A guys perspective on essential oils
Back in 2010, when my wife got pregnant with our daughter, she decided she wanted to go green with cleaning and take the chemicals out of our home with a new baby coming. At first I was like whatever you want. I was doubtful that cleaning without chemicals would be as good. Well here is how my thoughts have changed and what I have found out.
After doing a little research, I found that vinegar will kill 90+ percent of bacteria and kills almost 90 percent of viruses. I have always felt that being exposed to some bacteria and viruses keeps our immune systems strong. Everyone knows the power of citrus for cleaning with the commercial products out there. They know the power of citrus for helping cut oil and grease. We soon started saving our orange peels, that we would normally compost, and adding them to our vinegar. This changed the smell of the vinegar to a nice pleasant orange smell after it sits for a week. It also added safe cleaning power for our baby that was on the way. We have since tried adding lemon peels also for a variety; both seem to clean equally as well. We use vinegar and baking soda on our glass stove top for a safe non-abrasive way to clean. We then discovered essential oils. Let me tell you these oils are amazing. We started using the oils to clean and deodorize our home. We would mix some lavender or orange oil in with some baking soda to freshen our carpets when we vacuum. Now after learning the cleaning properties of some oils, like tea tree, I now add them to our homemade mix for our carpet scrubber. When we clean our kids’ rooms we will even add some lavender into the mix to help calm them during quiet time and bed time.
Mid- 2014 we learned that not all essential oils are the same. Always do your research when it comes to anything. We did & we are very happy we did. Some are essential are ok for cleaning only due to how they are extracted from the plants. While others can be used on not only our skin and our pets skin but can also be taken internally. I had heard of people doing this and felt that they worked but still wasn’t sure. Now don’t get me wrong they don’t all taste good. That’s ok tho you can use them both topically and internally whichever you prefer. But they do help relieve symptoms and FAST. The first time I tried any of the oils internally was for seasonal threats. I was absolutely miserable. For the last half hour or so, I couldn’t stop sneezing and blowing my nose so I gave in and asked my wife what oils I needed to make it stop and to feel better. I went and got the 3 oils and reluctantly placed a drop of each on my tongue and swished in my mouth and swallowed them. Within 5-10 minutes i was relieved of my symptoms and could breath along with no more runny nose. It was amazing. Never has anything else worked that fast to relive my discomfort. I was SOLD. I started asking my Angie what else we can use them for. Now we use them every day for one thing or another. We have even used them on our Labs paws when the have cut their pad. Our kids love them and WE love them. Now a days we use them for everything in our home.
I am amazed everyday on how well and fast these wonderful essential oils work. I use them and will continue to use them to replace the chemicals for cleaning and the traditional remedies commonly used to treat symptoms.