BY SANDRA GUY

The holidays — and the break between quarters — is the perfect time to freshen up your room, whether you’re studying remotely or on campus.

And what better way to do it than with inexpensive essential oils?

It’s easy, and, with most essential oils selling at $12 a bottle, it won’t break the bank.

Ideas include:

• Freshen While You Vacuum

Just add a couple drops of oil to a small, cut-up piece of a  cotton ball, then vacuum up the cotton balll with your vacuum. From that point, the air moving through your vacuum will carry the scent of the oils throughout your house.

• Keep Your Garbage from Smelling Up the Apartment

The cotton ball with a few drops of lemon oil or tea tree oil comes in handy here, too. Just place it in your garbage can and keep the ugly smells from overwhelming you.

Make sure that you have a cup or so of white vinegar. Add to it a few drops of peppermint oil and use the mixture to wipe down your pantry shelves to keep the pests away.

• Keep the Microwave Clean

Everyone struggles with messy microwaves, especially if your roommate and you love pizzas and foods that splatter. Who doesn’t need hot soup? Just pour a cup of water and five drops of lemon oil into a microwave-safe bowl, then microwave it for about three minutes. When the timer goes off, use oven mitts to carefully remove the bowl from the microwave. The lemon-scented steam will have loosened up the grime inside your microwave, making it quick and easy to wipe clean.

• Lemon essential oil also pulls its weight when you add a few drops to a box of baking soda before replacing the old baking soda in your refrigerator.
• Clean your shower head by mixing an equal amount of vinegar and water in a plastic bag and wrapping it around the shower head.  Let it sit for a while, take it off, run your shower, and it should be as good as new.
• Put olive oil on a soft cloth and rub in a circular motion to buff out any dirty spots on stainless steel appliances and pots and pans.
• Who hates cleaning the bathroom? Make it a bit easier by mixing baking soda, drops of lemon and basil essential oils and dish soap. Sponge the mixture on the surface of your bathtub and bathroom sink for 10 minutes. Then rinse with water.

And best of all, enlist your friends and roommates to experience the newly freshened atmosphere while they help you clean.