If you only ever use one essential oil, make it lavender!

It’s one oil I always have in my handbag and I make sure I take on holidays. Lavender essential oil is a multipurpose oil and it smells amazing too. Make sure you use a pure 100% oil (like Thursday Plantation) to make sure it’s free from synthetics and fillers.

Lavender oil is made from steam-distilling the flowering tops of the lavender shrub.

Lavender has a wide variety of properties which make it so versatile around the home and for first aid. It is antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and a relaxant.

Lavender is one of the few oils that is safe to use directly on the skin – however always use in small amounts and for children under 12 it is recommended to dilute with a carrier oil.

Here are 20 practical uses for lavender oil around your house:

♥ Bug bites. Instantly soothe insect bites with a drop of neat lavender oil straight on the bite.

♥ Sore muscles. Add a few drops to a bath with epsom salts or add a carrier oil and massage in to the affected area to soothe.

♥ Ouchies. Put the lavender oil neat on minor burns and minor cuts and scrapes – it will kill off any bugs, allowing the wound to heal.

♥ Spotty skin. You can dab neat on spots or mix a drop with a carrier oil like jojoba and massage into the affected area. As well as inhibiting the bacteria that grow on the skin, it also helps reduce the sebum production.

♥ So stressed. Inhale a drop of lavender oil on a tissue for any sort of upset, stress or mild anxiety. You can also diffuse it a room or pop it in a bath.

♥ Repel moths. Keep a few cotton balls with drops of lavender in your cupboard to repel moths and silverfish.

♥ Pongy underarms. Just add one drop to a tablespoon of coconut oil and rub into your armpits for a super easy, natural deodorant. As well as smelling nice, it will help kill off the bugs that cause body odour.

♥ Zzzzzz. For trouble sleeping, pop a drop on your pillow or pyjama front or diffuse in your bedroom for a restful sleep. But go easy you only need one or two drops – too much lavender can have a stimulating effect.

♥ Lavender Laundry. I like to add a drop or two to my laundry rinse cycle to freshen clothes and bedding. You can also pop a drop onto a wet clean cloth and pop into your dryer or put the oil straight on to wool dryer balls.

♥ Rub on your lightbulbs. Just one drop rubbed on your lightbulbs (when they are off and cool) will give you lovely scents when you turn them on and also repel insects.

♥ An ache in the head. Massage into your temples and behind your head for headache relief.

♥ Chilled-out playdough. Add a few drops to your homemade play dough for restful and calm playtime for the kids!

♥ Fabric refresher. Add a few drops to a spray bottle and use to refresh carpets, lounges, mattresses and your car upholstery. Just a light misting, not a drenching!

♥ Itchy Eczema. Pop 5 drops of lavender oil into 10ml of carrier oil and gently massage into the affected areas.

♥ Zen Loo. Pop a drop of lavender oil on the cardboard tube of your toilet roll – every time someone uses the roll, it will deodorise the loo and leave you feeling zen too!

♥ Wash your hands! I love to make my own lavender hand wash – I just use castile soap and a few drop of oil in a reusable foaming bottle.

♥ Too much sun? Lavender oil can help soothe sunburns.

♥ Instead of ironing. Okay, this could be my favourite tip ever!! Shannon Lush says to use one teaspoon in a litre of water and spray your clothes after washing. It will relax the fabric and ease out wrinkles!

♥ Shower power. After a hard day at work or running around with the kids, a few drops of lavender oil on your shower base will relax and calm you. Special self nurturing time!

♥ Aroma–Cleaning. As lavender oil is a disinfectant, you can use it to wipe down benches, clean toilets and bathrooms and mop the floors.

If you would like some more tips on how to use lavender oil around the house or for first aid, head over to the Thursday Plantation website and check out their 100+ uses. You may even like to submit your own tip of how you use lavender oil.

Sources:

The Aromatherapy Bible, Gill Farrer-Halls

Natural Remedies, Mim Beim

Like Chocolate for Women, Kim Morrison and Fleur Whelligan

Shannon Lush

1001 Natural Remedies, Laurel Vukovic

(this post is sponsored by Thursday Plantation)

How to replace toxic cleaning products with essential oils

I love using essential oils for cleaning!

As well as being incredibly effective, they also smell amazing and are not toxic unlike many commercial cleaning products. Of course, you still have to use them with safety and in the correct amounts.

Many cleaning products are very toxic and harmful to our health when in contact with skin or inhaled – things you normally do when you clean!! These toxic chemicals also end up in our oceans and waterways and can cause havoc to our marine and sea life.

If you want to read up about the harmful ingredients, check out this article by Dr David Suzuki.

I use essential oils alongside other natural things like bicarbonate of soda, castile soap and vinegar. Oils provide not only the awesome aroma (which by the way you also benefit from inhaling while cleaning) but the grunt behind the cleaning with their antibacterial and antiseptic properties.

I always use 100% pure and natural oils (like Thursday Plantation) with no synthetics or fillers, even for cleaning. Not only will they do a better job, you don’t want to be inhaling cheap, nasty oils.

My top three oils to use for cleaning are eucalyptus, tea tree and lavender. They all have antiseptic properties and eucalyptus and tea tree kill 99.9% of household germs.The bonus is that these oils have multiple purposes and you can also use them for all sorts of first aid treatments as well.

The power of mother nature!!

Here are some ways you can use essential oils around the house for cleaning.

Make sure you do a quick spot test on surfaces first!
1. Straight eucalyptus oil on a cloth is great for removing stains and scuff marks from walls and floors.

2. A few drops of eucalyptus oil with some bicarb in the toilet bowl will clean it, remove odours and keep your loo smelling fresh.

3. A very easy to make, budget friendly all-purpose spray is simply to combine 1 cup water with 1/2 cup of vinegar, 2 teaspoons castile soap and 20 drops of either tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil or lavender oil.

HOT TIP: I am not a fan of plastic, so I use glass spray bottles, sourced from the health food store. You can also easily make your own by using old glass bottles and fitting an old spray nozzle onto the top. It might take a little trial and error to find a perfect match!

4. Put a few drops of essential oil in your vacuum cleaner bag for a lovely fresh smell.

5. Pop a few drops of essential oils into your mop bucket with hot water and a good splash of vinegar. It will disinfect the floors and get them sparkling clean.

6. Eucalyptus makes a fabulous home-made stain remover. Simply mix 1 cup of water with 1/8 cup of eucalyptus essential oil in a spray bottle. Give it a good shake before you use it and spray directly onto stains.

7. Eucalyptus oil is also fabulous in killing off dust mites. Use a few drops in the rinse cycle of a hot wash when you do your bedding.

8. Put a few drops of lavender oil on the inside of your toilet roll. Every time someone uses the paper, you will freshen the smallest room in the house with a lovely scent!

9. If you have sickness in the house, dilute some tea tree oil in a small bucket of hot water and wipe all surfaces down, including door handles and phones. Diffusing a few drops of oil in a diffuser or oil burner will help purify the air as well.

10. 10 drops of tea tree oil in a spray bottle with water and vinegar will deter mould. Spray it in the bathroom or kitchen on those areas where mould likes to grow.

11. Ditch those toxic air fresheners and use a spray bottle filled with water and 10-20 drops of lavender oil. The bonus is that you can also use this mix in the kid’s rooms to help them relax and fall asleep.

12. For an easy to make anti-bacterial hand wash, just mix some castile soap with a few drops of tea tree oil.

13. To make a carpet freshener, mix 20 drops of essential oil thoroughly into 1 cup of bicarbonate of soda. Sprinkle on the carpet, leave for 20 minutes or so and then vacuum up.

Want some more ideas on how to use essential oils around the home?

Head to the Thursday Plantation website to see ideas and tips that readers have submitted! You might like to submit your own tip too.

Safety First! Although essential oils are all natural, they are very potent and must be stored away from children and used with care.

*this post is sponsored by Thursday Plantation