Tea Tree Oil: 9 Germ-Killing, Super-Cleansing Uses

Do you ever pass those big, expensive bottles of essential oils at the natural foods store and wonder who needs that much? Most of us are used to using just a few drops at a time; after all, they’re super-concentrated. But next time, you won’t blink an eye at the thirty dollar price tag on that 4-ounce bottle of tea tree oil. Why? Because it’s possibly the most powerful essential oil there is, with dozens of medicinal, beauty and domestic uses. Seriously: you need tea tree oil. Lots of it. Here are just 10 examples of what you can do with it.

Mold Killer

I recently had a knock-down, drag-out fight with mold. Things got ugly fast when a leak in the basement wasn’t fixed quickly enough, and before long, mold was all over everything that was stored down there. While I had to throw a lot of things away, I saved a lot thanks to a really easy and natural solution that kills virtually all strains of fungus – plain white vinegar with about a teaspoon of tea tree oil added to it, in a spray bottle. Spray liberally and vigorously wipe all affected surfaces, but don’t rinse.

Laundry Scent and Booster

Anyone who’s ever dealt with dirty cloth diapers, cloth menstrual pads or a post-illness load of laundry knows that sometimes, your clothes and linens need a little something more than just plain old laundry detergent. But don’t break out the bleach. A teaspoon of tea tree oil in your wash water will kill any germs and other gross stuff – just hang them out in the sun to dry and stains will disappear, too.

Insect Repellent and Bite Soother

When all else fails – even trusty old citronella – tea tree oil keeps annoying mosquitoes, gnats and other buzzing and biting bugs far away. Pour about an ounce of tea tree oil and four ounces of witch hazel into a spray bottle, and shake it up before applying. Both ingredients are soothing to existing bites. You can add some cedar, lemongrass, or lavender to make it even more powerful and prettier-smelling, too.

All-Purpose Cleaner

Sometimes referred to as ‘Mother Nature’s most powerful antiseptic’, tea tree oil is a great addition to just about any homemade all-purpose cleaner recipe. Here’s my favorite: add 2 cups of hot water to 2 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax, ½ teaspoon of liquid dish soap and ½ teaspoon of tea tree oil in a spray bottle; shake it and spray it anywhere germs lurk, like doorknobs and toilets.

Relief from Chest Colds

Put 2-3 drops of tea tree oil in a basin of hot, steaming water, then cover your head with a towel and inhale the steam for up to 10 minutes. Since tea tree oil has antiviral properties, it can help keep that cold from getting out of hand, especially if you catch it early enough.

Cold Sores

Nothing says “kiss me” like a hideous, contagious eruption right next to your mouth. Tea tree oil can help make it go away fast, since its antiviral effect subdues the herpes simplex virus that causes cold sores. Apply a few drops to the sore with a cotton swab once a day until it’s gone, and don’t forget to pop some lysine, an amino acid that has been proven to stop the herpes virus from replicating.

Gum and Sticker Remover

Whether it’s a wad of gum someone stuck under your dining table or a stubborn label on a gift, tea tree oil is so astringent that it cuts through sticky substances with ease. Just pour on a few drops on a cotton ball and rub away.

Acne Buster

The active ingredient in tea tree oil, terpinen-4-ol, is thought to kill the the bacteria that colonizes our pores and throws the disgusting, unsightly parties that result in acne. Just a drop added to a paste of baking soda and castile soap makes a super-effective natural face and body scrub that will also buff away the dead skin cells that make breakouts even worse. Some people can be sensitive to high concentrations of this powerful oil, so if you get a rash, discontinue use.

Athlete’s Foot and Other Fungal Issues

As gross as it sounds, the same properties that make tea tree oil such a potent mold-killer make it great for the fungus that causes athlete’s foot, too. The same goes for any other fungal infection, like ringworm, dandruff and nail infections. Mix a few drops of tea tree oil in a base oil like sweet almond, olive or coconut and apply it to the affected area, add it to your shampoo or add it to hot water for a foot soak.

Vegans “Significantly Less Polluted”

Every five years, the U.S. government measures the amount of toxic waste in our food supply. Dioxins are a class of industrial pollutants spewed into the atmosphere that “accumulates in the fatty tissues of humans and food animals consumed by humans. It is generally believed that the most significant exposure to DLCs [dioxin-like compounds such as PCBs] by humans is from the dietary intake of animal and fish products.” But which animal products pose the greatest risk?

According to recent data from the Environmental Protection Agency, second only to fish in terms of PCB levels: eggs. This may help explain the findings of a recent study that found that egg consumption “was associated with in increased odds of cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, upper aerodigestive tract (includes oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, larynx), colon and colon and rectum combined, lung, breast, prostate, bladder, and all cancers combined.”

Of all the cancers, egg consumption was most tightly correlated with breast cancer risk. Those eating more than a half an egg a day were found to have nearly 3 times the odds of breast cancer compared to those that stayed away from eggs entirely.

The industrial toxins found in animal products don’t just contribute to cancer risk. According to a recent commentary in the journal Reproductive Toxicology, “increasing evidence suggests that maternal exposure to toxic chemical compounds may be associated with various congenital [birth] defects, pediatric problems, skewed gender ratios, lethal cancers in children and teens, psychosexual challenges, as well as reproductive and endocrine [hormonal] dysfunction in later life.” The author concludes: “I anticipate that future generations of scientists will look back with disbelief at a medical culture that permitted poisoning of reproductive aged women and ignored ramifications to unborn children.”

What if one chooses not to eat meat, fish, dairy, or eggs, though? A study entitled “Impact of Adopting a Vegan Diet…on Plasma Organochlorine Concentrations” was recently published by an international team of scientists. Organochlorines “are chemical products that were widely used after World War II as insecticides and in industry. In the 1960s, their adverse effects for the environment and human health began to be known, and in the 1970s their use was banned in most industrialized countries [including the United States]. However, because they are so resistant to degradation…[they] continue to be present in most food chains worldwide….Being at the top of the food chain, man is contaminated via food, in infancy from breast milk and later from animal products such as fish, meat and dairy products.”

The investigators note that studies have shown that organochlorine concentrations in the breast milk and fat tissue of vegetarians is lower than in omnivores, but no studies of “real vegans” had been undertaken. Until now. Testing a wide range of carcinogenic industrial toxins and pesticides, the researchers  “found that vegans, were significantly less polluted, then omnivores….”

What surprised the research team was that vegans had as much toxic exposure as they did. The scientists offered a number of explanations. For example, the vegans “may have been breast-fed as infants, and might thus have been exposed to OC accumulated by the mother, and which are transferred to her baby at the time of lactation. Moreover, becoming vegetarian or vegan is often a decision made in adulthood.” That was another problem they noted: most vegans aren’t vegan from birth. “Thus, the omnivore diet followed during childhood and adolescence results in a contamination by OC that is still detectable in adults….In addition, vegans may, on rare occasions, depart from their diet and eat some animal products.”

To decrease our exposure to industrial toxins in our increasingly polluted world, we need to eat as low as possible on the food chain as soon as possible: a plant-based diet.

This is excerpted from Dr. Greger’s Latest in Clinical Nutrition vol. 4 DVD (July 2010), all proceeds of which go to benefit the Humane Society of the United States.

Michael Greger MD

Posted August 5, 2010

Published in Health