When my husband and I went for our honeymoon in Australia, I discovered an essential oil that I thought I knew a lot about but really didn’t - Tea Tree Oil. It is one of the most popular and widely used essential oils, and with good reason. Because of it’s antibiotic, antifungal, antiviral and anticeptic properties you can find it in both skin care and home cleaning products and in our Scandle Healing Blend Massage Candle. It also can be used for a number of therapeutic health benefits. This is one of my must-haves for my natural first aid kit and natural cleaning kit.

Tea Tree oil comes from the leaves of the melaleuca alternifolia plant native to New South Wales, Australia. It has a strong spicy, camphor odor and is usually pale yellow or clear. It has long been used as a tradional medicine by the indigenous Bundjalung people of Australia.

Uses and benefits in skincare:

•Add a few drops to your shampoo to help fight dandruff

•Tea tree oil is frequently used to treat acne and can be used directly or added to your moisturizer

•Some forms of nail disease can be treated with regular application of tea tree oil. Add a few drops to a carrier oil and apply with a cotton swab.

Uses and benefits for health and wound care:

•Effective against Staph & MRSA and may be more effective than antibiotics against CA-MRSA

•May be more effective than permethrin in fighting head lice

•Can be applied topically without blending with a carrier oil to bug bites, cuts & scrapes

•Can be applied topically to treat athletes foot

•Can be used to treat thrush

•Vaginitis & candida

•Can be used safely in toothpaste because it isn’t swallowed but avoid in homemade mouthwashes

•Can be used in sitz baths

•Said to stimulate the immune system

•Can be used to treat colds, coughs, bronchitis, sinusitis & flu

•Can be used in a diffuser to disinfect the air and help with an energizing effect on the mind, relieve nervous exhaustion and mild depression

Uses and benefits in home cleaning:

•Because of it’s effectiveness against Staph, MRSA, viruses and bacteria, it’s an excellent addition to your home cleaning products

•Add a few drops to a spray bottle with a 50:50 ratio of water & vinegar

•Add a few drops to your laundry when someone in the household has been sick

•Add a few drops to laundry if someone in your household has candida (yeast infection), genitle warts or other vaginal yeast or bacterial infection to keep the condition from spreading. Also spray laundry baskets with the above mentioned spray.

Know of any other uses for Tea Tree Oil that we didn’t mention here? Let us know.