Chester's Clean House: Aroma Therapy

Showing posts with label Aroma Therapy. Show all posts

Aroma Therapy Week Recap

Here are our posts from aroma therapy week:

Drying Flowers in your Microwave

Dried flowers add a touch of color and a wonderful scent to any room. But did you know that you can dry your own flowers in your microwave? Microwave drying is not for thick-petaled flowers but works great for daisies, marigolds, buttercups, daffodils, lilacs, pansies, roses, and tulips. Make sure that the buds have not fully opened. Then, support the flowers in the position that you want in a mixture of Borax and sand, covering them completely. Microwave on 40% power for about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Some testing will be required and you may have to adjust the microwave settings and time depending on your particular microwave. Cover the flowers and borax with a towel and let sit for about 24 hours. Remove the flowers, wipe off the extra Borax and enjoy!

Calming Scents

After a hard day, try these scents to help calm and relax. These are great scents for bath salts.

Almond - roasted almonds from the fair
Chamomile - chamomile tea before bed
Cedar - wonderful wood smell
Frankincense - the far east
Hyacinth - beautiful looking and smelling flower
Heliotrope -fragrant flower
Lavender - my favorite
Marjoram - sweet pine and citrus smell
Myrrh - earthy elemental smell
Vanilla - warm sugar vanilla

Refreshing Scents

I really like having a fresh smelling house. Here are some of the scents I find most refreshing:

Eucalyptus - the smell of eucalyptus leaves
Grapefruit - fresh juicy grapefruit for breakfast
Lemon - clean smell of lemon
Lime - sweet sour citrus smell
Mint - fresh breath
Orange - fresh orange juice
Pine - pine-sol clean
Rosemary - sweet herb
Tangerine - sweet citrus smell

A Great Easy Bathroom Potpourri

Citrus smells work great to remove unwanted odors. I have found a great and simple way to make a dried citrus fruit potpourri for bathrooms. Its cheap and lasts longer than most store-bought deodorants that often seem a little over-powering to me. Peel 4 or 5 lemons and oranges and place the skins on a piece of aluminum foil. Put in a preheated oven set at 175 degrees Fahrenheit. Let the peels dry in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven and let the peels dry at room temperature for 1 day. Cut the dried peels into 1 inch squares and combine with all-spice, bay leaves, whole cloves and/or broken cinnamon sticks. Put the mixture into jars and place in any area of your home that needs a little scent pick-up. You can add a drop or two of your favorite essential oil to add a little extra kick!

Romantic Scents

When you are ready to turn down the lights and light a few candles, try some of these romantic scents to help set the mood.

Cinnamon - spicy hot cinnamon
Freesia - fresh cut freesia flowers
Gardenia - gardenia flowers
Jasmine - wonderful smelling white flower
Patchouli - smell of "free love"
Rose - sweet scent of blooming rose pedals
Sandalwood - bright edgy wood

Energizing Scents

Sometimes we need a little pick me up to keep us going in our busy lives. Some drink coffee or energy drinks. I have found that the right scent can really get me into the zone. Try some of the following scents to find out what works best for you.

Bergamot - a strong citrus smell used in most colognes and perfumes

Eucalyptus - like you were growing a eucalyptus tree in your house

Ginger - fresh gingerbread cookies

Lemon - nothing like pure lemon

Mint - drinking an ice cold mojito

Tangerine - freshly squeezed juicy tangerines

Using Essential Oils in the Bath

Just as scents in your home can have calming effects, added them to your bath can help you relax before bed or fire you up for that big meeting or for a night on the town. Use lavendar and vanilla to calm or relax, use citrus oils to invigorate and get the energy going. I have found a simple mixture to add your favorite essential oils to your bath with that also softens your skin! Combine 1 cup of olive oil and 1 cup liquid castile soap, which is soap made from vegetable oil. Pour into a sealed container that you can keep by your bath. Next decide if it is going to be your calming or invigorating bath and add 1/2 teaspoon of your choice of essential oil. Mix well and when you need it add about 2 tablespoons to each bath. I have actually made both a calming with lavendar and a separate lime/valencia mixture to get me going in the morning.

Calming Effects Of Lavender and Vanilla

Lavender and vanilla are two of my favorite scents. There is much debate over how much effect scents can have over your mood, but I have to say I find both lavender and vanilla to be very relaxing for me. I enjoy walking into my home and smelling either. Do scents have any effect on your mood?

How To Buy Essential Oils

Essential Oils are concentrated liquids containing aroma compounds usually derived from plants. Some essential oils are synthetic, which include strawberry, rain, carnation, lilac, cucumber, and others. Essential oils are great for making your own scented items. I use them to make bath salts, popuri, scented cleaning solutions, massage oil, and to freshen my home. Buying essential oils can be confusing and expensive. Here are some of the things I have learned over the years.

First, buy from companies with established reputations. You may find vendors at fairs or flea markets, but they usually don't stand behind their products. Buy only oils stored in dark colored glass containers that have a solid cap. Oils stored in clear containers can be damaged by the sun and some oils can degrade plastic bottles and medicine type droppers.

If you are buying locally, check for dust on the bottles. Some oils will loose their potency over time. Open the bottles and make sure they smell nice. There can be a big fragrance difference between brands. You can test the purity of the oil by placing a drop on a clean piece of paper. If the oil is pure it should evaporate quickly and leave no marks on the paper.

When buying over the Internet, only buy a small amount the first time from a new vendor so that you can verify the quality of their oils. Try sending the company a question before you buy. If they don't respond to a possible customer, I wouldn't expect them to respond to a customer. Many on-line vendors will send you samples if you request them.

I have recommended the Essential Oil Starter Kit to several friends who have enjoyed it. My sister always has new concoctions for me. It is fun to mix the different scents to see what you can come up with. For beginners I recommend lavender or vanilla, because they are the most soothing for me and they are very easy to use. Just add a little at a time, a little goes a long way. You can't take away fragrance if it is too strong.

Making Your Own Candles

I have told you before that my wife and I are big fans of candles. When it gets cold outside, we tend to light a handful of candles to add a feeling of warmth and they fill our home with wonderful smells. There is only one problem with candles, they get expensive quick. Especially the really good ones that don't just smell like soap. We decided to try to make our own to control the cost. I have to tell you, it is really easy and very inexpensive. There are just a couple of tricks that will save you a ton of time and trouble. First, soy-based candles are the easiest to make, the basic ingredient is cheap, and they are safer than the gel-based candles to burn. We get our soy candle base from a local candle-making shop, but it is available at most craft stores. Second, always buy pre-made wicks. They are cheap and will save you a ton of time trying to get them right. Thirdly, only buy scents that are especially made for candle-making, you are going to burn what you make, don't risk adding something flammable to your candles.

To make the candles is simple. Using a hot glue gun, attach the wick to the bottom of the candle container. Failure to do this will cause it to float when you pour in the candle wax. Then, in a Pyrex measuring bowel, melt the soy wax pellets in your microwave. Add more soy as the pellets melt to arrive at the desired amount of liquid for your container that will hold the candle. Once the pellets have completely melted, stir in your favorite scents and pout into the container. Support the end of the wick until the wax begins to set. I found that the dozen or so sets of chopsticks that have filled one of my kitchen cabinets worked great to stir the wax and also provided the right size support for my wicks by simply laying them across the top of the candle container. Also, the chopsticks were free from my local favorite Chinese restaurant and they are disposable. Make sure that you clean the Pyrex bowel the second that you have finished pouring the candle, once the wax sets fully it because a huge chore to clean. Once the candle has completely cooled, light and enjoy!

Aroma Therapy Week

A lot of people don't believe in aroma therapy, but everyone likes a fresh smelling house. This week we will be posting tips to help make your house smell its best, and you might learn about the relaxing effects of vanilla and lavender. There are a lot of commercial products to freshen your house, but we will be concentrating on recipes you can make yourself.