Amazing Benefits And Use Of Orange Essential Oil
If you have started to collect essential oils odds are you have should orange essential oil in your collection. You may be wondering what are the benefits of orange essential oil? What is Orange essential oil used for? Because of the many uses and benefits of orange essential oil most starter kits and best seller sets contain a variety of orange essential oil.
What types or orange essential oil are there?
There are several varieties of orange essential oil. The selection and variety of orange oil you can find is dependent upon the supplier.
Sweet orange essential oil: This is made from the peels of everyday oranges you see at the grocery store. This has the strong familiar scent of oranges for most people. Sweet orange essential oil is the classing go to orange oil for most people.
Wild orange essential oil: Wild oranges are packed with more nutritional and health benefits than sweet oranges. These oranges are bolder and tangier than sweet oranges. Use wild orange essential oil when you want a bold fragrance.
Blood orange essential oil: This oil comes from the deep-colored blood oranges that originate in Italy. These oranges are packed with antioxidants that help to boost and improve metabolism while making blood orange essential oil a great option for skincare options like homemade soaps and bath bombs.
Tangerine essential oil: Tangerine is a bright orange sweet citrus that makes for great teas, juice, and snacks. Tangerine essential oil is great for boosting the immune system as well as mental health benefits like helping aid in sleep and relaxation. This is a popular essential oil for use with children.
Mandarin essential oil: Mandarin is a small sweet fruit that is candy-like and loved by children. Mandarins create two types of essential oils. Green mandarin essential oil from green unripe mandarins from trees that are pruned before the ripening process and red mandarin marked from the sweet ripened fruits.
Green mandarin is more flower having the fragrance from the blooms still lingering, this oil is great for uplifting the mood and makes a wonderful fragrance oil. Red mandarin is sweeter and more fruity, this oil makes a great essential oil for bath and body products as it encourages clean, clear skin.
How is orange essential oil made?
The bright orange sweet juicy oranges that the internal juice and pulp go into orange juice. Peels or processed oranges are processed through steam distilling or in the case of citrus cold pressing to remove the oils. The peels are then processed for the essential oils before the remainder is processed into powder, fed to livestock, or used to compost.
At home you can collect the orange oil from your fresh oranges fairly easily. If using this oil for bath and body uses you should make sure you are using organic oranges to make your essential oil. For small amounts of just a few drops simply press the edges of a spoon along the outer section.
Health benefits of sweet orange essential oil
Improve Your Mood With Orange Oil Aroma Therapy
Orange oil when used in aromatherapy was shown to help reduce pulse rate and stress hormones. Because of this, the light airy fragrance of orange oil is often added to blends meant to help improve mood. When you are able to reduce signs of depression and anxiety it is easier to have a better overall emotional state.
To take advantage of the emotional boost orange oil offers you can use a few drops of orange oil in your diffuser and try enjoying some breath work to help calm, relax, and energize you. If you need an extra boost during the day this makes a great option for diffuser jewelry.
Use Orange Oil For A Boost Of Energy
One of my favorite ways to use orange essential oil is to help my husband wake up in the mornings. He associates the smell of oranges with his favorite morning drink. A simple glass of orange juice along with his breakfast and coffee. Because of this his mind naturally thinks it is time to get going with the smell of orange juice.
This works in more than one way. In the morning for many, there is a boost of sugar in the bloodstream to help the body wake up and prepare for the day. Studies have shown that simply smelling sweet things like a rich sweet orange oil can help encourage the body to release more insulin that helps the body to put that extra sugar to use so your baby can have more energy.
To make the most of orange essential oil try setting a timer for it to diffuse right around the time you wake up or use an orange oil scented soap in your morning shower or face wash.
Orange Oil For Pain Relief
One study showed that orange and ginger essential oils used topically can help reduce knee pain. While this works best for short-term knew pain and not long term it makes for a great addition to your post-workout muscle rub. Inhaling orange essential oil for its aromatherapy benefits has been proven to help with pain signals in those with bone fractures.
Antibacterial uses for orange oil
Orange oil makes a great addition to your first aid kit and skincare regime because it helps to kill off bacteria including staph infection and has anti-fungal properties. Try adding a few drops of orange essential oil to a foot bath for those with atheists foot issues or using a roller bottle with diluted blood orange essential oil, lavender essential oil, and tea tree essential oil to use as a simple spot acne treatment.
Orange Essential Oil Is Packed With Antioxidant Power
Orange oil has been used for its ability to fight off cancer with its antioxidants. Most people don’t realize how valuable simple antioxidants like vitamins a and c, are to the overall body system. The good news is that you can make small changes to increase your exposure to these antioxidants. While more studies need to be done on this use of orange essential oil it never hurts to put it to use in your aromatherapy plan for its many benefits and enjoy the value of this benefit as well.
What can orange essential oil be used for around the home?
Orange essential oil is used for many things around the home and is commonly found in many commercial cleaning products. You can use orange essential oil around your home for the same amazing benefits.
Keep spiders out of your home with orange oil
As great as spiders are we don’t have a great history with some spiders. When we lived in Kansas our oldest child was bit by one. For the longest time, they made me very nervous, and just like the ladybugs, the spiders would come in during the fall in what felt like swarms. The good news is keeping spiders out of the house was easier than I had anticipated.
Spiders taste with their feet and most are not fans of citrus. You can use orange or lemon oil around window and door frames and even cracks in your walls to help keep spiders out. Of course, this eventually wears off but if you make a mix of orange essential oil and mineral oil to use for wiping down these high traffic areas as part of your weekly cleaning you can see a drastic reduction of spiders in your home.
Orange oil wood cleaner
Orange oil is popular in commercial wood cleaners because it is hydrating and great for protecting the wood. You can make your own wood oil:
- 1 cup mineral oil
- 30 drops orange essential oil
Mix in a glass jar or spray bottle. This wood oil can be used for polishing wood furniture or cleaning and shining unfinished wood floors. I use this to help shine up my 100-year-old unfinished wooden floors. This helps to make them look great and protects them from spills and messes the kids make.
This makes a great wood polish for cleaning your hardwood furniture. Use a microfiber cloth to buff this into your furniture to dust and protect in one simple step.
Homemade disinfectant
Beacuse of orange oils antimicrobial properties shown to fight off e-coli and the natural food safe nature of orange oil this makes a great option for a kitchen disinfectant. For a simple and easy counter top and multi surface cleaner mix 1 cup vinegar or rubbing alcohol with 30 drops orange essential oil.
Garbage disposal refresher
To clean your garbage disposal and make it small fresh and clean again put in this simple garbage disposal refresher recipe:
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- 1/4 cup course salt
- 10 drops orange essential oil
- 3-4 ice cubes
Run your garbage disposal for 30 to 40 seconds and follow with clean water for a fresh clean garbage disposal. The ice will even help to sharpen your garbage disposal blades.
Fall and winter air freshoner
Orange oil is a great fall and winter air freshener option. You can add a few drops along with cinnamon and clove oil to a pot of simmering water on the stove or add to your favorite diffuser. You can make your own room refresher you can add this mix to a 4 oz spray bottle with rubbing alchool or witchhazel.
How to use orange essential oil for bath and body
Orange oil like other citrus essential oils is photoreactive. This means that if you go out in the sun after turning them it could lead to issues like sunburn or skin bleaching. Always use your oils diluted when using them n your skin and avoid direct sunlight for 30 minutes to an hour after using bath and body products that contain orange essential oil.
Is orange essential oil good for hair?
Orange essential oil is great for hair and can leave it hydrated and refreshed. Because of where your hair is located using orange oil in your hair is a great way to enjoy the aromatherapy uses for orange essential oil.
Hot oil hair treatment – Using orange oil in a simple DIY hot oil treatment is a great way to reap the benefits of orange essential oil in revitalizing your hair and helping to give you a mood and energy boost.
Orange dry shampoo – Dry shampoo is a popular way to get your hair in shape when you don’t have time to wash it. Adding a few drops of orange oil to a simple DIY dry shampoo is a great way to make your hair smell great and hydrate it while cleansing.
Is orange essential oil good for your skin?
Because of orange oils’ anti-microbial properties, it makes a great addition to homemade skincare products. Here are a few of my favorite ways to add orange oil to my skincare routine for healthy glowing skin.
Orange soap – My favorite fall and winter soap is made of clove and orange. It reminds me of homemade made Christmas decorations where we would push little clove buds into fresh oranges to fill a bowl.
Orange bath bombs – Orange essential oil makes a great addition to bath bombs. Enjoy adding orange oil to your favorite relaxing bath bomb recipe to help beat stress at the end of a long hard day.
Orange bath soak – Orange oil is great for lowering pain and stress levels. Adding 30 drops of orange oil to 1 tablespoon of your favorite skin-friendly oil (my favorite is avocado oil) and mixing it into 1 cup of Epsom salt can make a simple and effective bath soak so you can sit back, relax, and recuperate from a long hard day or an intense workout.
Lip balm – If find homemade lip balms with a few drops of essential oil make a great on-the-go essential oil inhaler that helps make it easier use even in a crowd where you may look a bit funny sniffing a tube. Orange lip balm is great for helping to relax when stress levels get high allowing you to calm and focus. This simple trick can help you look cool and collected under pressure.
Acne roller – One of the best skincare uses for orange oil is its ability to help fight off bacteria. This makes adding orange oil along with tea tree oil to a roller bottle with fractioned coconut oil makes a great spot treatment for acne.
