Tag: Essential Oils

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How to Make Your Own Essential Oils

Essential oils are useful for a variety of purposes. They can be used for medicinal reasons or healing of the mind, for example. Most people buy their oils in small bottles ready to be used. However, you can sometimes make your own essential oils.

Sweet almond oil can be used as a base for essential oils. It is best if combined with vitamin E, because this is a natural preservative. To make a small amount of essential oil, use one half cup of the sweet almond oil with vitamin E.

Choose the type of essential oil you want to make. This will usually depend upon what plant materials you have at hand. If you have a rose garden, you might want to make rose oil. With an herb garden, you could make oil of thyme or oil of oregano. If you are making essential oils in winter, you could use citrus peels, such as lemon or grapefruit. To get started making essential oils, take your plant material and put it in plastic bag. Start with a cup of tightly packed flowers. Or, use a quarter cup of packed herbs or chopped fruit peel. Close the bag.

Tap the bag with a hammer or a kitchen mallet to slightly bruise the material. Do this gently so as not to turn your plant matter into mush. You want the oils of the plant substance to be brought out ever so slightly. This is the basis for your essential oils.

Next, it’s time to put the contents of the bag in a wide mouthed jar with the sweet almond oil. Put a top on the jar and shake it gently until all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Make sure the plant matter is saturated. The essential oil will start to form. It takes some time for the essential oils to be extracted from the plant material in this manner. So, leave your jar in a warm place for the rest of the day. This will give the natural oils time to permeate the sweet almond oil.

On the second day, put some cheesecloth over the mouth of a second wide mouthed jar and pour the mixture from the first jar through it and into the second jar. At this point, you don’t need the first batch of plant matter you gathered. Throw it away along with the cheesecloth.

For the next three days, repeat the same procedure, using another cup of flowers or a quarter cup of fresh herbs or chopped fruit. Always strain the mixture from the previous day through cheesecloth into a clean jar. This will assure that your essential oils are pure.

When all these steps are completed, you have made your essential oil. You only need to bottle it and it will be good for six to twelve months whenever you need it. To bottle it, strain it through cheesecloth a final time. Then pour it through a funnel into small, dark bottles. Close the tops with stoppers.

If you do any flower or herb gardening at all, you might be surprised at how many different essential oils you can make. You can put them together from ingredients in your own back yard.

How Essential Oils Are Used For Emotional Well-Being

Essential oils have been used for about one thousand years for all sorts of reasons. One of the key uses for essential oils has been for emotional healing. These preparations of plants are excellent at producing a feeling of well-being.

There are generally three methods for using these essential oils to promote emotional health. One is to add ten drops of the oil to a bath and soak. Another is to put a few drops on the essential oil in a carrier oil and use it for a massage.

The final method is to inhale the aroma of the oil directly. This can be done by putting a few drops of the essential oils on a handkerchief or tissue and holding it up to the nose. You can also accomplish the same thing by boiling two cups of water, adding the oil, and inhaling the vapors. Different essential oils are used for different emotional problems. For example, grief comes to most people at some time in their lives. It may involve a loss of a job, a home, a marriage, or an actual death. In any case, using essential oils of frankincense or rose can help to ease the suffering.

Poor memory is often the result of poor eating and sleeping habits. If you are suffering in this way, you can try oil of rosemary to help the problem. However, if you notice poor memory being a continual happening in your life even after using essential oils, you should seek a medical opinion.

The same is true for postnatal depression. Many new mothers find that they feel down after the birth of their child. After their hormones get back to normal, they should begin to feel better. In the meantime, they can use essential oils such as bergamot, chamomile, or neroli. If at any time they feel it is important, they should seek a doctor’s help. This is not a problem to treat lightly.

For stress, chamomile, lavender, and sandalwood have all been used with success. Ongoing stress without substantial relief should be reported to a doctor. Anxiety should not be taken lightly either. However, you can try the essential oils bergamot, cedarwood, or lavender before seeing a physician.

If you are actually having panic attacks, your anxiety is much worse. You are probably having symptoms that seem more physical than emotional. At times, you may almost feel like you are having a heart attack. If you have panic attacks, you should have medical advice to rule out physical causes. If you still don’t get relief, essential oils can help you. Frankincense, lavender, neroli, and ylang ylang will help to alleviate the distress.

Mental fatigue comes after hours of work or study. It can make you feel a kind of exhaustion that sleep won’t even cure. Essential oils, though, can help with that feeling. The use of lavender, peppermint, and rosemary will all relieve your mind.

Emotional distress can become a part of anyone’s life. The world is full of stresses and pressures that keep people from feeling relaxed. Essential oils can help these people to feel more at ease with themselves and the world around them.

Household Uses for Essential Oils

Like it or not, homes can be full of bad smells, germs, and dirt. The first products people usually turn to are strong chemical solutions. These aren’t particularly healthy, and can have unpleasant odors of their own. Perhaps a better type of product to reach for is essential oils. Essential oils can be used for many different household problems. Tea tree and lavender oils are considered to be highly effective anti-bacterial essential oils. A few drops of either can be added to water to rinse any area you want to disinfect.

These can include sinks, countertops, and bathrooms. You can make an antiseptic spray by putting the water with essential oils in it into a spray bottle. Spray it around bathrooms, kitchens, and sickrooms.

Sometimes, you don’t mind so much using the chemical cleaners. You just want a fresher, more natural smell to linger when you finish. If this is the case, you can make a rinse to use following regular cleaning. To make the rinse, add four drops of any essential oils you like to a pint of water. Then, simply rinse the area with this after you have cleaned. You can use essential oils like pine, lavender, wintergreen, rosemary, orange, or any others you like.

If you want to make the air in your home smell fresh and sweet, simmer fruit peels or any essential oils in water on the stove. Keep it at a gentle heat. The scent will permeate the whole house.

You may have seen scented toilet paper rollers for sale in your local store. You can use the same idea only make it better with essential oils. Put a few drops of essential oils on the cardboard tube that holds the toilet paper. Every time it’s spun, a fresh aroma will be released.

You can easily make a homemade carpet cleaner if you have a few essential oils. You need rosewood oil, eucalyptus oil, and lavender oil. Or, if you like, use any other combination of essential oils. You mix this with baking soda or cornstarch. Sprinkle the mixture on the carpet and vacuum fifteen minutes later. Commercial floor cleaning product makers are aware that lemon and orange oils are excellent for cleaning. There are many products out there that use them. If you have essential oils of lemon and orange, you can mix them with some hot water and soap. You will have the same thing-minus any chemicals.

Dryer sheets all seem to have the same unnatural trying-to-be-fresh smell. You can make your own equivalent of dryer sheets using essential oils. Take a small towel and put a few drops of your favorite essential oils on it. Put it in the dryer with your clothes. Tea tree essential oil helps to get rid of mold in the household. Lemon oil can be used as a disinfectant. Eucalyptus oil can be added to the laundry when you are washing bedding. This will help to control dust mites.

Essential oils have a place in the household that is both practical and aesthetic. They can make your home clean on a molecular level and pleasant to your sense of smell. The more you use essential oils, the more they will become a part of your home life.