Essential Oils for Freshness in the home

MylesBetter

On a recent Tonight programme on ITV1 Martin Lewis had a lady who mentioned using diluted Essential Oils wiped across a radiator to create fragrance rather then use other methods.

Does anyone know the type of Esssential Oils to use and where can I buy them and how much should I pay?

What level of dilution should I use to optimise the fragrance and how often do I need to wipe them across the radiators?

havering

You need to watch with essential oils - a lot of the oils sold are mixed and blended with other things, to know you have actual essential oils they'll be marked 'pure' i think (like 'pure tea tree oil' etc).

Some oils will mark your radiators with the heat, the heavier, darker ones ones will definately leave a sticky dark residue. I'd be prone to putting a few drops in a wee saucer of water on top of the radiator just to be safe.

The pure ones you only need a couple of drops to last ages, I'm not sure if they're wiping them on then they're maybe mixing them with a carrier oil? Again you'd have to be careful to chose one that doesn't leave discolouration.

You can buy them online cheaper than in shops but health shops usually sell them too. he ones in homestores are usually the synthetic blended room aromatiser ones, not essential oils. Price-wise they vary wildy, some are cheap to produce and so cheap to buy, some use a lot more of the ingredient to make the oil and so are more expensive (the flower ones tend to be expensive, like rose). Cheap and cheerful ones include lemongrass, which gives a really fresh uplifting fragrance, clove, teatree, eucalyptus (all good if you have the cold!). My favourite is geranium but it's a personal thing.

allydowd

My partner is a qualified aromatherapist....Do not use any of the following if you have pregnant women visiting your house:

Cedarwood
Cinnamon
Clary sage (OK during labour)
Clove
Cypress (OK after 5 months)
Fennel
Hyssop
Jasmine (OK during labour)
Juniper
Lemongrass
Myrrh
Parsley
Pennyroyal
Peppermint
Rosemary
Sweet marjoram
Thyme

Gothdolly

Add a few drops of your chosen pure essential oil to a clean handkerchief or similar and place that on the radiator, that way you won't risk ruining your radiator but will still benefit from the pure essential oil fragrance.

There are lots of do's and don'ts when it comes to using essential oils, certain health issues such as (but not limited to) blood pressure, epilepsy as well as pregnancy can have oils contraindicated for use. Once you've chosen the oil(s) you would like to use, check for contraindications for both you and your family to make sure they are safe for you.

Kool_Kool

I'm not bothered about perfumed smells but I like a clean smell, every day I burn a candle for a couple of hours in my front room, that clears the air, but the place has to be kept clean and aired in the first place of course.

InfamyInfamy

www.savvyhomemade.com shows you how to make your own essential oils.