Many green, environmentally-friendly products can be found on the shelves of grocery stores and specialty stores, and those can be extremely useful—but also extremely expensive. An even more cost-effective way to go about living more naturally is by using essential oils.
Essential oils, actually made from the “essence” of plants by extracting the oils from the leaves, twigs, stems, flowers, roots, or bark. The result is a 100% pure and natural substance which is extremely powerful and effective in helping with household cleaning and disinfecting, physical health, aromatherapy, and various other benefits of natural living.
So without further ado, learn about these 4 everyday uses for essential oils…
1. Household Cleaning and Disinfecting with Essential Oils
Taking care of your home in a natural way is especially important to avoid the toxins and other chemicals included in most typical cleaning supplies. Sure, those chemicals might get your house clean, but what do they do to your body and your family over time? Instead, using essential oils as an alternative can help with cleaning while giving you the peace of mind to know that everything you exposing your family to is natural.
Essential oils that are best for household cleaning include those such as Lavender, Lemon, Orange (in fact, most citrus oils work well), Tea Tree Oil, Rosemary, and Peppermint. These oils should be diluted with water and sprayed with a spray bottle or wiped with a cloth, depending on what is being cleaned. Other natural substances that work well to mix with these include baking soda, distilled white vinegar, and castile soap.
Diffusing Essential Oils into the air of your home is an easy and natural way to take advantage of disinfecting properties of the oils. Use a cool mist humidifier (heat kills the effectiveness of the oils) in your kitchen, bathroom, or other living spaces to diffuse the essential oils into the air and to kill germs such as viruses and bacteria.
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2. Physical Health Boost with Essential Oils
Essential Oils can be extremely effective in maintaining physical health and preventing disease. Because of their uncanny ability to fight against bacterial and viral germs, essential oils can offer an extremely beneficial boost to the body’s health. This can include fighting off a range of ailments such as cleaning wounds and cuts, to fighting cancer.
Oils such as lemon, lavender, eucalyptus, citronella, cinnamon bark, tea tree oil, rosemary, pine, and thyme are all helpful in killing the germs that cause infections and allowing the body to increase the function of the immune system. Depending on the particular oil, these may be used topically by diluting them in a carrier oil, or by diffusing them into the air with a cool mist humidifier.
If you don’t already have one and you’re thinking about buying – make sure you do your research and pick one of the best essential oil diffusers available on the market today. There are several different types and varieties available. Do your due diligence and choose one that will be best for you.
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3. Natural Emotional Benefits with Essential Oils
The power of scent can have an incredible impact on the mood of your family. Certain essential oils can promote positive feelings as well as improving productivity. Rosemary, Jasmine, Lavender, Sweet Orange, Lemon, Peppermint, and Cinnamon Essential Oils all work well to give the emotions and the mind a sense of energy and stamina while relieving the negative effects of stress and anxiety.
These oils have various individual properties that allow them to fight fatigue, improve concentration, stimulate clear thinking, and offer feelings of confidence and optimism. Again, these can be used personally by applying topically (diluted) or by diffusing into the room to share with friends, family, or co-workers.
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4. Natural Personal Care with Essential Oils
A natural and affordable way to take care of your body is by using essential oils applied topically. Instead of using products that you find on the shelves at your local grocery store or pharmacy, consider making your own using essential oils. For instance, instead of using a facial cream that is packed full of artificial scents and ingredients, start with a non-fragranced cream that you can add essential oils to (such as Frankincense) to promote healthy skin and fight against wrinkles or age spots. Instead of chemically packed acne fighting cleansers, wash your face with a blend of diluted Tea Tree Oil and Lavender Oil to disinfect and heal.
Rather than using a bubble bath filled with artificial colors or fragrances, try adding a few drops of relaxing Lavender Essential Oil to your bath. Or make a homemade body scrub by using brown sugar, oil, and a few drops of Sweet Orange Essential Oil. There’s no end to the variety of body care products you can make on your own with natural ingredients that are safe and effective.
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Living naturally with Essential Oils does take a bit of an adjustment, but once you’ve collected a few basic essential oils (it’s recommended to start with Peppermint, Lavender, and Lemon), you’ll likely find that you can find all kinds of creative ways for them to meet the needs of your home, your family, and your new natural lifestyle!
Thanks to Marcy Coning for this guest post! Read more content from Marcy and browse her products at webessentialoils.com.
I really enjoyed reading this post on household cleaning and disinfecting with essential oils. I would have loved to have gotten the ratio though on the amounts to use for the essential oils, water, and/or carrier oils and which oils would be good to use for carrier oils. If you could get this information back to me , I would be grateful, as I have had cance along with other health issuesr, and have learned that the more naturally , and simply a person can live is the way better way to live.
Thank you for the article. This was very informative! Rosemary oil not only helps to enhance your culinary experience but also has plenty of medical properties as well. It is an essential oil as it protects your skin from sun damage, reverse aging and improve the health of hair and scalp. Rosemary oil makes your complexion look clearer & brighter. It Keeps Your Pores Squeaky Clean and sharpens your memory.