Uses for tea tree and other oils?

[peacemama]

I'm just full of questions today!

I'm really getting inot this whole natural cleaning thing, and went out and bought a bunch of ingredients to make natural cleansers. Well, the super-nice owner of the health food store gave me a few bottles of essential oils for free, so now that I have extra, I'd love to find other uses for them. I've got tea tree, lemon, orange, bergamot, eucalyptus, and lavender.

Any ideas would be much appreciated, and if anyone knows of any good books about the varied uses of oils, I'd love to get the titles. Thanks!

[Jazmommie]

Mothering mag

They had a great article on essential oils /Aromatherapy.
I use them in a spray bottle to clean everything.Tea tree oil & lavender(a few drops each) then fill with water,or I use thyme oil & tea tree & spearmint oil,or rosemary & tea tree oils.Bergamot is good anti viral I use at times to spray down countertops with.
I made bath salts with epsom salts in a netting with lavender oil & some with rosemary oil,Jasmine oil,lemon oil.
I use the lavender oil in a spray bottle at the nursing home I work in to help calm down the residents(and staff).

[mtt/bc]

Look under the thread 'Vinegar' on the 2nd pg here. I posted a recipe for 'toilet swishing' . At least it'll smell nice. I think there's other recipes there too.

It's fun playing around with those oils.

[LEmama]

I once checked out a book from the library called "The Tea Tree Oil Bible" by Elvis A. Ali. I actually did not read much of it before it had to be returned. It looked great, though!

I'd love to get more creative with essential oils.
I use Tea Tree oil for cleaning (a few drops combined with water, vinegar, Citrasolv), as a disinfectant (make a salve w/ unpetroleum jelly, a rinse for toothbrushes w/ water and a drop.) Lavender goes in the bath, in cleaning solutions/laundry. I make a chest salve from eucalyptus oil and unpetroleum when my kids are congested. I have also used all three of these oils (not at the same time) in a steaming hot bowl of water when I have a respitory illness. I lean over the bowl, cover my head w/ a towel, and breathe in the healing vapors!

[peacemama]

Thanks for all the advice. What is "unpetroleum jelly"? I've noticed that some moms here will not use petrolatum-based products such as Vaseline and A + D Ointment. What are the health concerns related to it? And what alternatives do you use?

[elnachick]

how cool!

tea tre oil is also nifty for blemishes and such (it's actually supposed to be as effective as benzoyle peroxide w/out the drying), and it's an antifungal, so it can help with finger and toe nail issues. As an antifungal, it also works great to treat thrush in horses (a foot disease) . Lavendar can be added to your home-made laundry soap (see the threads, add a few drops to the mix b/4 letting the soap set). Put a drop (lav, org, lemon, etc.) in an atomizer and spritz your linens (maybe not great grandmothers hand made ones - I'd check to be sure it didn't spot or anything). A few drops each eucalyptus, lavender, lemon in water or a simple skin friendly oil serves as a bug repellant (I'd add some peppermint, maybe a dash of citronella) (this also works well on horses). You are quite the lucky shopper, enjoy!
peace, jen

[LEmama]

unpetroleum

My dh introduced Unpetroleum lip balm when we were dating. He told me that petroleum products actually diminish your skin's ability to moisturize itself. Don't know any other health concerns. The lip balm feels great and is full of good ingredients. The company also makes Terra Tints tinted lip balm w/ pepermint oil (love it) and the jelly, which is an alternative to vaseline, etc.