11 Ways To Use Pine Oil For A Sparkling Clean Kitchen & Bathroom

Cleaning the kitchen and bathroom is a constant chore. Oftentimes, chemical cleaners are a staple for getting these areas spotless. For those that are looking for a more natural cleaner, pine oil can just as easily make your kitchen and bathroom sparkle. Pine essential oil has been a common ingredient in various types of cleaners for some time now, as it has disinfectant properties and acts as an antimicrobial. Plus, this essential oil is one of the best scents to use in DIY cleaning products to make your house smell amazing, ensuring that your bathroom and kitchen are left with a fresh, forest-like aroma.

Whether you need to clean your counters, scrub your floors, or get smudges off your bathroom mirror and kitchen appliances, pine oil will help to kill bacteria and ensure your spaces are sparkling clean. A 1992 study by the University of Minnesota found that pine oil cleaners are one of the best disinfectants for eliminating microorganisms in bathrooms and kitchens along with vinegar and chlorine products like bleach. When cleaning with essential oils, people with pets should use caution, as it can be dangerous for cats. Additionally, some people are allergic, so it might not be the best option for every household.

Pine oil is a popular and natural way to make your mop water smell good and keep your floors clean, so it's often found in multipurpose cleaning products used on floors. Since your kitchen and bathroom are exposed to food and waste, it's disinfectant abilities will help keep these spaces free of bacteria. A study by the American Society for Microbiology found that pine oil was capable of disinfecting strains of E. coli bacteria, which would be beneficial for ensuring your bathroom floors aren't covered in gross germs.

To mop your kitchen and bathroom floors with pine oil, you'll need to use a pine oil disinfectant cleaner or make a cleaning solution from essential oils. Try combining one gallon of water with ¼ cup of pine oil to get your floors shining. With this method, you won't need to rinse your floors after mopping. For a little more disinfecting power on your floors, mix 10 drops of pine oil with ½ cup of vinegar, as vinegar also has disinfectant properties. After mopping, rinse and dry your floors. Your bathroom and kitchen will have a lovely, fresh scent and you'll know your floors aren't as germy.

Kitchen counters are known to be breeding grounds for bacteria (such as Salmonella and Campylobacter) because of the frequent exposure to food and raw meat. Bathroom countertops can also harbor bacteria like E. coli, which makes cleaning and disinfecting these surfaces crucial. Since pine oil has disinfectant properties and is capable of combatting E. coli, it's a great all purpose cleaner for your countertops that'll help kill some germs. A 2012 study published by Molecules found that the alpha and beta pinene terpenes in pine essential oils were partly responsible for the antimicrobial properties and were effective against various bacteria and fungi.

For a quick cleaning, fill a spray bottle with water and add about 20 drops of your disinfecting essential oil. Otherwise, try a commercial pine oil cleaner and dilute it according to instructions. Now, simply wipe your countertops will the solution. While it does have the ability to eliminate some germs, it's not as powerful on its own as some other disinfectants. This is why pine oil disinfectant products usually contain alcohol as well as quaternary ammonium compounds.

Air fresheners are a staple in many household bathrooms, but despite their nice scents they actually release volatile organic compounds into the air, making the air quality in your home worse. Swapping these chemical fresheners for the natural scent of pine oil is a great solution, as this essential oil could actually end up improving the air quality in your bathroom. A study by the Vilnius Pedagogical University found that it's antimicrobial attributes still work when it's diffused into the air. Not only will your bathroom smell like evergreens, but it will combat fungal and bacterial particles that are floating in the air.

To use pine oil as an air freshener, you might use an essential oil diffuser or make your own DIY air freshening spray. Place your diffuser into the bathroom, add your pine oil, and allow it to run for 15 to 30 minutes. Alternatively, combine water and some pine oil in a spray bottle and spritz around your bathroom to give your house a fresh smell with a natural solution. To actually improve air quality by killing microorganisms in your bathroom rather than just freshening the air, it's best to diffuse the essential oil.

Fridges, dishwashers, and other stainless steel appliances often get covered in smudges and fingerprints quickly, but pine oil can help you easily clean these surfaces without pesky streaks. Many people recommend this essential oil and claim success using it to bust grease. It contains dipentene, which is sometimes used as a grease solvent in industrial cleaning products. When pine oil disinfectant cleaners are combined with water, they become soapy, helping them to be more effective for cleaning.

Eliminating ugly, greasy smudges and fingerprints from the stainless steel appliances in your home is as simple as diluting some pine oil cleaner or making your own with pine essential oil. Pour 2 cups of water into a spray bottle and add 5 to 20 drops of pine oil and 1 drop of dish soap. While 5 drops of essential oil should be sufficient for basic cleaning, more would be better for fighting dirtier surfaces. Spritz your DIY solution onto your stainless steel and wipe away with a clean cloth, making it shine.

You might notice that your kitchen trash bin has started to stink even when you're taking the garbage out regularly. As trash sits in the can, the bag can leak bacteria into the bin which will continue breeding, leading to that disgusting garbage smell. Since pine oil is a disinfectant capable of tackling odor-causing bacteria, it'll help to ensure your trash can isn't stinking up your entire kitchen.

With trash cans that are constantly smelly, soak cotton balls in pine essential oil and leave them in the bottom of the bin. Because it's effective against airborne bacteria, it should eliminate the troublesome microorganisms as it sits in the can. Alternatively, you might try cleaning your kitchen trash can with a diluted pine oil disinfectant cleaner to kill as much of the bacteria as possible. Simply mix one gallon of water with ¼ cup of your pine oil cleaner and scrub out your garbage bin. Besides killing the bacteria causing the bad odors, cleaning with pine oil will also leave your trash can with a nice fragrance.

If you're looking for a more natural way to clean your windows or get the grime off your bathroom mirror, pine oil could be the solution. This essential oil is commonly touted as a great glass cleaner that'll make your mirror shine beautifully. The soapy quality of pine oil cleaners diluted with water could also be helpful for getting your mirrors and windows clean. Because the dipentene in pine oil is used for degreasing cleaning products, it will also help to eliminate any oily smudges on your glass.

Essential oils are often recommended as natural DIY glass cleaners by combining them with vinegar and water. Using this setup with pine oil will get your glass features sparkling. Put 10 to 20 drops of your pine essential oil into a spray bottle with one part white vinegar and four parts water and shake for a great all purpose cleaner that's wonderful for bathroom mirrors and kitchen windows.

Whether you're dealing with super messy dishes or you're trying to bring your burnt pots and pans back to life, pine oil can be helpful for removing the grease and gunk from your dishes. Because it's often praised as a degreaser and cleanser, it's recommended for natural dish soap recipes and as a solution for super dirty pans. Since it's a disinfectant, it'll also help to remove bacteria from your dishes.

To deal with food debris stuck onto your pots and pans, try mixing a bit of baking soda with a few drops of pine oil to create a paste-like consistency which you can use to scour your cookware with. While the pine oil will help to cut and wash away the grease, baking soda is an abrasive that'll help to scrub the grime off pots and pans. For a solution more like dish soap, combine about 10 drops of pine essential oil with about 1⅔ cups of water and ⅓ cup of liquid castile soap, but you can also add 10 drops of lemon essential oil for good measure. Make sure to thoroughly rinse your dishes after washing to remove all of the cleaner.

Cleaning your bathroom is a big job, but you don't need to rely on chemical cleaners to ensure your toilet and shower aren't harboring gross bacteria. We've already seen that pine oil can kill E. coli bacteria, which means this essential oil can naturally disinfect your toilet and shower while getting them clean at the same time. Additionally, the antimicrobial and antifungal properties of pine oil make it a great way to eliminate microorganisms and odors in your bathroom.

And because pine oils are also used as solvents against grime, it can help you remove soap scum or hard water buildup as well. Though there doesn't appear to be any scientific research studying this specifically, pine oil and pine oil disinfectant cleaners are often recommended for all purpose uses, including cleaning bathroom features like toilets and showers. The soap-like texture of pine oil cleaners diluted with water also makes them helpful for tough cleaning jobs in the bathroom. Dilute your pine oil cleaner according to the instructions to make your bathroom fixtures shine and ensure they're free of harmful bacteria.

Grease is a constant problem in the kitchen for those who cook often, as your stovetop can quickly become coated in a layer of oily grime. As we've seen, pin oil is commonly praised for removing smudges, grime, and grease from various surfaces, and your stovetop is no exception.

To remove all that oily residue from your range, try diluting pine oil cleaner with warm water and wiping the surface of your stove. Alternatively, you might use your DIY pine essential oil all purpose spray to tackle the grease. The same formula of vinegar, water, and pine oil that'll make your bathroom mirror shine can also get your stovetop clean. Shake your solution to ensure the essential oils are mixed well before spraying onto your range and wiping away the grime. If you have stainless steel on your stovetop, this solution will work just as well. 

Just as pine oil is recommended as a cleaner for dirt, grime, and grease and can help to disinfect your home, it's also the essential oil you should use to clean your walls. Walls can easily develop a layer of smudges and fingerprints, especially in the kitchen. For those with pets or kids, walls can become dirty or marked up rather quickly. It's good at this job for the same reason it's popular for getting rid of greasy marks. Washing your walls with a pine essential oil solution will kill most bacteria there as well, eliminating germs from your home.

Whether your kitchen walls are covered in food splatters or there are fingerprints coating the walls in your bathroom, pine oil is the tool for the job. Add 10 drops of the essential oil into one cup of water and wash your walls. A half cup of vinegar can also be used to give your wall cleaner a little boost. If you're concerned the paint on your walls might be affected by the cleaner, test a small spot first to check for color changes.

Hand towels hanging in your kitchen and bathroom get smelly and gross rather quickly. Because these towels are often shared by multiple people throughout the day, they can end up harboring bacteria. With bathroom hand towels, E. coli can find its way onto the fabric. Additionally, when your towels don't totally dry, they might end up growing mold. Luckily, pine oil disinfectant cleaners are safe for fabrics and will help to eliminate these microorganisms from your towels, ensuring they're clean and free from fungi and germs.

Because of its ability to kill bacteria that causes odors as well as mold, pine oil is the essential oil that can get musty odors out of your laundry for good. While most concentrations will remove some of the microorganisms, you'll need a cleaner that's at least 70% pine oil to truly disinfect your towels. This can be easily done by pretreating the towels with a pine oil cleaner with the appropriate concentration. Otherwise, consider pouring a cup of pine oil cleaner into your washer once it's filled. Be aware that this method can be rough on delicate fabrics like silk.