Can you use water as a carrier for essential oils?

Essential oils are highly concentrated, volatile substances. In order to be used safely, they should be diluted in another safe substance, like water, a skin care oil or an unscented lotion or liquid soap.


Can you use regular water with essential oils?

The instructions included in many of today's essential oil diffusers recommend that you use tap water in your diffuser because it includes natural minerals that help the water diffuse into a vapor better than distilled water.

What can be used as a carrier for essential oils?

Carrier oils are often plant-based, made from seeds and nuts. Some of the most common include sweet almond, cold-pressed coconut, grapeseed, jojoba, and olive oil.


What is the water to essential oil ratio?

Most essential oil diffusers use 100 ml of water.

The recommended amount of essential oil for a diffuser with a capacity of 200 ml is 6-9 drops. Large size essential oil diffusers need around 200 drops of essential oil.

Can I diffuse essential oil with water?

A general best practice is to diffuse roughly 3 to 5 drops of essential oil per 100 mL of water in an ultrasonic diffuser and 5 to 15 drops of essential oil in a nebulizer depending on the note of the oil; however, it's always best to follow your device's instructions and experiment with your own amounts.


Essential Oil Tips - How I Add Essential Oils to Water



What essential oils are safe to put in water?

Basil, lemongrass, cilantro, ginger, wild orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime and even lavender transform water into a vehicle for relaxation and hydration (and the two are related). Here's how you do it. Fill a large bottle with water, then add one drop — ONE DROP — of this stuff, cap tightly and shake well.

What happens when you mix essential oils with water?

Essential oils and water do not mix. So if you are using essential oil in a water-based product, you will not end up with a well-blended mixture. Instead, you end up with the essential oil floating around in the water base.

Can essential oils be water soluble?

Essential oils are the essence of a plant created via steam distillation, cold compression or CO2 extraction. It is hydrophobic and they don't dissolve with water at all. As essential oils are lighter than water, and hence float on water.


Are essential oils safe when diluted?

Essential oils require dilution to prevent adverse reactions. As a general rule, you should keep concentration levels of essential oils below 5 percent. Diluting at 1 percent is equivalent to adding 6 drops of essential oil to 1 ounce of carrier oil. Guidelines for safe concentrations vary by age and health condition.

Can I put a drop of peppermint oil in my water?

Summary. As well as inhaling and applying peppermint oil topically, you can drink it by adding it to herbal teas or hot or cold water.

Can you run a diffuser with just water?

“Yes, you can use a diffuser without essential oil. Just add water into the diffuser, so it can works as a mini humidifier to enable you stay away from dry skin. If you just add water into the diffuser, purified water is a good choice. With essential oil, it's a diffuser; without oil, it also can work as a humidifier.”


What is the best way to dilute essential oils?

Mixing essential oils with a carrier oil is arguably the most popular way to dilute essential oils. There are many different carrier oils on the market, but the most popular choices are jojoba oil, coconut oil and sweet almond oil, thanks to their holistic benefits and ease of access.

How many drops of essential oil per 1 oz of carrier oil?

A 1% dilution is generally considered safe for most essential oils. This means 5-6 drops of essential oil per ounce of carrier oil.

What happens if you don't dilute essential oils?

Essential oils are highly potent and have the potential to irritate skin if not used responsibly. Diluting essential oils prior to topical use helps minimize the risk of skin irritation and optimize the nature of the fragrance.


How do you use essential oils without carrier oil?

Undiluted or “neat” application is the use of essential oils applied directly to the skin without a carrier or base oil. In general, undiluted application is only applied in a specific localized area, most commonly for acute conditions, treatment work, or for reflex/acupressure work.

What is the best carrier oil to dilute essential oil?

As such, we recommend using mild carrier oils such as argan oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, apricot kernel oil, rosehip oil, and black seed oil. Most of these carrier oils contain powerful antioxidants that naturally works to give nourishing effect to the skin when mixed with essential oils.

Do all essential oils need a carrier oil?

A carrier oil is required to “carry” the essential oils by way of dilution before you can use them safely on the body. As you now know, applying essential oils neat to the body is not recommended. They must be diluted in a base oil before you can use them safely on the body. How do you choose a carrier oil?


Is bottled water distilled?

Bottled water usually undergoes filtration processes rather than distillation because it contains essential minerals that affect the taste and nutritional value of the water. Distilled water, on the other hand, is entirely pure H20 because distillation removes all of its impurities, including minerals.

What oils are soluble in water?

Oil does not dissolve in water so it is insoluble in water but floats on the surface of water.

What should not be mixed with essential oils?

Undiluted, In Most Circumstances

Because essential oils are so highly concentrated, using them straight-up can cause rashes and even burns. And mixing them with water isn't going to do the trick because, well, oil and water don't mix.


Is it OK to put essential oils directly on skin?

Essential oils have a variety of health benefits, from skin care to stress relief. The most common way to use essential oils is to inhale them, either directly out of the bottle or by using a diffuser or humidifier. You can also dilute essential oils with a carrier oil and apply it directly your skin.

How many drops of essential oil to put in carrier oil?

A good rule of thumb when seeking to make a 2% dilution using the by-the-drop method is to add 12 drops of essential oil to each fl. ounce (30 ml) of cold pressed carrier oil, lotion, vegetable butter or other natural lipid/moisturizer.

Can I use bottled water in my diffuser?

For all of our Ultrasonic Diffusers, we recommend using tap or bottled water because the natural minerals in the water allow the oil to cling to the particles and disperse further into the air. Water temperature can have an effect on mist output, too!