefully on the skin.
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Essential oils should only be used knowledgeably. They are as potent and potentially dangerous as any other other-the-counter pharmaceutical.
I very nearly died once from taking aspirin on an empty stomach. I lost 2/3 of my body’s blood volume through the hole it ate in my stomach lining (Dearest got to see it through the scope thing … how many men have seen their wive’s tummy lining?) The doctor said aspirin was the leading cause of hospitalization and death attributable to legal drug use.
In general, ess oils need to be diluted before they’re safe for skin contact. Notable exceptions are tea tree and lavender, but everyone is different and anyone can be allergic to anything. I have a friend who gets hives so bad from lavender that they leaves scars, while I … the Queen of Allergics … can use it safely. Go figure.
Some essential oils are similar enough to natural girlie hormones (like estrogen) that they can be beneficial or harmful, depending on when you use them. I kinda remember one being implicated in enlarged breasts in boys, though I think it went away when the oil was stopped. Others can affect blood pressure, heart rate, brain activity, etc. … these may be beneficial or way not, depending on your personal health.
My best advice is to know your oil. Research and know their properties before purchasing and buy only from reputable dealers. (Bottom line rule for me is, if they don’t list the Latin name on the bottle, fuhgeddaboutit.) Once you are comfortable with an oil, you can pick a new one to learn and buy.
NOTE: Use particular caution with oils directly on skin, in food, around pets, children, the elderly and pregnant or nursing moms. When the Buzzers visited, I looked up every oil I had in the house and put green colored sticky dots on the ones that were safe for use around pregnant ladies and small children and red on the ones that were not.
Essential oils changed my life very much for the better, but I had a pro to get me started with good information and practices. I like to pass it forward, so feel free to ask for advice.
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For some odd reason, even though I tend to have sensitive skin, I have had no trouble at all (so far) with any essential oils. I’ve put all kinds of them directly on my skin without any problem. But if you find an oil irritating when used full strength, try diluting it with olive oil, coconut oil, or almond oil. A lot of times that solves the problem. I do agree with Chrissy that you need to buy oils only from reputable dealers, and proceed with caution whenever you’re trying one you haven’t tried before.
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Yup. One of the beauties of learning about and buying the oils individually is you can blend your own safe stuff. I know the blends people sell are lovely, but I never buy them, because if I didn’t tolerate them, I would not only waste money, but still have no idea what the problem was. Doing each essential oil and each carrier oil individually means I get safe, pure beauty and health care products at rock bottom prices.
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