DIY Thieves Counter Cleaner

Understanding Soaps: How do they clean?

Soap doesn’t actually kill germs in the sense of ending their existence. Instead it works as a binding agent to help remove them from the surface you are cleaning, whether that be your skin or kitchen. Without getting too deep into chemistry, the way soap molecules work are by having a hydrophobic (avoids water) and hydrophilic (loves water) end. The hydrophobic end attaches to the oils that carry germs and the hydrophilic elements pull it towards the water so it can be washed away, or wiped up onto your cleaning rag and eventually washed away in the laundry.

Essential Oils

I’m just starting to learn about essential oils and their benefits so I can’t provide much here but I can say why I chose Young Living’s Thieves as part of my cleaning recipe. As far as I can tell, I like Young Living’s business ethics and have really gotten some benefits from the oils I have tried. My biggest use is for aromatherapy purposes which is why Thieves is a great smell for home cleaners. It’s got a rich spicy smell that I associate with clean. I can’t attest to its actual cleaning power because I don’t understand how essential oils work well enough, yet. However, this particular blend is formulated with clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus radiata, and rosemary essential oils which all have some beneficial claims. I’m researching a post about these ingredients and am looking forward to putting it all together, so keep an eye out for that! In the mean time I still felt like it was good to add because it’s safe and provides a wonderful smell for the kitchen. Smell is especially important in our house.

My husband hates the smell of vinegar and I can’t really blame him but it is seemingly a staple of DIY cleaners. I searched forever for a cleaning recipe that didn’t involve vinegar and that would actually work to clean grime and germs off our counters.

I scoured Pinterest for some recipes and found a few sites that suggested using Dr. Bronner’s Castille soap with thieves and water to make a spray.

Recipe I used: Put these in a 16 oz spray bottle, in order.

1 Tbsp Dr. Bronner’s 18-in-1 Hemp unscented baby mild soap. *I choose a lot of products based on the Environmental Working Groups ratings and this one is an A*

15 drops Thieves. *I order mine through my mom so if you don’t have someone to order from already I, of course, recommend her. Her ordering page is here*

15 oz Distilled water *I get my local grocery store brand, really as long as it’s distilled it’s fine*

Shake it for a few seconds and then start cleaning!

I was amazed at 1) how gross our counters were and 2) it’s cleaning power. I scrubbed the counters, sink, and even the stove top with a washcloth and it was really really dirty when I finished. In retrospect I should have taken a picture but at the same time I think I was ashamed at how dirty everything actually was.

One of my big concerns with switching to chemical free cleaners is that they wouldn’t get rid of the germs but this is not the case!