Spring is finally here! With the start of the season comes the urge to give your home a fresh start with spring cleaning. And what better way to put a little spring into your home than with the smells and benefits of nature's essences, essential oils. I find that when I infuse my home with natural scents as spring comes into full bloom, my family becomes more eager to get outside and enjoy nature to its fullest.

Here are a few ways to use essential oils in your spring cleaning line-up:

• Vacuuming. Add 1-2 drops of anti-bacterial lavender or geranium essential oil into your vacuum bag to keep it fresh and to diffuse the scent into the air as you clean. For bagless vacuums, add the drops to a tissue and put it into the collection receptacle.
• Surface Cleaner. Create your own multi-surface disinfectant spray to use on any surface, sink and counter.
• Drawer Fresheners. There's nothing like putting on fresh smelling clothing! Put one of our aromatherapy bath bombs into your drawers to give them a nice, fresh scent of your choice.
• Dishwashing.To add fragrance or to improve the antiseptic action of your liquid soap , add several drops of essential oils like spruce, pine, lemon, bergamot, and orange. You can also add a few drops of these oils to dishwasher to help disinfect and purify it.
• Carpet Deodorizer. Whether you're removing smells from pets, cigarettes or cooking, you can make your own essential oil carpet deodorizer easily freshen and sanitize your carpets.
• Window Cleaner. Get your windows squeaky clean without the sour smell of commercial sprays with this essential oil window cleaner you can make yourself.
• Yoga Mat Spray. Is your stinky yoga mat keeping you achieving inner peace? Create your own essential oil yoga mat spray to disinfect it, giving it and you a fresh start.
• Air Fresheners. There are a number of ways to freshen the air in your home. Our favourite is to use ultrasonic diffusers to purify your air and disperse the beneficial scents of essential oils throughout your home. For convenience (and because everyone in my family likes different scents!), I have a diffuser in all the main rooms of our home. Another option is essential oil reed diffusers, which passively disperse oils into the air. They're great for bathrooms! Or if you want to combine that with a spray for "when you need it", try getting one of our essential oil air freshener spray with a matching scent. If you like to combine fragrance with candle effects, try our aromatherapy soy candles.

My favourite essential oil blends for the spring are ones that remind me of flowers in bloom. Try Love (with Rose and Jasmine), Wild Gardenia (with Ylang Ylang and Jasmine), and Lavender Meadow (with Lavender & Orange). I also really like refreshing blends that smell like the clean, outdoors like Air (with Cedarwood & Spearmint), Coast (with Lavender & Frankincense), Breeze (with Bergamot & Oakmoss) and Green Forest (with Lime & Basil).

Do you have any special ways of cleaning using essential oils? Which are your favourite essential oils and blends for the spring?

Jacqui MacNeill