What can you do?
Especially right now; Who doesn’t want to rid their home of infectious bacteria and viruses. Instead of using many chemical-laced cleaners that may be doing more harm than good, you can eliminate bacteria and viruses with natural essential oils. These antiviral essential oils may also help lift you up emotionally and leave you feeling good.
Tip:
Look for top quality 100% pure essential oils. All essential oils have their origin indicated. Well-known Plant Therapy essential oils can be used singularly or in powerful blends.
Essential List
Tea tree
Peppermint
Lemon
Eucalyptus
Lavender
Cinnamon
1. Tea tree
Tea tree essential oil is incredibly useful for killing topical and airborne bacteria and viruses. Not only is tea tree a natural antiseptic it is an anti-fungal oil which can kill mold. It is ideal to use tea tree to treat fungus infections, to eliminate the growth of mold, and to destroy viruses and bacteria.
Tea tree oil makes an ideal natural hand sanitizer.
Studies have shown that it kills several common bacteria and viruses responsible for causing illness, including E. coli, S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae.
A study testing several types of hand wash shows that adding tea tree oil to the cleansers boosted their effectiveness against E. coli.
Looking to make a great all-purpose cleaner that also sanitizes surfaces without leaving traces of chemicals you wouldn't want your family members or pets coming in contact with?
Here's an easy recipe for an all-natural, all-purpose cleaner:
Combine 20 drops of tea tree oil, 3/4 cup of water and a 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle.
Shake well until thoroughly mixed.
Spray directly onto surfaces and wipe clean with a dry cloth.
Make sure to shake the bottle before each use in order to mix the tea tree oil with the other ingredients
2. Peppermint
Peppermint has anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties and is an ingredient in massage and chest rubs used to reduce the symptoms of the common cold. In test tubes, peppermint essential oil kills many types of fungi, viruses and bacteria.
With all of its anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties, peppermint essential oil is an excellent way to boost your immune system. It comprises compounds such as camphor, carvacrol and menthol which are resistant to many perilous strains of bacteria such as E. coli, staph infections and salmonella.
Peppermint is a great essential oil for purifying the air in your home. It is effective at killing germs and has a fresh, minty scent which is uplifting and refreshing.
Tip:
Because of their potency, take precautions when using essential oils. If using pure essential oils without a carrier oil or medium they can cause damage to acrylic surfaces.
3. Lemon
Lemon essential oil makes a fantastic cleaner because it has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. You can use it for disinfecting metal surfaces, dishes, clothes and even the body.
Make a homemade, all-purpose cleaner by adding lemon essential oil to white or cider vinegar for a green and very efficient cleaner.
Disinfect your clothes after being ill by adding several drops of lemon essential oil to your laundry wash cycle.
4. Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus essential oil has a strong camphor content and scent which gives it potent germicide properties. These properties are ideal for fighting infections, bacteria and viruses.
Eucalyptus essential oil’s germicidal quality makes it an antiseptic, which means it is suitable to treat burns, cuts, wounds, ulcers, abrasions and sores. Research suggests that the oil fights respiratory infections by killing bacteria, viruses, and fungi. This is why you can find it in saline nasal wash. It also causes the tiny hair-like filaments in your lungs (called cilia) that sweep out mucus and debris from your airways to move faster. This can also fight infections.
Mixing eucalyptus essential oil with tree tea essential oil makes it the ultimate germ cleaning solution for your home.
Tip:
Daily use and Guarding your Health to Fight Viruses, Bacteria and Germs
Cleansers: To kill germs on surfaces, add 25 drops of essential oils in an 250ml spray bottle with distilled water and spray and wipe down all surfaces in your home, office and car. Also, use essential oils in your mopping solutions to cleanse your floors.
Air purification: Purifying the air from germs and viruses with a diffuser. Dispense about 8-10 drops of essential oil in a room diffuser or diffuse directly using a nebulizer without water.
Spray purification: Add 3ML of single or blend essential oil (about 20 drops of 1ML essential oil) into 100ml of purified water, shake and spray it in the air around you.
Mask spray: Drop 2ML (ie 40 drops) of single or compound essential oil in 100ml of purified water, and spray the entire mask, especially near the edge of the nose. (If it is not convenient to spray, you can also drop a drop of essential oil on the outside of the mask near the nose area to strengthen the defense effect)
Topically: To use any of the mentioned essential oils, or a blend of your choice, add about 4 drops of essential oil per 10 ml of a carrier oil. You can use this massage mixture as a chest and body rub when you feel a cold or the flu coming on. Not only will it help to diminish any symptoms that you might have, but it also will attack the bacteria and viruses which are causing your infection and sickness.
5. Lavender
Lavender essential oil is an authoritative anti-bacterial oil which can boost your immune system and resist diseases and viruses. Because of its antiseptic and anti-bacterial properties, lavender essential oil is useful in treating various skin ailments such as psoriasis, acne and other inflammatory conditions of the skin, as well as stopping infection in cuts, wounds and burns.
Lavender has qualities that can help calm and relax you. It is often used in sachets for drawers, sprays for linens and bath balms.
6. Cinnamon
The list of benefits of cinnamon essential oil is long because it is an extremely potent anti-bacterial essential oil. Since cinnamon essential oil contains cinnamaldehyde, it is used widely for treatment of various ailments and has been reported to kill germs such as viruses and bacteria.
It can help sore throats; With its known anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory effects, cinnamon essential oil is a great choice for fighting infections like a sore throat. Try drinking a combination of hot lemon water, honey and cinnamon oil first thing in the morning to improve a sore throat and boost immune function.
These ingredients will work together to fight inflammation, reduce pain, and boost immune function making them a perfect sore throat remedy.
Cinnamon Deodorizes Your Home
You know the warm smells of the holidays that everyone loves filling their homes with during the fall and winter months? You can make your own natural home deodorizer and freshener by combining therapeutic scents like cinnamon, orange, lemon and cloves in a diffuser or homemade room spray.
At the same time, you’ll experience a grounding, relaxing feeling and help detoxify the air.
A little history
We saw in the 14th century, the black death pandemic in Europe. People burned frankincense and pine trees on the streets to prevent infection. At that time, physicians wore waxed linen or canvas shirts, black hats, and beak-like masks. The beak is filled with aromatic plants, such as rosemary, thyme, lavender, sage, etc., to filter the air, fight bacteria and viruses, and protect yourself from infection. Later, people used distillation and other technologies to extract an effective aromatic molecular component, essential oil, from aromatic plants, and obtained an excellent source of anti-bacterial and antimicrobial resources.
“Microbes are nothing, the environment is everything.” —French famous microbiologist Pasteur
Even if it’s difficult to kill these germs directly, they can be controlled by the environment to prevent their growth and spread.
The anti-bacterial properties of essential oils are the result of millions of years of natural evolution. Plants use secondary metabolic mixtures (aromatic molecules) made by different structural types to protect themselves from herbivores, bacteria, and fungi. These secondary metabolites are constantly evolving to obtain the active ingredients that are most suitable for the environment today.
The virus is hard to be “killed” to death by essential oils, but essential oils compete with viruses for receptors on human cell membranes, or attach directly to the surface of the virus, leaving it no chance to enter cells to replicate more viruses, delaying the virus’s reproduction. The human immune system fights for more time to make antibodies, find viruses, and destroy them.
In Germany, the German hospitals conducted an air disinfection test and the essential oils used were: pine, thyme, mint, lavender, rosemary, clove, cinnamon. Bacteria reduced by 40% after 20 minutes, 80% after 1 hour, 100% after 9 hours.
The key to the performance of essential oils in anti-bacterial and virus suppression lies in the aromatic molecules. Different aromatic molecules display different effects and are good at each. Among them, the essential oils of phenols, terpenols and aldehydes all have prominent anti-microbial and virus-inhibiting effects.
Note: Aromatherapy is a natural remedy that can be used for daily protection and boosting immunity, but it is still a supplementary means. It is not a substitute for medical treatment. If you have respiratory symptoms such as fever and cough, please seek medical treatment as soon as possible.