We finished homeschool last week, so I have two weeks off from school and therapy before summer therapy starts again.  Two entire weeks with no appointments, no school, and no obligations except taking the kids to karate, ju jitsu, and Boy Scouts.  

As much as I would love to use that time to get through my DVR and Netflix queue, I'm using it to spring clean my house.  Yes, I know it's almost summer, but I just can't devote the time to deep cleaning while I'm homeschooling and have appointments almost every day.

We started cleaning Friday, and I've already taken 3 trash bags and 3 large boxes to donate.  The less we have, the less I have to clean, right?  

I was cleaning my room and couldn't find my dusting spray.  I didn't want to have to stop to run into town just for that, so I started experimenting with some DIY dusting spray recipes.  There are a few variations floating around the Internet, so I made three recipes to decide which one I liked best.

DIY DUSTING SPRAY WITH ESSENTIAL OILS

I found three dusting spray recipes.  One with vinegar, one with castile soap, and one with lemon juice.  For the vinegar recipe, it's best to use a citrus infused vinegar, so I used some that I had from this lemon citrus vinegar cleaner that I made for Living the Nourished Life.  

I won't give you all of the recipes because I don't want to recommend something that didn't work for me.  The lemon juice and oil recipe was a complete fail.  It was thick, so it didn't spray right, and it left streaks.  The vinegar recipe was okay, but I didn't like it as much as the castile soap recipe.  

But the clear winner was the castile soap recipe.  I cleaned my dressers and wood work with it, and I can honestly say that it worked better than any other dusting spray that I've used.

Then I moved to the living room.  I have built in book shelves with glass shelves, so I tried it on that.  It worked great!  Those glass shelves are a pain to clean because they attract dust like crazy and show every streak.  

I used it on every surface except my televisions.  I use Pledge Multisurface on my electronics because it doesn't leave an oily residue.  

I used Crafty Bubbles castile soap.  It's $10 for 32 ounces, so it's a lot cheaper than the other brands and works great.  

Always use distilled water when you make your own cleaning recipes.  Tap water and even spring water can grow mold or bacteria over time, but distilled water will last longer.  You can also boil tap water for at least a minute and let cool completely to kill bacteria and germs.

I used lemon essential oil because it's a natural degreaser.  It also adds a light, clean scent that just makes the room smell clean.  

You can also use wild orange essential oil for its degreasing properties.  Eucalyptus kills bugs, including dust mites, so it's also a good option.  Pine can kill some germs, and it's good for wood surfaces too.

If you're looking for an all purpose natural cleaner that you can use on most surfaces in your home, try my natural homemade all purpose spray cleaner.  

READ The Best Essential Oils for Cleaning

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup distilled water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons castile soap
• 8 drops lemon essential oil
• Spray bottle

DIRECTIONS

STEP #1

Combine all ingredients in a 1 cup spray bottle.  I got mine from Dollar General, which is the only place I could find small bottles.  An amber colored bottle would be better to keep the oils out of the light, but I am all out of empty bottles at the moment.

STEP #2

Spray the DIY dusting spray with essential oils on a microfiber cloth and use to wipe down surfaces. Do not spray directly on the surface.

This cleaned well and even took away fingerprints.  The oil left a beautiful shine.

  
The oil can separate, so you'll have to give it a good shake every once in a while.  

Be sure to label your DIY dusting spray.  Once you have several bottles around, you'll quickly forget what is what.  I like these kraft paper labels.  They are small enough to use on oil bottles, but they also work well on spray bottles.  

DUSTING TIPS

Dusting is not my favorite chore, but it's a necessary evil when your kid has asthma and allergies.  Here are a few tips and tricks I've learned.

I have high ceilings in my living room.  If that's not bad enough, the ceiling is wood planks with grooves between each board.  It's beautiful but it is not fun to dust.  There's a ceiling fan that you can't reach without a very tall ladder. 

I bought a duster that fits on a telescopic handle to reach the high places.  The flat duster also bends, so I can clean high shelves and even the ceiling fan.  Just spritz some of this DIY dusting spray with essential oils on the duster and get to work.  

If you only have a few spots that are too high to reach, put a sock on a broom handle and use that to dust.  Spray with this cleaner first.  

Use microfiber cloths to dust.  I have a set that I hide from the kids so they won't be used to wash dishes or scrub something.  They really are the best for dusting because they attract dust and are lint free.  

I have a Swiffer that I bought for my floors, but I really don't use it very often for the floors.  I will spray a microfiber cloth and attach it to quickly dust the walls.  

I try to hit the mini blinds and vents every week or so when I vacuum.  I use the brush attachment to get into the crevices.  They usually stay clean enough that I don't have to scrub them too often.

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