Lemon oil is an aromatic essential oil made from cold-pressing lemon peels and extracting the natural oils within them. Lemon oil is famous for its antiseptic qualities and has for long been an important part of home remedies. If you’re trying to switch to a cleaner lifestyle, free of dangerous chemicals, then essential oils are your best friend. Lemon oil in particular is extremely versatile if you know just how to use it. Here are six ways to use lemon oil for your home, beauty and health.
1. Can Be A Natural Disinfectant
You don’t need harmful bleaches and chemical-laden sprays when you have an incredibly powerful natural sanitizer in your repertoire. Lemon oil is extremely effective at killing germs. To make a natural disinfectant, add 40 drops of lemon oil to a regular-sized glass spray bottle. Store this in a cool place away from sunlight. You can also add 20 drops of tea tree oil to make it more potent. Spray this mixture over your kitchen counters, wall tiles and any other place that needs cleaning.
2. Can Help Calm Your Nerves
There’s a reason why spas often smell of lemons. The scent of lemons has been scientifically proven to reduce anxiety and stress. Researchers observed the anxiety levels of subjects before and after being given lemon oil to sniff. They found that after smelling lemon, subjects had higher levels of norepinephrine, and less epinephrine in their blood. Epinephrine is the hormone responsible for stress, while norepinephrine brings your stress levels back down again. Adding some lemon oil to your diffuser or just sprinkling a few drops over your pillow, can melt your worries away.
3. Can Make Your Laundry Smell More Fresh
Who doesn’t love the smell of freshly laundered clothes? You can make your clothes smell even fresher by adding a drop of lemon essential oil to them before running a cycle. The oil won’t harm your clothes in any way, but will impart an unmistakable lemon-ey fragrance that will linger all day. This trick also prevents clothes from smelling musty if they’ve been in the dryer for too long.
4. Can Help With Losing Weight
Lemon oil can be a very powerful weight loss tool. Lemons contain a compound which can help break down stubborn fat. This fat then becomes utilized for energy and is burnt off. Lemons can also work as an appetite suppressant, discouraging you from binge-eating when you’re hungry. To take advantage of lemon oil’s fat-burning powers, mix two drops of lemon oil in a liter of water and drink it over the course of the day.
5. Can Be Used For DIY Sanitizing Wipes
Sanitizing wipes are very convenient to use, but using them liberally isn’t the most responsible thing to do. Using too many wipes is not just uneconomic, but also damaging for the environment. Luckily, it’s not very difficult to make reusable sanitizing wipes yourself. Mix together one and a half cups of water, 3 drops of lemon oil, 3 drops of lavender oil and one spoon of vodka. Store this in a glass jar. Cut small squares of cloth (old t-shirts and sheets work fine) and store them along with the solution. Whenever you need to use a wipe, just soak the cloth in the solution and squeeze out the excess. You can wash and reuse these wipes as many times as you want.
6. Can Reduce Morning Sickness And Nausea
Morning sickness is one of the worst parts of your first trimester. The urge to purge can strike at any moment and leave you feeling sick through the day. Lemon oil can be very useful in alleviating nausea and vomiting. Studies have found that pregnant women feel far less nauseous if they smell the aroma of lemon oil. If you’re prone to morning sickness, add a few drops of lemon oil to your diffuser and leave it running the whole morning.
