This easy to use Essential Oils Dilution Chart will help you safely use oils for all members of your family.
As a midwife, natural wellness educator, I'm often asked how to use essential oils safely for both children and adults. Essential oils are powerful and just a little bit goes a L-O-N-G way!
For topical use, dilution is always a good idea. Rest assured, you will not dilute the effectiveness but will make your essential oil go further since a very large percentage evaporates off of the skin when no carrier oil is applied. A carrier oil is just an oily oil that helps “carry” the essential oil into the body. That could be coconut oil, fractionated coconut oil, olive oil or many others (blog post on carrier oils is forthcoming).
Dilution occurs when you drip a drop, or more of an essential oil into a carrier oil before applying to the skin
This is very important for using essential oils on little ones and helpful, even on adults. Not only does it absorb better, it spreads your essential oil over a larger surface area of your skin and that helps increase the effect.
How much to dilute depends on what type of health issue you are trying to address. Be sure to save and share our essential oils dilution chart but here are some quick guidelines to help you with some details.
Essential Oil Dilution Chart Guidelines for Topical Use
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0.3% dilution or less is appropriate for babies from birth to around a year of age. My general rule of thumb for newborns is to use only if needed, in consultation with a practitioner well-versed in essential oil safety for newborns. Newborns are so fresh and responsive that just 1 drop in a Tablespoon or two of carrier oil works well. Over 3 months, the 0.3% dilution is an appropriate application. Apply to the baby's feet and put on cotton socks.
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1.5% to 3% dilution would be appropriate on children from 1-5 years, the elderly, pregnant women and those with compromised immunity or sensitive skin. This is a great dilution for rubbing over larger areas of skin in adults, basic skin support and daily use.
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3% – 10% dilution is great for short-term use or for a temporary health issue where you may need extra respiratory support or for achy, tired or overworked muscles.
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25%-50% dilution is sometimes warranted to support occasional muscle cramps, bruising, aches or for seasonal support.
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Neat or using essential oils, undiluted, on the skin should be done with understanding and care because some people can experience skin irritation or sensitivity.
Some essential oils that can be used without dilution by most people are: Melaleuca, Lavender, Roman Chamomile, Frankincense, Sandalwood, Cypress, Eucalyptus and others.
Keep in mind that we are all different in nature and chemistry so what may be totally fine for one person, may cause itching or discomfort in another. If that happens, just follow it with a carrier oil to immediately reduce any discomfort. Yep! Using a carrier oil quickly, reduces any skin discomfort…even in the eyes!
Refer to a quality reference guide, such as the “Modern Essentials, Contemporary Guide to the Therapeutic Use of Essential Oils” for information on which oils traditionally can be used without dilution and when that may be appropriate.
Most of the time, dilution is beneficial and does not detract from the essential oil’s ability to support your body’s health goals but… you can bet, if I get a bug bite, a sting or burn myself, I’m grabbing my bottle of lavender and putting it on asap!
Why THIS Midwife only uses one specific brand of essential oils
Be extremely cautious about which brand of essential oil you choose to use for your family’s health. Know your brand’s quality control standards from the inside out.
There are many adulterated essential oils on the market. After a LOT of research, I choose to use one specific brand of essential oils because of their rigorous standard of quality from start to finish. Here’s why.
Side note: I’m not trying to be weird, coy or salesy by not disclosing my brand here, I’m just playing by FDA rules which limit my ability to share that info freely on my own blog! It’s frustrating to say the least.
I’ll be glad to share which brand of essential oils I’ve settled on, after having done my research. Purity and Potency AND the integrity of the company are KING! Suffice it to say, there are a LOT of crappy essential oils out there that I would avoid like the plague! Check out the page on essential oils via the button below and I’ll send info on the highest quality oils currently available on the market, right out to you.
I chose a company that supports sustainable sourcing and giving back to the communities they source their oils from. This means they are not going out, ravishing the world for profit. They partner with indigenous growers from all over the world to source their plants where they grow the best. They protect sustainability and foster self-reliance in many impoverished cultures. This level of partnership requires that no chemical pesticides are used and that the distillation process is meticulously done at the lowest possible temperature, which ensures potency and purity.
Each batch is then sent out for third party testing to ensure that only the highest quality essential oils are being bottled and sold by them.
It’s either yes or no…pass or fail! If it isn’t up to snuff regarding potency and purity, it doesn’t get bottled by my company. Period! They utilize one of three different outside labs to verify my oils are free from contaminants, fillers, pesticides, chemicals and other forms of adulteration, which is very common in the essential oils marketplace.
They partner with researchers, universities and medical professionals to bring essential oils out of the fringe, hippy-oil category and into educational conversations and mainstream health care by providing the highest quality essential oils on the market.
This company comes from a whole-body wellness philosophy which I can get behind.
ALL of this verifiable testing is why, many healthcare professionals are, just now, paying closer attention to the research regarding the therapeutic benefits of essential oils. With this company, the credibility and quality standards are in place and I feel confident that I’m using and recommending the safest essential oils on the market.
hugs, Lisa
