Reusable Dryer Sheets using Essential Oils

This "recipe" is not original to me. In fact, you can find it all over the internet!  I just wanted to share it with you in case you've been hiding under a rock. 😉

I hate throwing away things that could possibly have some further use. I also hate using dryer sheets that have so many chemicals that attach to clothes and then soak into you body as you wear the clothes.

So, I  making my own reusable dryer sheets!

First,you need an old t-shirt or such. I use my old kitchen towels. Cut them into squares.

Obviously these were my holey kitchen towels!

You also need a mason jar or some other jar that closes to keep in the moisture.

To the jar, you add:

• 3/4 cup of white vinegar
• 1/4 cup of water
• 6-10 drops of essential oil

It is up to you which essential oil you would like to use. Many use Lemon or Lavender. I chose Purification for two reasons. First, it smells heavenly. The blend includes Citronella, Lavandin, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Myrtle, and Tea Tree which leads me to my second reason. This blend can also help you have an annoyance-free outdoor experience.  Those pests just don't like the beautiful smell!

Once you've added the three ingredients to the jar, just add the "rags" and you're done. The liquid ingredients wick up through all the "dyer sheets."

So when I am done, I have these two jars on my dryer: 

The jar on the right has my damp, ready-to-use dryer sheets. Personally, I keep the other jar on the left to put my dryer sheets in after they come out o the dryer. It keeps them all together. You could use a basket or whatever works for you.

When the right one gets empty, I just start the process again! 

Quick, easy, and they work!

My Essential Oil Sinus and Allergy Help

The last few weeks I've been dealing with severe sinus gunk which led to sore throats. 

One of my go-to's for any sinus/allergy/cold stuff is tea, raw honey, and essential oils.

I used green tea, raw honey, about 3 drops of Thieves Vitality and 4 drops of Lemon Vitality both from Young Living. The Vitality essential oils are labeled specifically safe for ingestion.

I wouldn't put too much Thieves in your tea unless you want to tingle your lips off!  Thieves is the famous blend of Lemon, Clove, Eucalyptus Radiata, Cinnamon Bark, and Rosemary essential oils used for wellness and immunity.

Lemon is a go to for almost anything! Did you know it takes 75 lemons to make one 15 ml bottle of Young Living Essential oils? The oil comes from the peel not from the pulp.

I've also used the Thieves Mouthwash to gargle with when I have a sore throat but this time I was out. 

How do you use Essential Oils to help with allergies and sinuses?

The Vetiver Essential Oil ADD Experiment---The Hows and Outcomes

In other words, part 2!

Yesterday I posted about the hows and whys of using Vetiver essential oil for ADD/ADHD. I got so carried away with all the information that I decided our personal story needed to wait until today. If you missed yesterday's post, I suggest your read it first to lay the foundation.

Mija has never been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. I think there are some definite short attention spans that just arise from being having a sanguine personality! (After all, somewhere else there has to be something more interesting and fun than the schoolwork I'm doing.)

Personally, I suffer with ADCD:

See, I just went "squirrel"!! Now, back on topic.

If you read the original post, you know that we started with just Vetiver and applied it to her big toes.

We noticed a difference immediately in attitude, attention and work quality. BUT there one caveat...

No essential oil can change a heart's 

willful, sinful desire.

Using Vetiver oil allowed us to see that some physical or personal elements were affected by the oil, but it did not have any affect on those times when willfulness was demonstrated in attitude and effort (or lack there of). To us this became a secondary benefit of Vetiver because it provided assistance in better seeing the character changes that continue to need to be addressed. It showed that it was not all outright disobedience nor was it all a physical or mental nature. 

We did change how we used it. While sometimes mija still requests some for her toes, we now usually diffuse it.

Here is the mixture I've been using

6 drops of Vetiver

6 drops of Lemon

4 drops of Ylang ylang or Bergamot

The Vetiver is a given. 

Lemon is amazing. It promotes clarity of thought and purpose. There was a research study (which I haven't eyeballed yet) which showed a dramatic improvement in mental accuracy and concentration and test scores increasing as much as 50%. I have not even mentioned all the physical/health benefits! Besides, it just smells "purdy". 

The Ylang ylang or Bergamot are current choices we are making for hubby and me. Might as well oil up the whole family!

I am ordering some Cedarwood oil to use in addition to the Vetiver to see if it makes a further difference. 

Never too many oils!

The Vetiver Essential Oil ADD Experiment---The whys and wherefores

Back in September, I shared about our first day of

school and my use of Vetiver essential oil to help with attention during school.

I promised to get back with my results and insights, so here I am!

First, let me tell you a little bit about the Vetiver/ADHD connection.

Dr. Terry Friedmann did a study on the benefits of using Vetiver, Cedarwood, and Lavender essential oils with ADD/ADHD children. Now I'm going to be honest with you. The study was very small, but many essential oil people treat it like the Holy Grail AND misuse it. Let me explain how.

If you look at the actual study Dr. Friendmann admits that when it came to ADHD/ADD, Vetiver had good results, Cedarwood worked pretty well, but Lavender made little difference. Some essential oil people I have seen, however, give all three equal billing in being useful for attention deficit. They are not.

Here are the words of the good doctor himself,

In summary, based on this study, I would not hesitate to recommend the use of the essential oil 

Vetiver in the treatment of children diagnosed as having ADHD. I would even consider using the 

essential oil Cedarwood in situations where Vetiver was not available or other cases in which Vetiver 

was not appropriate. 

 Certainly, the essential oil Vetiver proved to be the treatment of choice between the three 

different oils used in this study. 

From my reading, I agree that to be an accurate finding from his study.

As far as the size of the study, that part does not bother me because there have been a lot of anecdotal evidence which I have found interesting and supportive.

The results of the study and others experience are not surprising when you consider the qualities of Vetiver and Cedarwood.

Cedarwood stimulates the limbic region of the brain and stimulates the pineal gland. It has calming and purifying properties.
Vetiver:

Okay, I've dished the dirt about Dr. Friedmann's study and what Vetiver does, tomorrow I'll tell you about what has been going on with us personally.

Make sure to check out PART 2--The Hows and the Outcomes by clicking HERE!

Linked to:

Yesterday: The first day of fifth grade--clothes and oils

Yesterday mija started the fifth grade!

She got to shop for a back-to-school outfit at Justice. I know. I am one awesome mom!

Our other new school addition is Vetiver essential oil. Vetiver, along with Cedarwood, has been studied as an aid for ADD/ADHD. While mija has neither, she still has a short attention span and is easily distractable. We decided to give it a try. 

Yesterday went really well after rubbing it on her big toes. That's right. The big toes are where the brain is located on the foot. We rubbed it on a few time throughout the day. We really knocked things out.

Today school started with my hubby teaching math and science with NO vetiver. It was the usual distractions with many reminders to focus. I'll take over after lunch and AFTER VETIVER and see if there is a difference.

I'll see how it goes after a few weeks of Vetiver and let you know.

My finger is finally healing---Young Living Valor essential oil

It all started three weeks ago with a fly. I was going to kill it, but I was using a slipper instead of a swatter like this:

It all happened so quickly...

                 I swung.

                                     The slipper slipped.

                 Major pain.

                                     The fly got away.

Fly 1 - Betsy 0

I have had a broken finger a few times before and the symptoms seemed to fit the diagnosis. Instead of going to the doctor, I just purchased an inexpensive splint and taped it up. 

Jump to last week. Finger still splinted. Heading into third week, no change and the pain was getting worse. I broke down and went to the doctor to get x-rays.

It was not broken after all!

But there was still something wrong with it. It was discolored, still swollen, and wasn't able to move it beyond this point...

Demo!

The urgent care doctor thought there might be an infection, gave me an antibiotic, and referred me to a "hand" doctor.

Three days on antibiotic and no changes.

Last night I was going through my essential oil drawer which is kind of low on resources but I did find a bottle of Valor. Among other things, Valor is known as...

A chiropractor in a bottle.

I rubbed it all over my finger. This morning, I could do this.

That's right. I could bend my finger a lot more than I could before! I was amazed. In fact, I am using that index finger as I'm typing!

It still not perfect obviously. It still is discolored, but the swelling is down and it is starting to look like a normal finger again.

I am going to continue to use Valor on my finger a few times a day to finish healing.

Photo: Young Living

So thankful for Young Living Essential Oils in my life!

Please contact me if you would like to know more!