8 Home Cleaning Benefits of Tea Tree Oil

With cleaning uses spanning your entire home, Tea Tree Oil is the essential oil you won’t believe you lived without.

Cleaning is an inescapable, tiring and messy reality in parenting, but its benefits can save your entire family from any health risks. Yes, we are superheroes disguised in our cleaning gloves and boots and protective masks…. Call us wonderwo-mums!

As we work to keep our homes free of germs, we’re always looking for natural alternatives. There are so many chemicals in our day-to-day lives, can you blame us for wanting to keep them out of our homes? Plus, natural cleaning alternatives are often more economical, which is how we got to tea tree oil. Today, we will unravel 8 home cleaning benefits of tea tree oil.

What Is Tea Tree Oil?

Tea tree oil is extracted from leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia which is native in Australia and New Zealand. This oil is a common ingredient among beauty and skin care products, and it has a variety of practical and convenient uses. It’s also economical in comparison to other essential oils.

Before using this oil, here are safety precautions to keep in mind:

1. Several pregnant women resort to tea tree oil in treating acne due to pregnancy hormones. But this poses a great danger for them as it might lengthen labour contractions which can be dangerous to the mum and baby. Even breastfeeding mums should stop applying oil on nipples as it can be possibly absorbed by infants.
2. Keep away from children and animals.
3. Try to test it on the surface you are about to use to avoid discolouration.
4. Wear protective gloves for any occurrence of skin allergies. If this happens, discontinue its use immediately.

The 8 cleaning wonders of tea tree oil

Here are a few ideas on how tea tree oil can add a punch on your daily cleaning:

1. General All Purpose Spray Cleaner

For anything that need disinfecting and cleaning anywhere in the house, a few sprays of tea tree oil gets the job done. Add 10 drops of tea tree oil to 250 mls of white vinegar and 250 mls water in a spray bottle. Spray on any surface such as kitchen countertops or floor, and then wipe up. Simple!

2. Laundry Decontaminant

Add a few drops of tea tree oil into the cycle when you are doing your clothes washing, and you’ll be amazed at the results. It’s especially good to deodorise your hubby and kids’ stinking clothes and socks, and also freshens up towels and sheets. Pop it in when washing your cloth nappies to make the most of its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.

3. Garbage Bin Deodoriser

Garbage bins can get super smelly, which is the last thing you want if your bin is in the kitchen! Get rid of the nasty odours by putting 3 or 4 drops of tea tree oil into the bin before the bag goes in. Not only can it help to get rid of the smell, but it can also stop the growth of bacteria. Win/win!

4. Laundry booster

When you have really dirty and smelly clothes, towels and sheets, tea tree oil is a fantastic solution to help freshen everything up. For heavily soiled laundry items such as cloth nappies, add 6 to 8 drops of tea tree oil to the wash. The powerful anti-fungal properties of tea tree oil will help prevent bacterial and fungal infections, and provide an extra kick to your commercial laundry powder or detergent.

5. Mould and Mildew Remover

There’s nothing that kicks mould in the butt like tea tree oil. Put 5 drops of tea tree oil into a cup of white vinegar and then add this to a plastic spray bottle. Spray it straight onto bathroom surfaces like your basins, bath and shower. Leave it for a few minutes and then wipe off with a damp cloth for a clean and shiny bathroom! Plus, the fresh smell is divine!

6. Pest Repellant

Pests and tea tree oil definitely don’t mix. Just add 20 drops in a spray bottle of water and spray around any areas which are breeding grounds for pests – the smell will get rid of them!

7. Head Lice Deterrent

This extract is also best to kill head lice and nits. Just put 3 or 4 drops of tea tree oil in a spray bottle full of water, then spray daily on the hair. You can also try adding a small squirt of hair conditioner to the bottle. Nits will hate the tea tree oil smell and the conditioner helps to stop drying the hair out and the nits are unable to get a grip on the hair shaft to lay their eggs!

8. Washing Machine Cleaner

We don’t often think about it, but washing machines need to be cleaned too. If you want to clean your washing machine, add 10-15 drops of tea tree oil and run it on the hot cycle to get rid of any bacteria and odour.

When buying tea tree oil make sure it is packaged in dark bottles to ensure the light does not reduce its potency. This oil should never be ingested orally and come in contact with your eyes.

What are other effective cleaning remedies that you know of using tea tree oil?