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Wednesday, October 2, 2013

WARNING!...Don't Wash Off an Essential Oil...Dilute It!

One day I walked into my kitchen....had made a quick trip out of the room...and my 2 yr. old had my bottle of peppermint essential oil. The oil was all over his hands, feet and on his upper lip.  (I had just put peppermint and wild orange in the diffuser before I left the room).  My son and daughter were sitting at the table doing homeschool and had not noticed their little brother had quietly picked up the EO bottle and was dropping it into his hand and rubbing on his wrists, bottoms of feet and upper lip like we do with our Germs Aside blend at night.  He was quite pleased with himself, too! :(

My immediate response was to dilute the essential oil with a carrier oil.  He began to cry "It buns, Mama!" I grabbed the fractionated coconut oil from my desk area and began pumping it into my hands and just slathered it all over his hands, feet and mouth.  I wiped him down with a paper towel and then put more coconut oil on him.

He was totally fine and no burn!

Now, I'm sharing this with you because I knew what to do. 

Diluting an essential oil can ONLY be done with an oil like olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable oil, or other carrier oil.  

Did you know that using soap and water to get it off could actually increase the "burn" of a hot oil?

A lot of people do not know this.  I think years ago, I would have tried to "wash" it off, too.  

Be sure to add this to your EO journal or wherever you keep your notes about essential oils.  Even if you don't have small children, you might need this advice for someone at some point.

And...have you ever gotten an essential oil in your eye?  Use milk or cream to dilute it...then rinse with fresh water. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Dawn

3 comments:

  1. Milk works well too. In fact, if you get Peppermint in your eyes, you need to wash them with cold milk....you're right...water just makes it worse. I learned that the hard way. But cold milk just makes it so much better!

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  2. My main concern anytime I use my peppermint oil for sore muscles is that once I rub it in my hand will have it in there and I'm going to accidentally get it in my eye. If I only use a carrier oil on my hand afterwards, is that effective enough that if I rub my eye it won't irritate it?

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    Replies
    1. I would use the carrier oil to dilute and then wash hands...maybe do several times. However, I would still be very careful about rubbing your eyes :D.

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Thanks for sharing and for stopping by The GRAY Area!
Dawn