Maria sent in a request for this lovely essential oil powered pillow mist, and I just loved the sound of it. The original was designed to help prevent breakouts caused by a dirty pillowcase, but with its lovely blend of essential oils, it’ll also help lull you into a citrus-scented sleep in no time.
I decided to run with a blend of calming lavender, cleansing grapefruit, and anti-bacterial tea tree essential oils. If you don’t have these three particular essential oils, feel free to create a blend of calming, cleansing, anti-bacterial essential oils from what you do have on hand.
I’ve boosted the essential oils’ germ-busting power by using high proof rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol to dissolve the essential oils so they’ll disperse in water evenly. If you don’t have high proof (at least 70%) rubbing alcohol you can use solubilizer (polysorbate 20) instead, but it doesn’t have the same disinfecting properties. I do not recommend using a blend of Turkey Red Oil and guar gum here as the added viscosity means you’ll get more of a jet than a mist when you spray this on your pillow.
The rest of the spray is a blend of water and anti-microbial witch hazel. This spray comes together in a jiffy, is incredibly easy to make, and makes a lovely addition to any bedtime routing. Give it a go, I think you’ll like it 🙂
Clean Dreams Pillow Mist
20 drops lavender essential oil
20 drops grapefruit essential oil (pink or white)
10 drops tea tree essential oil
15mL | 1 tbsp high proof (99%) isopropyl alcohol (or other high proof clear grain alcohol)Water, as needed
Witch hazel, as neededCount out the drops of the essential oils into the bottom of your spray bottle, and top off with the 1 tbsp of rubbing alcohol. Cap the bottle, turn to combine, and leave the essential oils and alcohol to mingle and dissolve for at least 10 minutes.
Top off the bottle with equal parts water and witch hazel (I found I needed about 20mL/4 tsp of each), cap, and turn to combine.
To use, mist the mixture over your pillowcase a few minutes before going to sleep.
Enjoy!
Due to the high alcohol concentration in this pillow mist, it doesn’t need a preservative. It does, however, need a minimum of 20% alcohol content for that to remain true. As written, with 99% isopropyl alcohol, this spray is approximately 25% alcohol. If you need to use a weaker alcohol, increase the alcohol percentage and decrease the amount of water accordingly. So, if you were using a 50% alcohol, you’d need to use 30mL (2 tbsp) alcohol and one less tablespoon of water to maintain that 20% minimum.
Oh yummy! When I first started reading your blog (about 4 months ago) I was baffled by the huge range of ingredients required. I have everything listed here and can’t wait to get started! Thank you for an amazing blog and for turning me into a true diy-er! Xx
Thanks, Bryonie! Have you checked out my DIY for Beginners entry? It has lots of links to easy to make, don’t-need-too-many-ingredients recipes 🙂
Ooh thanks! Funnily enough my order from mystic moments came this morning. I can’t stop sniffing the sea buckthorn – it smells lush!
Tried the pillow mist last night, could hardly keep my eyes open while reading – it’s a success! X
Wonderful! I’m so glad you’re loving the pillow mist 🙂 Have you checked out my sea buckthorn acne serum?
I copied the recipe to make for my granddaughter and friend. It sounds wonderful and will be a great thing to do on this Blue Monday!
Have fun and happy Monday!
what is shelf life of mist?
Hi!
Can I use something else instead of the witch hazel?
Thanks!
And I love you blog 🙂
You can just use more water if you want 🙂
Hi Marie,
You didn’t say in your notes, so let me be the first to ask the obvious….can I used cheap Vodka instead of the 99% AI?
I have been making some of these linen sprays to help my wife and her friends get better sleep at night…they really seem to make a difference.
Yup, you can use any other high proof clear grain alcohol (though gin would probably be a bit weird).
Hi Marie
Searching for a hi quality rose oil(got Bulgarian & smells like they used rose petals that were turning brown in the making of this. Less than 5ml and cost over $250. Got any suggestions.
YIKES. That is heartbreaking 🙁 I have this one and really like it. Sadly it has doubled in price since I purchased it, so I doubt I’ll be replacing it.
Since you are using alcohol and alcohol-free witch hazel, can’t I just use regular witch hazel since it has some alcohol in it already?
You could try it, though I’m not sure if the concentrations would be the same, and without the direct EO/alcohol marinating time the EOs may not dissolve as well. Let me know if you try it!
I tried it your way (I used 91% isopropyl) with alcohol free witch hazel, and it turned out great! My entire family gives it a thumbs up! By the way, for any of you looking, you can get 91% isopropyl rubbing alcohol at Walmart for a little over $2 for a 32 ounce bottle. You can also double your value at Sam’s by getting two for just a $1 more! Hope this helps. 🙂
Woo! And thanks so much for the sourcing tips 🙂
Where did you find this 99 proof alcohol? I’ve looked everywhere and was told I’d need a special alcohol license to get it.
I got mine at Costco—70% is fine, though, and that’s easily available at drug stores. Rubbing alcohol is denatured, though, so I’m not sure why anybody would tell you that you’d need a special license for it.
Look on Amazon for 99% alcohol. There are a number of sellers who offer it.
🙂
This sounds wonderful. Can I use it as a general room spray/air freshener?
Yup!
What do you think– alternative yoga mat spray?
Why not?! I might just use white vinegar instead of water 🙂
You should always use distilled water in your preparations. You should also use a preservative as the water can start collecting mold and bacteria. Essential oils are not enough to thwart this. You can give a staph infection with products that are not preserved effectively. I would use optiphen plus
Distilled water isn’t going to make a huge difference in the shelf live of your concoctions—it’s just lacking minerals, it isn’t sterile. Clean water is much more of a concern.
You are, of course, always free to add preservatives to your projects, but I have found things like this that contain alcohol and no lipids or botanicals for bacteria to much on have quite lengthy shelf lives.
Hi Marie,
Interesting topic and a nice blend in the ingredients. The pillowcase is always very hard to clean, I typically just spray it with Lysol or something but this seems like a nicer approach. Thanks for sharing.
Carlos
🙂
Hi Marie!
This sounds quite lovely! I was wondering what you thought of about NDA selling ‘food grade’ essential oils? It seems a little unsafe. I would love your input!
I just noticed that a couple days ago, and I must say I’m intrigued. I suppose it’s probably similar to Amazon selling peanut butter online, so I don’t imagine it’s unsafe—though I could see that people could use them unsafely.
Hi Marie,
You continually inspire with your recipes and advice, many thanks for sharing!
While I recognize the benefits of tea tree oil I just can’t get past the smell; can you provide some alternatives so I can make this lovely mist?
Much appreciated!
Hi Gwyneth! Thanks for your kind words 🙂 Have you checked out my guide to essential oil substitutions for ideas on alternatives?
Does the clean mist spray for the pillow stain microfibre or sateen pillowcases how about silk?
I’m not posh enough to own sateen or silk pillowcases, so I’m afraid I can’t say. So far it’s been find with my cotton ones 🙂 I’d recommend doing a spot test.
I know this is old, but I thought I’d reply in case someone else is also wondering. I’ve used this successfully on cotton, microfiber, fleece, and silk pillowcases. I don’t have sateen so I can’t speak on that.
I adore this spray! I spray my pillow, the area of my bed where my shoulders/upper back rests, and my sleep mask. It does reduce the acne I get. When I don’t use it I always breakout on the back of my neck and shoulders. I’m a back sleeper. I, also, breakout on my forehead/cheeks where my mask rests. The mist is a game changer.
Marie, can I scale the mist up? The way I use it I’m going through it super fast. Two ounces isn’t enough.
Thanks so much for sharing, Jessica! I’m so glad you’re loving it 🙂 You can definitely scale it up, just follow the instructions in this post. Happy making!
Good evening, Marie. Thanks so much for choosing my request to make up a recipe! I look forward to using this.
Thanks for the idea/suggestion! 🙂
Is the lavender and grapefruit just for the scent? Could I just skip it? I want to use this now, but haven’t have the chance to go get the lavender and grapefruit.
They aren’t just for scent. The lavender is calming and the grapefruit is cleansing, which are basically the two main purposes of the recipe—the “clean” and the “dreams” parts 😛
Okay thanks a lot 🙂
🙂
Hi Marie,
Can you suggest an alternative for the lavender? I just can’t stand the smell of it.
Chamomile would be a good alternative here 🙂
how long is the shelf life on this?
Check out my FAQ on this 🙂
Will this spray help prevent pollen allergies ?
I doubt it, I can’t really imagine how it would help.
I just finished this (and a few other things of yours) and I can’t wait to use it all!
My university held a “sleep week” theme week and was giving out sleep and anti-stress goodies. I picked up some little baggies of lavender and added a few pinches to this to give it a little extra kick 🙂
Fantastic! Having lavender on hand is always so lovely, and so useful 🙂
Hi Marie!
I don’t have grapefruit, would I be able to substitute orange essential oil instead? I checked your essential oil substitutions page but didn’t see that there.
Thank you!
Yup! You can generally use any citrus essential oil for any other one, their scents are fairly similar, as are their therapeutic properties 🙂 happy making!
Hi Marie,
Just wanted to let you know this stuff is amazing! Thank you for sharing (:
Thanks so much, Katelyn!
Hello, I have to say that I’m a bit confused by the sort of contradictory information here. This details within this recipe state that the 20-25% of alcohol in this mist are effective enough that it will not need a preservative. Yet, when someone asked the shelf life, you linked your FAQ which states that anything containing water needs a preservative. So, which is it? Is this recipe in need of a preservative or not? And if not, what is the shelf life?
The alcohol content here is enough to be self-preserving 🙂 Sorry for the confusion!
I’m so happy since I have all the oils here! Do you think these eo’s also have de-stressing properties? I’m thinking of making a balm version of this recipe for a friend.
Lavender definitely does! You might choose chamomile instead of grapefruit (or in addition to) for more of a de-stressing balm 🙂
Hi Marie, Making more of this lovely concoction today. My question is, at what age is it safe to use on children’s bedding? Also, is it safe for dog bedding? Thank You!
I definitely would not use this for dog bedding; tea tree oil can be toxic to dogs, and given their very sensitive scents of smell I’d think they’d be much more likely to be irritated by adding scent.
It’s hard to say for children since the product is distributed over bedding, so we can’t really say what concentration they might be exposed to. Tisserand says kids 6–15 should not be exposed to more than 3% concentrations.
Hi Marie!
I was wondering what the shelf life of this DIY would be approximately, in your opinion?
At least a year or two if properly made & preserved 🙂