With the weather heating up it’s getting harder to sleep and I have been experimenting with a few different options to aid with a blissful slumber.  My favourite, along with crisp, fresh linen is a spritz of lavender linen water.  I have plenty of lavender growing in my garden, but for this recipe I use lavender essential oil from an organic health store to really give it a kick. 

Lavender is an amazing addition to nature’s medicine cabinet – offering a range of benefits including antifungal and antiseptic properties, improving blood circulation and digestion but it’s best known for its assistance in reducing stress and nervous tension and inducing sleep and this is where the linen water helps.

The trick is to make the bed and spritz throughout with lavender linen spray and then about five minutes before you head to bed, pop an additional couple of sprays around your pillow.

I have also found it works really well for my four year old – helping her to drop off a little more easily than usual.  All you need – to make one cup of linen water which lasts for ages – is:

1 cup of distilled or mineral water (I just boil tap water and leave to cool before mixing)

15 – 20 drops of essential lavender oil

..and 2 tablespoons of vodka

The vodka acts as an emulsifier – without it, the oil and water won’t mix, however, if you prefer not to use alcohol in the mix, then you can just use the oil and water but you’ll need to give it a really good shake prior to spraying. 

You can use cheap vodka but don’t ever buy cheap oils – otherwise you may end up with a synthetic version of the lavender oil which lack any wellbeing benefits and will likely smell cheap too.

The linen water can also be used as a spray prior to ironing, however you don’t want to risk any splodges of oil on your clothes so make sure the mist is very fine and the bottle has been shaken very well too.  I don’t iron because I use a clothes steamer – so I only use it on the bed linen!

It’s so simple – just mix the three ingredients up, pour into a spray bottle and shake well.  That’s it – and then you are on your way to a blissful slumber!

x