Tea is one of the most favorite beverages of almost everyone that helps to get rid of tiredness and also refreshes minds. However, many people are not aware of the importance of tea tree oil, which provides more benefits than the tea itself.
Tea tree oil, also known as Melaleuca oil, is an essential oil. It offers a fresh fragrance and has a color that ranges from pale yellow to almost colorless and clear. One of its positive aspects is that it’s less expensive than other essential oils.
Normally, people extract this oil from the leaves of the native Australian plant known as Melaleuca. Today, tea tree oil is a common element of many cosmetics, topical medicines, and household products. Despite these benefits, people are unaware of how tea tree oil is made. Therefore, we have put together this guide for you so you can learn how tea tree oil is made.
What Are The Components of Tea Tree Oil?
Tea tree oil contains a number of compounds, including terpenes that have a greater tendency to kill certain bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The same component also helps increase the activity of your white blood cells, which help fight germs and other foreign invaders.
Such germ-fighting properties make tea tree oil an excellent natural remedy. Hence it can treat bacterial and fungal skin conditions and can also prevent infection. Moreover, the oil can help in speeding up the healing process.
In recent decades, tea tree oil is getting popular throughout the world as an alternative and complementary treatment. Also, people use it due to its health benefits. For example, it keeps hair, nail, and skin healthy. In addition to this, tea tree oil is inexpensive and safe to use if you use it properly.
How Can You Extract Tea Tree Oil from Tree & How It Is Made?
Normally, you can get or extract the tea tree oil by steam distillation of the leaves and terminal branches of Melaleuca. Once condensed, you will get a clear to pale yellow oil that you can separate from the remaining material. The yield of oil is typically one to two percent of wet plant’s material weight. Hence, this is one of the most common methods to extract tea tree oil manually.
Alternatively, you can also go for microwave technology to extract the tea tree oil. But none of such methods has been utilized on a commercial scale until now.
Which Type of Tea Tree Oil is Right for You?
Since tea tree oil varies in quality due to its components and ingredients, it’s important to buy an oil that is 100 percent natural, with no additives. So, try to opt for organic tea tree oil if possible, and always buy from a reputable brand.
However, to opt for the right one, you need to keep some aspects in mind. For identifying the right type of tea tree oil, look for the Latin name, Melaleuca alternifolia, and the country of origin on the bottle. Also, look for an oil that has a 10 to 40 percent concentration of terpinene, which is the primary antiseptic component of tea tree oil.
Some Amazing Facts about Tea Tree Oil
Here are some of the amazing or lesser-known facts about tea tree oil.
- People distill the tea tree oil from the leaves of the Melaleuca alternifolia plant that is found in Australia. However, you cannot extract this oil from every type of tea tree.
- The tea tree oil possesses anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal properties, making it a great source for getting a lot of health benefits.
- You can treat athlete’s foot, contact dermatitis, acne, or head lice using tea tree oil.
- Swallowing tea tree oil can be harmful to your health.
What Are The Uses And Benefits Of Tea Tree Oil?
For the last few years, researchers have been working and researching the uses and benefits of the tea tree oil. It is all happening due to the fact that it has many healing benefits that can treat multiple skin conditions. Some of the benefits are:
- You can use this oil as a sanitizer that helps you prevent cold, flu, and other germ-borne diseases.
- It has the power to kill or repel insects. This is the reason why you can see tea tree oil as an ingredient of many repellents or insect killers.
- Using this oil as deodorant can help prevent bad odor and unnecessary sweat in armpits.
- Using this oil with some coconut oil on cuts and burns can help in speedy recovery from injury.
- It helps in speedy wound healing by reducing inflammation and increasing white blood cell activity.
- Use tea tree oil with water to dilute it and make a mouthwash that can help fight bad breath and dental plaque.
- You can mix tea tree oil with vinegar or warm water to make a home-based cleaner and clean all types of stains.
- You can use it to ward off dandruff.
- The antifungal properties of tea tree oil may help alleviate symptoms of athlete’s foot.
- Tea tree oil contains compounds that help prevent the growth of mold on fruits and vegetables. Therefore, adding it to the water when rinsing can keep the fruits mold-free.
What is The Safest Method to Use Tea Tree Oil?
As we have discussed a number of key benefits of this oil, it is equally important to know about the side effects of this oil.
Tea tree oil is poisonous when taken internally. So, it may cause drowsiness, confusion, hallucinations, coma, and unsteadiness. In addition to these, it can also lead to weakness, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, blood cell abnormalities, and severe rashes.
Thus try to keep it away from pets and children. Second, try not to use the oil in or around the mouth as application of tea tree oil to the skin can cause an allergic reaction. Though tea tree oil is safe when used on adults’ skin, allergic reactions may occur in some people. Therefore, tea tree oil may be unsafe for young children and pets.
The Bottom Line
There is no doubt that tea tree oil can be helpful for a number of reasons. However, it can harm you if you use it excessively. It’s a cheap natural alternative to chemical-based skin and nail treatments. Also, you can use it as a personal care product and disinfectant, etc.
However, tea tree oil doesn’t have any magic that can do wonders overnight. In fact, some individuals may experience skin irritation or allergic reaction after using it. Therefore, you must get an allergy test result of your skin before applying tea tree oil on it. In case you are mildly allergic to it, you can then dilute it carefully to prevent further irritation.
Moreover, you can also buy products that are already blended with tea tree oil. This ensures you’re getting the right consistency. However, see a doctor if your symptoms do not clear up, become worse, or are severe. All in all, tea tree oil has many purposes and is an excellent source to gain many health benefits.