Clean and Deodorize your Essential Oil Bottles

Hello Fellow Steemians,

If you use essential oils at all, then I'm sure you have had a stash of empty bottles laying around once or twice. The bottles are so useful for mixing your own essential oil blends or storing any other homemade herbal tonic. The problem is, sometimes it is hard to remove the residual scent left over from the original essential oil. Which, depending on what you want to put into the bottle, can be a big problem. Here is the method that works for us:

The first thing I would like to point out is that even when you have "emptied" your essential oil bottle, there is still quite a lot of essential oil left in there. Don't waste it! There are a few things you can do to be sure you take full advantage of it. Depending on what essential oil you have you could...

• add olive oil to the empty bottle and let it set for 2-3 days, giving it a good shake each day. You could use this in a herbal salve (lavender or tea tree), or make your own wood conditioner (orange or lemon), etc.

• add vodka to the empty bottle and let it set a few days, giving it a shake once a day. You could use your infused vodka to make a fragrant room spray, perfume or fabric refreshener. I find this strategy works for any essential oil that you enjoy the scent of. I make a perfume with a Lavender and Lemongrass combination while using pepermint as a natural spider deterent. The possibilities are endless!
  

Now that you have truly gotten every last drop out of your essential oil bottles, let's get them cleaned up...

Grab a large bowl and add about 2 Tablespoons of Baking Soda to it,

followed by enough boiling water to fill your bowl and a couple of drops of your favorite dish soap.

Stir until combined and add in all of your empty bottles and lids. Let them soak for about 20 minutes.

At this point the labels should rub off pretty easily by just using your fingers. For tougher ones I use the rough side of a sponge or a bbq scraper.

After you have removed all labels and residue, dump the water and clean your bowl well.

Give the bottles a good rinse as well and then refill your bowl with hot water and a few drops of your favorite dish soap. Then add about a 1/2 cup of White Vinegar and place all bottles and caps into the water. Let them soak for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes remove bottles and rinse well. Let them dry turned upside down on a towel. You should have beautiful, clean, deodorized bottles now ready for your homemade items!

Some of my favorite things to put in these are Herbal infused Oils, Garlic Oil, and Homemade Herbal Facial Toner. Your imagination is the only limit on this.

I hope you all will pull out your empty essential oil bottles and make them good as new.

Happy Homesteading!