This time of year we work especially hard for our business and want to stay healthy throughout the season. We do our best to care for ourselves amidst the busy-ness and eat well to keep our immune systems strong. When we are at home we wash our hands with simply soap and water. I also bring a travel size of Dr.Bronner’s soap in my purse to use to wash our hands with when we are out and about. For one I can’t stand the strong smelling soaps in public restrooms (ick) that seem to have a lingering smell on my hands for hours afterwards, but also antibacterial soaps have a lot of really harmful chemicals in them and haven’t proven to be more effective. (You can read two recent articles about that here and here.)

I know we don’t want to live in a sterile world (have you heard about the hygiene hypothesis?) and it’s important for our immune systems to come in contact with bacteria to get stronger, but when we are handling money and shaking hands (and getting sneezed on) this time of year, I like to have a little something extra besides just our regular hand washing when we are out in public. (What we are exposed to when we play in the dirt is quite different than in a public restroom!) And I think essential oils are a great way to go! I’d been seeing natural antiviral & antibacterial sprays and thought it would be a great idea to make one, so Jeff and I got out our oils and started creating. Have you heard of thieves oil? The original blend is: clove, cinnamon bark, rosemary, lemon, and eucalyptus. Here’s the story of thieves oil from The Mountain Rose Blog:

“The recipe for this blend is believed to have originated from thieves during the 15th century. According to popular theory, the concoction was created by a group of four thieves® and grave robbers to protect themselves from contracting the plague while robbing the bodies of the gravely ill and deceased. When apprehended, the thieves admitted to using the formula and disclosed the recipe in order to receive a less severe punishment for their crimes.

Whether or not this story is true, the essential oils in this blend may help maintain health during seasons of vulnerability and are commonly used to cleanse and purify the air.”

I actually came across this recipe on The Mountain Rose Blog, after we had already made ours, and we clearly both followed a similar recipe. Jeff had the idea to add juniper berry and frankincense essential oil to ours. We loved it so much we wanted to share it with you here so you could make some to enjoy too. Feel free to play around with the recipe! (But make sure you only use it diluted!) Here is the recipe we made:

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Antiviral & Antibacterial Essential Oil Spray:

40 drops clove essential oil

35 drops lemon essential oil

20 drops cinnamon essential oil

15 drops eucalyptus essential oil

12 drops rosemary essential oil

10 drops juniper berry essential oil

10 drops frankincense essential oil

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First we blended the oils together. Then we filled some 4 oz. glass spray bottles with distilled water, with the help of a little funnel. (The glass containers are probably not ideal for traveling, but there are other options available should you purchase some.) Then we added two drops of the oil blend per ounce of water. (So we only added 8 drops of the oil blend to each 4 oz. spray container. It’s strong, so you really want it diluted.) We’ve been keeping one in our market booth and one in our car at all times. (I bring it inside from the car when the temperatures get too cold outside.) We spray our hands regularly and the blend smells wonderful! Enjoy!

*Keep in mind that this is a very potent blend of essential oils. We’re only using a bit, very diluted. There are warnings on various essential oils about using them during pregnancy or on children. We use a little spray on Bracken’s hands and feel safe using it on our family, but please do your own research.

Thieves® is a registered trademark of Young Living Essential Oils, LC. WoolyMossRoots is not affiliated with Young Living Essential Oils, LC in any way.