Aromatherapy is the art of using highly concentrated essential plant oils to promote healing of the body and the mind. These naturally derived plant oils, literally the essence of a plant in liquid form, are collected through the use of distillation. The essences are extracted from various parts of different plants: the leaves, flowers, roots, rinds, stems and bark.

Different cultures have been using herbs, flowers, and their essential oils for centuries. But modern aromatherapy, as we know it today, was revived and the term “aromatherapy” coined by a French chemist, Gattefoss, in 1910 after he was badly burnt in a lab explosion and plunged his arm into a nearby vat of lavender essential oil. The amazing speed of recovery and lack of scarring led him into a lifetime study of essential oils and their medicinal uses.

Botanical herbs and essential oils can offer a variety of therapeutic effects and benefits: promote relaxation, help the body deal with pain and assist in lifting our spirits. Essential oils begin working when their aroma molecules are absorbed into the body through the skin, or inhaled into the lungs, producing a reaction.

Some essential oil trivia:

• Odors perceived as pleasant tend to enhance creative performance
• Humans can remember and recognize 10,000 different odors           
• Tea tree oil’s antiseptic powers actually increase when in contact with a wound
• Many essential oils, in combination with other natural ingredients, will effectively replace caustic cleaning products

Why not easily refresh your home and your senses through the use of essential oils in your home cleaning routine. Using essential oils in homemade cleaners and room sprays will not just lower toxicity in your home. In addition, the scents you choose will be the scents that are most pleasing to you. And, unlike many scented products on the market, yours will be real scents from nature – not formulations of various chemicals. 

You may have heard the expression "Breathe Easy". It's probably a suggestion to relax and not worry. But if you're using caustic chemical cleaning products in your home, no matter how relaxed you are, you aren't breathing easy. And neither is your child, grandchild, spouse, or pet.

Please, whatever you do, never experiment with essential oils. They are strongly medicinal. And some are not meant for use in aromatherapy.

When using them in formulas, certified aromatherapists take a specific essential oil's potency into account, and use each of them appropriately.

Always get information regarding essential oil usage from a certified or registered aromatherapist.

Are you aware that many essential oils are microbial, killing not only viruses but funguses?  Clove essential oil is a prime example. Some essential oils such as lavender and tea tree are highly antiseptic.

To clean and polish a wooden dining room table and other wooden furniture,  use olive oil or mineral oil mixed with some fresh lemon juice and a few drops of lemon essential oil.  It literally feeds the wood leaving it hydrated, clean and shining.

How about that soft scrubbing cleanser you buy at the store?  A much less expensive and less caustic version can be easily put together using baking soda, liquid castile soap, a bit of glycerin and a few drops of whatever essential oil you like in your kitchen. I prefer thyme or lavender. Both are naturaly anti-bacterial and anti-viral.

From time to time on a regular basis, I’ll be sharing natural essential oil cleaning hints and recipes on this page. If you give them a try, please let me know what you think.

Want to learn more about kitchen cleaning aromatherapy and have make your own natural cleaning products?

Participate in a Kitchen Cleaning Aromatherapy Workshop at your home or business kitchen. You’ll learn about:

1. Handy household ingredients for cleaning and freshening the kitchen (and other rooms as well),
2. Easy cleaning formulas  you can make at home,
3. Which essential oils can do just as well as the dangerous ingredients in commercial products,
4. How much less expensive your homemade cleaners will be,
5. Why natural based cleaners are better for our world environment as well as the environment within your home.

For information, about kitchen aromatherapy, from a Certified Aroma Therapist, just contact Judi at 503-239-1989 or email her at Judith@portland.homecooking.com .  All consultations are free and we welcome your ideas and requests.