10 Powerful Tea Tree Essential Oil Benefits

Tea Tree’s Latin name is “Melaleuca alternifolia”.

Tea tree essential oil is a household name and it has many different uses. AromaFoundry actually states that it’s the “jack-of-all trades as far as home remedies go”.

Tea tree oil has a plenty of uses and benefits because it’s an antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiseptic, balsamic, fungicide, expectorant, antiviral, and has a lot of stimulant properties in it.

Tea tree is the king when it comes to treating infections, keeping you healthy, improving your oral health, etc.

In many countries, tea tree is known as melaleuca oil or ti tree oil. The essential oils are extracted from the leaves. The tree is found on the Northeast coast of New South Wales and also in the Southeast in Queensland, Australia.

This oil has a fresh odor and its color is either pale yellow, colorless, and clear.

It’s an essential oil that is pretty cheap and I use it all the time to clean with.  See this article on cleaning with essential oils. Typically, I buy tea tree essential oil from NOW because I can get 4 ounces of it for pretty cheap.

10 Health Benefits of Tea Tree Essential Oil

Down below I am going to show you many ways you can use Tea tree essential oil for any problems or issues you might be having. This is an ongoing list and I will be updating it as I see fit.

Tea tree can be toxic if taken orally. It can be a dermal irritant and you should conduct a patch test prior to using it.  Always use it with a carrier oil.

Tea Tree essential oil mixes well with basil, bergamot, black pepper, cinnamon, clove, clary sage, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, geranium, myrrh, nutmeg, rosewood, rosemary, peppermint, and thyme.

Before, I get started in showing you the health benefits of tea tree I want to show you why this essential oil is so good at killing germs.  It has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and antiviral properties in it.  These help our body ward off bacteria and viruses.

Antibacterial

Tea tree oil can actually destroy the cell walls of the bacteria. Tea tree oil has been used for this for centuries.  It being an antibacterial is one of the best things is most known for.

Anti-Inflammatory

Tea tree oil has a high content of terpinen-4-ol, which is great for reducing inflammation. When testing was done, they found that it worked well to reduce mouth swelling in animals and, when put directly on the skin of humans, it helped reduce inflammation that was deliberately caused by histamines.

Antifungal

There was testing done with tea tree oil and a few things were discovered. For starters, they saw that it did a great job killing off yeast and fungi. It worked really well killing candida albicans, which is a type of yeast that usually affects the mouth, genitals, skin, and throat. They also found that the high levels of terpinen-4-ol worked well to kill the strains that were immune to other medications.

Antiviral

Tea tree oil is great for treating viruses. Part of this might be because of the high content of terpinen-4-ol. It helps inhibit parts of the fungus and stop the growth.

Ok, now that we have got all the technical scientific stuff out of the way I am going to show you how you can use it to benefit your health.

House Hold Cleaner

Tea tree essential oil is awesome for cleaning. It’s really one of the best essential oils you can use for cleaning. Plus, a lot of store-bought cleaning products contain a lot of chemicals which are hazardous to our health. I have already gone over the properties that tea tree essential oil contains.

Here is a simple recipe for cleaning:

• 20-25 drops of tea tree.
• 5 drops of lemon.
• 3/4 cup water.
• 1/2 cup of white vinegar.

Use a plastic spray bottle to mix everything in.  Shake before using it.

Hand Sanitizer / Hand Soap

Don’t get me wrong store-bought hand sanitizers are great for killing germs.  They do contain chemicals, though.  However, if you make your own hand sanitizer it’s all natural and helps your body fight off germs just as well.

There has been a study that shows it kills bacteria and viruses that cause E. coli, pneumonia, and even influenza.

Topically. Add tea tree essential oil to your hand soap. I recommend a 3-5% ratio.

If you want to make your own hand sanitizer you can use this recipe:

• 7-10 drops of lavender.
• 30-35 drops of tea tree.
• 1 tablespoon of witch hazel or vodka.
• 8 oz of aloe vera gel.
• 1/2 teaspoon of Vitamin E oil

It’s recommended that you use a glass pump container.  Plastic can be used but essential oils are powerful and they can eat through the plastic.

Acne

With acne affecting almost 50 million Americans, it can be hard to find something that works.

It cost a lot of money to see a dermatologist to help treat your acne. The average price for a dermatologist visit is between $100 to $170. Some visits can even cost upwards of $200.  A lot of the times they will prescribe you something to treat your acne and it will make your skin extremely dry. It can take several visits and many different medications to treat your acne if you go to a dermatologist.

Tea tree essential oil has been shown to be as effective as benzoyl peroxide, which is one of the most common OTC acne medications.

Topically. Wash your skin with castile soap (I recommend Dr. Bronner’s). It’s important that you don’t scrub your face. Just gently wash your face. Do not apply tea tree oil without a carrier oil. Make sure you do a patch skin test before using tea tree. Then apply your acne paste to your face 1-2 times a day.

• 4 teaspoons (20 ml) aloe vera gel.
• 20 drops of tea tree. (5% dilution, can do 10 drops for 2.5% dilution).

If you don’t want to use aloe vera gel you can use coconut carrier oil, natural raw honey, or olive oil.

Use a cotton ball or Q-Tip to dab your pimples or problematic area. You can leave the mixture on overnight or a couple hours. If you don’t want to leave it on at least let it stay on your face for 10-15 minutes.

I have written an entire article on acne and essential oils here.

Contact Dermatitis

This is a form of eczema that happens from coming into contact with an allergen or irritant. It was found that tea tree oil does well with contact dermatitis that comes from an allergen but not from an irritant. Also, keep in mind that tea tree oil can cause a reaction in some people.

Topically.  To use tea tree essential oil use a carrier like coconut oil (3-5% dilution).  Apply it to the problematic area.  Leave on the problematic area for 20-25 minutes before washing it off.

Mouthwash

While I’m not going to argue the fact that you need to brush your teeth twice a day. There isn’t a dentist on the planet that wouldn’t tell you otherwise. Tea tree essential oil can be used as a chemical-free mouthwash. There are several studies that show tea tree can help prevent tooth decay and bad breath.

Topically. Mix 1-2 drops of tea tree in a cup of warm water. Swish it around your mouth for 30-45 seconds. Make sure you don’t swallow it. Tea tree can be toxic if ingested.

Insect Repellent

Want to keep insects like flys and mosquitoes away? Of course, you do no one likes bugs annoying you and biting you. Tea tree can be used as a natural bug spray.

Topically. Use a spray and spray your skin or the area where you have problems with bugs. Use 4 oz of water with, 2 tablespoons of vodka or rubbing alcohol, 4 tablespoons of white vinegar, 60 drops of tea tree essential oil. You can use 5 drops of peppermint and citronella if you want, too.

Deodorant

Store bought deodorants contain hazardous chemicals. A lot of people are actually shocked to hear that sweat does not smell. However, the secretion from your sweat glands combined with bacteria is what has an odor. Your armpit area has a large number of glands which is why your armpit smells. This creates body odor. Tea tree essential oil can be used as a natural deodorant.

Topically. You can use a pea size of the natural deodorant down below and use it like you would with store bought deodorant.

• 3 Tbsp Coconut Oil.
• 3 Tbsp Shea Butter.
• 1/4 cup baking soda.
• 1/4 cornstarch or Arrow Root Powder.
• 1 Tbsp Bee’s Wax.
• 25-30 drops of Tea Tree.
• 5 drops of lavender (optional)

Melt the coconut, bee’s wax, and shea butter with a double-boiler. Once they are melted turn the heat off and add baking soda and cornstarch. Put your drops of essential oil in. Then, pour your contents into an old deodorant stick, mason jar, tin can, etc. Let the mixture sit overnight and use when needed.

Minor Cuts & Scrapes

Tea Tree essential oil can be used for minor cuts and scrapes. When your skin is broken germs can easily enter the bloodstream. This can lead to infections. Tea tree will actually treat your cuts and is an antiseptic which kills bacteria.

Topically. Make sure you clean the cut with water and soap. Apply one drop of tea tree oil with a teaspoon of coconut carrier oil. Cover the wound with a bandage and reapply 2 times a day until a scab has formed.

Head Fungus / Lice / Dry Scalp

Another great use of tea tree oil is to treat head fungus.   Dandruff is a common problem and people don’t like wearing dark clothes because little bits of skin fall on their clothes.  Also, if your head is itching it can make your dandruff problem worse.

For head lice, tea tree can be effective in killing lice.  This study shows that it was effective at killing lice during the nymph stage.

Not only can you clear up the fungus, dry scalp, and lice, but you can also help prevent it from coming back.  Tea tree oil is so powerful at protecting against fungus, dandruff, and kills head lice.

Topically.  To do so, you can put 1-2 drops of the tea tree oil in your shampoo and let it sit for 3-5 minutes before washing it out of your hair.  Additionally, you can make a dilution ratio between 3-5% using jojoba as a carrier oil and keep it on your hair for 20-30 minutes at a time.

Nail Fungus/ Athletes Foot

Nail fungus is one of the things that are extremely hard to cure.  But, with tea tree essential oil it’s easy to help.  It’s often called athletes foot.  It can be very embarrassing and a lot of people are self-conscious to take their shoes off around people when they have athletes foot. Tea tree oil can help eliminate this fungus and get your nails back to normal.  As the video shows above Dr. Axe’s mother struggled with it and nothing worked.  However, tea tree oil did help.  Always make sure you are trimming your toenails and using a clean clipper, too.

Topically. Dilute your tea tree oil at 5% ratio. Use whatever carrier oil you want. Personally, I like sweet almond. Apply a dime-sized to your toenail. Let it sit on there throughout the day. You can apply it 2-3 times during the day.

Bath. You can soak your feet 3-5 times per week. Add about 5 drops of tea tree oil to a bucket of about 1 gallon of water. Let your feet soak for about 20-30 minutes.

Please let me know if you have any question down below about tea tree oil and I will be happy to answer them.