Sweet orange essential oil is a clean, fresh, sweet, fragrance that calls to mind the perfumed blossoms of the orange tree (Citrus sinensis) in spring. The luscious fruits of this tree taste like liquid sunshine in summer. Think of the heavier scents of blood orange, “orange spice” combinations with nutmeg and cinnamon, and orange pomanders studded with cloves for fall and winter. They’re amazing. In short, I love sweet orange oil.So many household cleaners contain orange oil that it has become a familiar, comforting smell all year round. Who doesn’t love the smell of a freshly-mopped floor? The smell is nearly synonymous with our ideas of clean. Sweet orange essential oil is antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-microbial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory, which is why it’s in our cleaners. If I were to make a list of the essential essential oils that everyone (witch and non-witch alike) should keep around the house, sweet orange essential oil would be close to the top of the list for its all-around usefulness.
12 Uses for Sweet Orange Essential Oil
1. Keep ants and bugs away.
Sweet orange essential oil is a natural pesticide. It kills ants and keeps the survivors from returning by wiping out any scent indicators that would lead them back. Swipe an oil-soaked cotton ball or cotton swab around the edges of your cabinets, drawers, pantry shelves and window sills. It can also be used to repel moths.
2. Make a refreshing DIY air freshener
A few drops of sweet orange essential oil added to water in a misting bottle helps put humidity back into the air. It also makes your room smell bright and clean. Aromatherapists consider sweet orange an uplifting fragrance of warmth and happiness that can help combat anxiety and depression. It can be used in candles, diffusers and wax warmers, potpourri, incense, and as a fabric refresher spray.
3. Boost your favorite DIY cleaning products
Orange oil is the main ingredient in dozens of popular cleaners. It has antiseptic and antibacterial properties. This oil is excellent at cutting through stubborn grease and posing as stain removers. It can be added to fabric softener crystals, furniture polishes, kitchen and bathroom cleaners. Use it to lift stains out of ceramic tile floor. When mixed with salt, it can clean and disinfect cutting boards and remove food odors.
4. Sweeten up your AC’s air
Just a few drops of sweet orange essential oil in your home’s heating vents can help circulate the scent through the house. I often put a few drops on a small cloth that I can tuck between the AC/heating vents of my car. The air streaming through it gets a little perfume added to it.
5. Remove tape and glue residue
Sweet orange essential oil is great at removing glue left behind by labels. Simply add a bit to the adhesive and rub with a cloth.
6. Relieve work stress + insomnia
Orange oil used in vapor therapy helps to relieve stress, is calming enough to help children fall asleep, and can ease colds and coughs.
7. Calm aching muscles and skin
As a massage oil, it soothes tired muscles, thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties. Added to a warm bath, body wash, or lotion, it helps dry or irritated skin, helps detoxify and purify complexion, and is believed to boost immunity. It is antiseptic and anti-microbial.
8. Increasing positive affirmations, intentions, and spells
With such a cheerful fragrance, I find that sweet orange essential oil works well when incorporated into any spellwork where a healthy, positive outcome is desired. Use it in work to attract new friends, improve health, give someone more confidence, etc.
9. An all-purpose spell ingredient
Orange oil, because I love the scent, is almost always in my house somewhere, but a candle in the exact color that I need or some obscure and/or expensive oil I’ve never heard of, usually, is not. I have found that sweet orange essential oil works as an excellent substitute for other oils, again, provided they are related to gaining something positive. Many times, when a spell calls for an orange-colored candle, I will substitute a white candle anointed with orange oil.
10. Building a healthy relationship
There are many love, lust and romance spells that include sweet orange oil, often mixed into the romantic couple’s massage oils. Orange oil is especially helpful if you are specifically asking for an emotionally healthy relationship, given its relation to health and wellness.
11. Protect the future of children, pregnant women, and those who have fallen ill
I always try to include some sweet orange essential oil in any spell involving children, pregnant women, or someone who has been ill, to set the intention that a healthy, happy life is ahead of them, with the oil symbolizing a bright and sunny future.
12. Ease emotional Pain
When someone is sad or depressed, try to put the scent around them as much as possible, and be sure to use it in any spell relating to easing someone’s emotional pain. Sweet Orange oil is best known for its power to uplift mood, to speed healing, and to create an air of warmth and joy. I think it may be the single most important ingredient in any spell that attempts to make someone happier, healthier, or more confident.
Learn other ways you can use different types of essential oils to enhance your home here!
Important things to remember about using sweet orange essential oil
- Orange oil is strong and can irritate your skin if used undiluted or without a carrier oil. If you use it on your skin, stay out of the sun for a little while, because it could cause a reaction. It is mildly flammable, so use a light touch when anointing candles with it. A little goes a long way.
- If someone you know is seriously depressed, no essential oil in the world can do what professionals can do. Help your loved ones get help. You can still soak their bedroom in Sweet Orange oil, but first, seek a medical professional.
Copyright 2018 Evelyn Cotton + Plentiful Eaarth / All Rights Reserved.
