It’s imperative to know how to get essential oil off the skin safely and at what point of the process to reach for the soap and water. Clue - It’s not first, as you might expect. The first thing we need to do is dilute the essential oil before we wash it off with soap and water. We need to dilute the essential oil with carrier oil, even the Olive Oil you use for cooking will do. Dive in and find out how to get essential oil off the skin safely…. And, you never know you might even get some tips about how to protect your furniture and your surfaces too!
Let’s just begin by taking the shame out of this one. We all have accidents and spill oil sometimes, and also everyone’s skin changes. So you might sometimes use an essential oil you have used a hundred times before, but this time it feels itchy, sore, or even worse burns. When this happens, it is important to know how to get essential oil off the skin safely.
Do Not Use Soap…yet!
I think that if you spill essential oils on your skin, it’s always going to be instinctive to reach for soap, and sadly, this is the advice that dominates the first page of search engines. This is the wrong thing to do, and it creates more trouble than good.
Remember that oil and water don’t mix, so trying to wash essential oils off is futile. Soap also spreads essential oils across the skin irritating a much bigger area.
Use Carrier Oil To Get Essential Oil Off The Skin
The first thing we need to do to the essential oil, sitting on our skin, is to DILUTE it. Diluting is how to get essential oil off the skin in the safest way possible. Therefore, we need to retrain our brains to reach for carrier oil. This could be your best organic Wheatgerm oil or the Olive oil on your kitchen counter. The best carrier oil for this is whatever you have closest to hand. Simply pour a generous amount of carrier oil over the essential oil spill on your skin and use a paper towel to clean most of the oils off. Ideally, do this over a sink or a protected surface.
Just be a little cautious of very strong carrier oils like Rosehip carrier oil of Sea buckthorn because even in a blend you would only use those at a dilution of 5% but if it is all you have to hand, it will be better than nothing. In the case of these particular carrier oils, the dilution is not really about diluting them because they are dangerously strong, more that they stain, are expensive, and are strong enough in those smaller dilutions.
How To Get Essential Oil Off Skin - The Next Soapy Step
It is only after you have fully diluted the essential oil with carrier oil and removed most of it, that you reach for the soap and warm water to wash the excess oils from your skin.
Make sure you wash your skin thoroughly to remove any excess oil and be sure to completely remove all soap residues as well.
Gently dry your skin thoroughly and monitor it for any irritation over the next 24 hours.
This is how to get essential oil off the skin in a way that dilutes, disperses, and removes the essential oil safely.
If you seem to have a significant level of irritation, seek immediate medical advice, taking the clearly labeled container with you. Minor irritations should settle within a few days, but use your common sense. If you are worried, seek professional medical advice.
Quick Recap Of How To Get Essential Oil Off Skin Safely:
- Protect surfaces or work over a sink
- Dilute with a carrier oil
- Remove excess with a cloth or paper towel
- Wash with hot, soapy water and rinse off
- Dry gently, but thoroughly
- Monitor for irritation
- Seek medical help if significant irritation occurs
- Take the clearly labeled container with you
How To Get Essential Oil Smell Off Skin
Why is it that when we are looking for how to get essential oils off the skin it is always the essential oils that you aren’t keen on, that you spill on your clothes or skin? And why does it seem like they are going to smell FOREVER? It’s never the oils you love, is it?
If your skin still smells of essential oil after you have followed the steps above. The answer is simple, there are still essential oils on your skin and/or body hair. You simply need to repeat the process until the smell is gone.
For those of you who have skin that will take anything you can throw at it:
- You can try mixing a bit of Baking Soda with Lemon juice, rubbing it gently into the area, and washing it off thoroughly in warm soapy water.
If you have sensitive skin or acne-prone skin:
- Stick to a carrier oil and maybe a slightly stronger soap. It’s better to have a slight reaction to soap than undiluted essential oils sitting on your skin.
Did You Get Essential Oil On Your Surfaces Too?
I figured since you are looking at how to get essential oil off the skin you may have some on your surfaces too.
It’s easily done, I’ve done it more than once and no doubt will again! My last spill of Kaffir Lime essential oil on my desk was fairly glorious and smelt amazing. Many months later, I still have the paper towel that I used to clean it up. It’s sealed, partially, in a ziplock bag in my sock drawer. My socks smell great and the oil didn’t go to waste after all. Huzzah!
How To Clean Up Essential Oil Spills On Surfaces
Again, just like cleaning up essential oil spills on the skin, if you spill essential oils on your surfaces, you want to dilute them first.
This is especially important if your surface is porous and can hold onto undiluted essential oil. However, porous surfaces tend to stain easily, so we need to be cautious here with what we use to remove the stain and work quickly.
We can choose to use carrier oil here or a dispersing agent like Dish Soap or Washing Detergent.
Carrier Oil Method of Stain Removal
This is not suitable for very porous surfaces, as you will just create a larger oil stain!
Wearing protective gloves, pour a small amount of carrier oil over the essential oil spill and blot up the excess oil with an absorbent clean cloth or some paper towel. Absorbent cloths, like cotton dusters and microfibre cloths, will remove more oil in a quicker time. They can also be washed easily in the washing machine.
Once blotted, clean with hot soapy water and dry the surface well. Repeat if necessary.
Dispersant Method of Stain Removal
This is best if you have a porous surface like wood.
Wear protective gloves and blot up any excess essential oils. Then add a few drops of undiluted dish soap and work into the essential oil. Add warm water and create a good lather, wipe off, and rinse with clean hot water. Repeat if necessary.
Porous surfaces may need more than one wash and rinse with hot soapy water, try some White Vinegar if it seems persistent.
Remember, the key to removing any kind of essential oil from a surface is to dilute it and then disperse it in some way with a dispersal agent like soap, vinegar, or alcohol.
The Final Word On How To Get Essential Oil Off Skin
If you want to know how to get essential oil off the skin safely, you now know to totally ignore Google and follow the knowledge instead.
Do NOT reach for the soap first, reach for a carrier oil or a cooking oil first and dilute that essential oil right away. Wipe as much off as you can with a cotton cloth or paper towel.
Then, and only then, should you reach for the soap. Use plenty of soap and hot water to clean your skin meticulously. If you can still smell it, it's still there, so give it another good go to remove all the essential oil.
Remember to monitor your skin carefully for the next 24-48 hours and seek medical attention if you develop a serious irritation. Correct and thorough cleaning should mitigate this though!
If you have a major whoopsie and want to know how to get essential oil off your skin, you may also be interested in next week's article - How To Get Essential Oil Out Of Clothes. Keep your eyes peeled for that.
