Essential oils are aromatic liquids extracted from flowers, grasses, fruits, leaves, roots, and trees. There are hundreds of essential oils, and they are used for everything from insect repellents to aromatherapy and fragrance.
Be sure to use 100 percent pure oils, and exercise caution. Essential oils can burn the skin and should not be ingested. All the terpene essential oils are disinfectants; they include thyme, sweet orange, lemongrass, rose, clove, eucalyptus, cinnamon, rosemary, orris root, birch, tea tree, and lavender. These oils serve many purposes because of their antiseptic and antifungal properties.
Better Basics for the Home recommends these oils as disinfectants, mold eradicators, air fresheners, and in body care products. They are also used as preservatives. Essential oils are commonly used for fragrance in potpourris, air fresheners, sachets, and even as a rinse for clothes, and are available in health food stores and from herb suppliers.
Caution: When pregnant, avoid the essential oils of pennyroyal, sage, wintergreen, basil, myrrh, and thyme. Also, essential oils can harm the eyes, so be sure not to get shampoos, rinses, or conditioners in the eyes. Don't add more than three drops of essential oil per ounce of base preparation used near the eyes.
Excerpted from:
BETTER BASICS FOR THE HOME: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living
Copyright 1999 by Annie B. Bond. Published by Three Rivers Press.
Reprinted with permission of the author.
(Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of The Healthy House Institute, LLC.)
