10 Uses for Lemon Essential Oil
Lemon Essential Oil
Known for their clean and sharp scent, lemons provide us with one of the most popular and versatile essential oils on the market. Perhaps as popular as lavender essential oil, lemon is known for its numerous uses. It is used in everything from tea to homemade cleaning products. Its fresh, tangy, citrus scent is invigorating and uplifting.
Lemon essential oil is extracted from the fresh rinds of lemons. Historically, lemon essential oil has been used as far back as ancient Rome for upset stomach to cure for halitosis (bad breath). The British Navy used lemon oil to prevent scurvy – once they figured out what caused it.
Lemon essential oil is known for its astringent, antiseptic, deodorizing, diuretic, and anti fungal properties.
We use lemon essential oil today in:
1. Aromatherapy:
In aromatherapy, lemon essential oil is commonly used as a stimulant to provide warmth, invigoration, and energy. It is also used for confidence building and to reduce clients’ feelings of unworthiness or imperfection. The scent of lemon is also believed to increase concentration and stimulate people’s ability to think clearly.
2. Stress Reduction:
Along with other citrus essential oils such as orange and grapefruit, lemon essential oil has been shown to reduce stress when inhaled prior to stressful situations. The scent of lemon is often described as “refreshing” and it gives a sensation of rejuvenation because it tends to calm emotions. Scientific studies of the effect of the scent of lemon on serotonin and dopamine levels cause an “anti-stress” response in the brain.
3. Beverages:
Lemon essential oil can be used alone in water to make hot tea or to add lemon flavor to any kind of beverage. Lemon tea has been used as a home remedy to soothe sore throats for ages. Singers often drink hot lemon water prior to performing to clear their vocal chords of mucous.
4. Respiratory Aid:
When diffused, lemon essential oil can assist in clearing stuffy sinuses, relieving stagnation, and making breathing easier. If you feel you are overrun with mucous, simply diffuse lemon essential oil or apply it with a carrier oil to your chest.
5. Furniture Polish:
When combined with olive oil and vinegar lemon essential oil can restore shine to wooden furniture damaged by chemical wood treatments. For furniture that has been traditionally cleaned with regular furniture polish, lemon essential oil breaks through the residue left behind and leaves wood with a clean sheen to it.
6. Disinfectant and Cleansing Agent:
The antiseptic and anti fungal properties of lemon essential oil make it an excellent disinfectant. When combined with vinegar, it makes a great cleaner for countertops, door knobs, and other surfaces that may harbor bacteria and fungus. Lemon essential oil may also be used to brighten copper.
7. Antioxidant Supplement:
Lemon essential oil is high in antioxidants which are known to assist the body in combating damage-causing free-radicals.
8. Massage Aid:
When used topically during a massage, lemon essential oil can induce relaxation. Mix it with your favorite carrier oil such as grapeseed oil, almond oil, or coconut oil. Clients massaged with lemon essential oil tend to unwind more rapidly and their muscles soften quicker as a result. This allows the massage therapist to get deeper into the muscles in a shorter period of time because they are not working so hard to get the client to relax.
9. Skin Care:
Lemon essential oil can soften calluses and other areas of dry, rough skin. It can be added to facial cleansers to provide additional exfoliant action. Additionally, lemon essential oil can help reduce excess oil production and help prevent pimples and blackheads.
10. Sticky Residue Removal:
If your kid got gum stuck in his hair, pull out the lemon essential oil. It also works well on removing tape and label sticky residue. The lemon oil works as a solvent and dissolves the adhesive. Ta-da! No more sticky. Be sure if you are using lemon oil on a surface that is easily damaged such as a fine fabric or surface like wood that you first test it in an inconspicuous area to make sure that it won’t leave a mark.
If you are interested in using lemon essential oils, check out this article on homemade essential oils or this article on the top 5 essential oils for skin care.
