The party is over, the meals have been eaten, the gifts have been opened, the family has left. Congratulations, you just made it through another holiday season. All that work you put into getting your home ready for the holidays, the backbreaking cleaning, decorating, rearranging, is now almost back to where it was before you started a couple of months ago. If the house is looking a little sad and the scent of stale holiday odors is lingering about, don’t fret! You don’t need to do another “top-to-bottom” to get that “top-to-bottom” freshness back! You really can have it back in shape in no time at all! Here are a few simple and eco-friendly tips:
1. Lavender, above any other essential oil, even orange, is a real odor buster. It does not linger as a strong scent but leaves a fresh and very light scent that dissipates over a few hours completely removing the “stink” from whatever is stinking. Try it to freshen your curtains, drapes and furniture instead of heavily perfumed and toxic “fresheners.” Here is a simple recipe that works great:
1 medium size spray bottle
20 or more drops of lavender essential oil
10 drops of grapefruit seed extract or 3-4 drops of any dish liquid
Fill with tap water. Leave room to shake.
Shake well and spray mists over household fabrics.
2. Add a few drops of lavender to a dryer sheet or lavender bag in the dryer when you wash your holiday linens. This will impart a fresh scent for storage and discourage moths and other critters!
3. Do a quick sweep or vacuum — but most importantly, get rid of the clutter right away. It’s a lot easier to clean your floors when clutter has been removed first. The holidays always have lots of new clutter to contribute to your home!
4. The bathroom clean fest. We got lucky this holiday because the nice people at Eco-Clean Scandinavia sent us a sample of their Eco-Clean Lavender Mint Bathroom Cleaner for a review. This is an eco-cleaning brand from Europe that’s been making quite a splash in some of our stores here! We love the scent and their non-toxic enzyme booster really cleans and freshens as well as bleach. We were impressed! It made a great cleaner to freshen and clean our bathroom after the holidays without a lot of back-breaking work.
5. Straighten and fluff! Yes, you’re really DONE. 
