101 Essential Oil Uses & Easy-to-Follow Recipe Guide (2024)

There are a million ways to incorporate them into you life, and we’ve narrowed down 101 essential oils uses to get you started! These tips and DIY hacks will save you lots of money and the recipes are super easy to make. Happy oiling! 🙂

25 Essential Oil Uses for Freshening Up

Lemon, lavender, and peppermint are three of the most commonly purchased and used oils out there. Aside from some caution against using peppermint directly on small children, all three of these oils are known as extremelysafe and effective for most of the population. So, let’s start there…

1. Add lavender to an alcohol or vinegar spray for refreshing linens and creating a bedtime ambiance.
2. Put a couple of drops of lavender essential oil or lemon on a cloth in the closet to remove stale odors.
3. Make a lavender spritz to spray the “monsters” away at bedtime – they’ll be relaxed and ready to snooze!
4. Freshen up an old mattress with a lavender-peppermint or lemon spray, or add the oils to baby powder or baking soda and sprinkle it on before adding sheets.
5. Wash towels with some lemon to freshen up that stale towel smell.
6. Add lemon or peppermint to baking soda and sprinkle in stinky shoes.
7. Wash sporting gear or sprinkle it with baking soda and a lemon peppermint mix to kick that sweaty athlete smell to the curb.
8. Remove cigarette smoke odors with a diluted alcohol or vinegar based spray with lemon and peppermint.
9. Clean pet stains with a castile soap and lemon essential oil, or spray pet beds and pet potty areas.
10. Put a couple drops each of lavender and lemon in a simmering pot on the stove after dinner to cut the heavy cooking smell.
11. Pour a few drops in the bag of your vacuum cleaner for a fresh scent throughout the house.
12. Add essential oils to baking soda and sprinkle on the carpet before vacuuming.
13. Add a few drops to the wash (not the dryer), especially with no-additive unscented laundry soap.
14. Use a drop of lemon as a spot treatment to cut grease and lift stains – especially effective with peroxide!
15. Run another quick rinse with a few drops of lemon in some vinegar to cut the “I forgot to switch the laundry”
16. Add a couple of drops of peppermint or lemon to a gallon of paint to help disperse the chemical fumes.
17. Drop some lemon or peppermint onto sponges or washcloths and run them through the dishwasher for heavy sanitization and refreshment.
18. Put a drop in the inside of the toilet paper roll for a boost of scent every time the roll turns!
19. Brighten potpourri by sprinkling a few drops of your favorite oils onto it to avoid artificial air fresheners.
20. Coat unscented incense sticks in several drops of essential oils and allow to dry for a full day before using.
21. Create a diluted vinegar, witch hazel, or alcohol based spray with your favorite scented essential oils, then spritz into the potty before use for direct odor control!
22. Combine 10-15 drops of lavender and lemon essential oil with baking soda and sprinkle into the bottom of the diaper pail.
23. Lemon and peppermint combined with baking soda sprinkled into the trash can before the bag goes in will keep trash odors at bay.
24. Freshen the car even if you don’t have a car diffuser – just add a drop or two to a central air vent for circulated aroma!
25. For more specific car use, choose lavender and bergamot to calm traffic anxiety or peppermint and ginger to minimize car sickness.

Bonus Recipe: Homemade Laundry Soap

25 Essential Oil Uses for Cleaning

26. Add lemon essential oil to a combination of baking soda, a squirt of dish soap, and a dash of vinegar for a grout cleaning
27. Lemon, lavender, and peppermint blend well with tea tree for a disinfecting spray or air-cleaning diffusion.
28. Mix dish or castile soap with water and lemon into a squeeze-top bottle; squeeze into the inner rim of toilets and scrub.
29. Use your baking soda, soap, and vinegar grout cleaning scrub with lemon and peppermint for a non-toxic shower scrub.
30. Skip the scrub altogether with a daily shower spray. Vinegar, a squirt of soap, and your favorite essential oils, sprayed daily after showering.
31. Combine a gallon of hot water with ¼ cup castile soap and a total of 40-60 drops of any combination of essential oils – lemon and lavender work well here – to clean the floors.
32. Wash windows with vinegar and water boosted with peppermint and lemon. (See our favorite essential oil powered glass cleaner.)
33. Dishes get an extra boost with a drop of lemon in the dishwater or dishwasher soap compartment.
34. Use a few drops of lemon oil on a rag for polishing silverware.
35. Take dusting to the next level with a drop of essential oil on the rag.
36. Refresh old wooden surfaces with a bit of lemon oil on the polishing rag.
37. Wipe down sinks and surfaces with a diluted vinegar or alcohol based spray brightened with antiviral lemon and antibacterial lavender.
38. Clean the fridge with a few drops of lemon and lavender added to some vinegar, water, and a dash of dish soap.
39. All purpose cleaners can be mixed up and ready to go – try combining all three (lavender, lemon, peppermint) with a bit of dish soap, vinegar or alcohol, and water as an all purpose disinfectant cleaner.
40. Cut grease with lemon oil added to your dish soap.
41. Clean stainless steel with lemon or peppermint in a bit of soap mixed into water.
42. Burned pan? Add some lemon oil to a bit of water and boil to loosen burnt residue.
43. Bugs don’t like peppermint – spritz it on them directly or add to baking soda and powder it around bug entrances.
44. Clean cutting boards with lemon and lavender to stop the spread of food-borne illness.
45. Sticky surface? Soak a rag in water and add a bit of soap and lemon oil – lay it over the sticky then wipe it up a few minutes later.
46. Put some baking soda and a combination of lemon, lavender, and peppermint into a mason jar with holes in the lid. Set in the bathroom and shake periodically to reboot its air freshening power.
47. Polish scuffed surfaces with a rag and a bit of lemon oil.
48. Kick your hand soap up a notch with a few drops of lemon and lavender mixed in.
49. Spritz cut produce with diluted lemon oil to minimize browning.
50. The best cleaning tool is good old fashioned motivation – diffuse peppermint for a stimulating energy boost to get you going.

Floor Cleaner Solution Recipe

25 Essential Oil Uses for Pampering

51. Add a drop of peppermint to toothpaste.
52. Make your own mouthwash with a diluted alcohol base and oils like peppermint, clove, and myrrh.
53. Shampoo is transformed with just a few drops of peppermint or lavender shaken into the whole bottle.
54. Make DIY deodorant with baking soda, cornstarch, coconut oil, and your favorite combination of oils.
55. The most basic lotion is simply coconut oil scented with a bit of lavender oil.
56. Acne doesn’t stand a chance against antibacterial lavender oil. Apply a drop neat or slightly diluted to a cotton ball and swab affected areas.
57. Sugar scrubs with lemon, lavender, or peppermint simply can’t be beat.
58. Make a soothing facial mask with honey and lavender oil.
59. Rebalance the skin’s pH with a witch hazel, lavender, and peppermint toner.
60. Soothe tired feet by diluting peppermint and lemon into an evening foot soak.
61. Dilute lavender into an Epsom salt mixture for a calming bath.
62. Put a few drops of peppermint onto a rag in the bottom of the shower for an energizing start to your day.
63. Melt a bit of beeswax into your coconut oil and lavender mix for an all purpose soothing balm.
64. Massage your aches and pains away; dilute peppermint or lavender into the carrier oil of your choice.
65. Add a bowl of water and essential oils to a sauna to maximize their respective benefits.
66. A vinegar rinse is excellent for conditioning your hair but smells like a pickle jar. Add some lemon and lavender to freshen it up.
67. Fix cracked feet with an overnight application of lavender and coconut oil.
68. Settle into a restorative night of sleep with lavender diffused at your bedside.
69. Create a simple perfume with your favorite oils diluted into a carrier and poured into a roller ball.
70. Beat dandruff with a few drops of lavender and a couple drops of tea tree added to shampoo.
71. Whiten teeth periodically with the odd but effective combination of lemon and fresh, mashed strawberries mixed with coconut oil. Rub onto teeth, let sit for a couple of minutes, then rinse off.
72. Add your favorite essential oils to a small amount of alcohol or witch hazel in a spritz bottle, topped off with water, for a custom body spray.
73. A small spritz bottle of peppermint essential oil in alcohol and water makes a quick and easy breath spray.
74. Peppermint and lavender in coconut oil relieve tension, especially massaged onto the temples for headaches.
75. Diffuse peppermint and lemon before and during exercise routines for energy and endurance.

Natural, Homemade Lip Balm

25 Essential Oil Uses for Health

76. Sooth mild burns with lavender and coconut oil.
77. Anti-inflammatory lavender and cooling peppermint are a must for any balm made for soothing sores.
78. A drop of lavender directly on bug bites can soothe itching.
79. Inhale or massage diluted peppermint oil for headache relief.
80. Include lavender in massage oil blends to help relieve body aches.
81. Breathe clear with peppermint added to aromatic chest rub formulas.
82. Or, simply place a drop each of lavender, lemon, and peppermint into a bowl of steaming water. Lean over it and breathe deep.
83. Improve digestion with a drop of peppermint or lavender diluted into honey and added to your favorite drinks.
84. Inhale peppermint to relieve acute bouts of nausea.
85. Soothe psoriasis, eczema, and other inflammatory skin conditions with lavender preparations.
86. Calm an inflamed sunburn with aloe vera, lavender, and peppermint sprays.
87. Diffuse or inhale lavender to lessen the severity of anxiety.
88. Find a boost of energy with stimulating lemon and peppermint diffusions.
89. Melt stress away with lavender rubbed onto temples and neck.
90. Cleanse the air with antiviral lemon and antibacterial lavender diffused.
91. Help curb cravings and appetite with peppermint diffused between meals.
92. Improve focus and calm anxious minds by diffusing lavender during study times.
93. Dilute peppermint onto a rag soaked in cool water, and sponge onto the neck and back of someone feverish. (Head to the doctor if it gets too high!)
94. Keep lemon and peppermint on hand to inhale when morning sickness takes over.
95. Add lavender to compresses for an added anti-inflammatory effect.
96. Make a gentle spray of lavender and water to ease kids’ minds that you can take care of boo-boos when they’re too old for magic kisses but too young to shake it off. (Do shake the bottle well, however!)
97. Add some diluted peppermint to your clove based toothache remedy and apply with a cotton ball or swab.
98. A drop of peppermint and lemon mixed into a spoon of honey can sooth a painful sore throat.
99. Massage diluted lavender oil around lymph glands and ears to help ease discomfort and promote drainage for ear infections.
100. Put a drop or two of lavender into your humidifier per manufacturer’s instructions for a quick, multi-purpose diffuser.
101. Cold sores are soothed with a drop of lavender applied with a cotton ball or swab.

Sunburn Skin Soother Spray