A month ago, the Damsel made peppermint oil and put it in a dark cupboard for the specified time. The Damsel hates waiting, but the time has come. Click here for the original post.
The Damsel was excited.. She’s not the kind of girl who opens presents early. So this morning she anxiously looked to see what had transpired inside that pint jar.
Ew! The leaves on top were yucky and smooshy looking. They were well-saturated with oil but not submerged. It had a strong minty, earthy odor.
She lifted off the top layer with a fork. Underneath the leaves looked more normal-colored. (Epic fail on the photo capturing that nice green color)
Now we need to strain this. Put some cheesecloth over a container (the Damsel used another pint jar). Instead of cheesecloth, you could use any small mesh strainer.
Pour it all in and let it drain. It’ll drip a while.
The liquid looks dark in the jar, but if you pour a little onto a spoon, you’ll see a deep golden color.
So now what do you do with the stuff?
The Damsel doesn’t feel good about tasting this or using it internally in any way, because it wasn’t made in a sterile environment, like canning peaches or something. So what can you do with it?
1. Put a few drops in the stream of water when you’re running a bath. The scent will invigorate you.
2. Ants seem to hate it. Fill a spray bottle with water and add 15 or so drops, and spray anywhere you don’t want ants. This is not to kill them, but to keep them away. They won’t cross the line. You can wipe down surfaces you don’t want ants on as well, like windowsills or counters.
3. For headaches, dab it on your forehead and temples, and have a nice lie-down. Is it the peppermint or is it the rest? Who knows? Who cares, if it works? Alternatively, sprinkle a few drops on a cold, damp cloth (not dripping) and lay across your eyes. Careful not to get it in your eyes, though.
4. Some folks say rubbing it on your feet will break a fever, especially in children. Or, put some in your footbath to add to its restorative action.
5. Mice. Yes. Dampen cotton balls with the oil and put where you think the mice are coming in. Spraying it on mouse-ridden areas will also help repel them for as long as the scent lasts.
6. 10 drops of oil per 2 ounces of water in a spray will keep you cool on a hot day outside, and will also repel insects. Spray at will, but don’t get it in your eyes.
7. And yes, it’s supposed to repel deer as well. Spray liberally and hope for the best. According to the internets, it works almost as well as tiger urine. The Damsel doesn’t want to think about acquiring tiger urine.
8. Make your own massage oil by adding as much as you like to skin-approved vegetable oil. Start with 5 drops per ounce.
What uses have you heard of? Leave a comment and get extra love from the Damsel.
acquiring tiger urine could make an interesting post!!!!
thanks for sharing the wisdom of the ages!
Peppermint oil, rubbed in the hands to warm it and breathed from said rubbed and cupped hands was my saving grace for nausea in pregnancy. I f you dare to ingest a bit, a few drops in water will settle the tum and aid in digestion.
I personally would like to compare peppermint oil with tiger urine. Really, I would.
Can’t wait for my oil to be ready in a month.
I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that this smells better to humans than tiger urine does.
Repels ants? Now, that can be useful in our area!
My mother loved peppermint scented soap. Do you think adding some of this oil to your recycled soap recipe would produce a peppermint scented liquid soap? (assuming that you are not using scented soaps, of course)
So this may seem weird but at the hospital I knew a nurse who swears that putting a drop or two of peppermint oil in the “hat” in a toilet makes people urinate. sometimes when a patient has had a catheter in they have a difficult time urinating. Dunno if it works or if its just a magic feather. I’ll have to try it sometime.
Does anyone know of any research being conducted regarding the use of peppermint extract in stimulating postoperative voiding? I once ran across information of a graduate student conducting this (probably about 6 months ago or so) and now am unable to find this informtion again. I am a Registered Nurse interested in helping conduct research on this topic. Please contact me at kiwansky@yahoo.com. Thanks.
I haven't heard about this, but maybe someone will contact you.
I knew about the ant trick and used it often. Most recently, though, I have been adding just a drop of organic mint oil to water bottle I take to work with me. A billionaire friend of ours introduced us to mint flavored water afew years ago. It is between 1.39 and 2.25 to buy a personal bottle. It’s MUCH cheaper to use my own filtered water and a drop of oil. When I have guests I use a pitcher, a couple of drops, and float some leaves or use ice cubes with mint leaves in them. Very refreshing!
As a bonus, it is good for your digestion, keeps your breath fresh, and you want to keep sipping throughout the day instead of guzzling.
Hi!
I know this is a fairly old post, but thought I’d comment to let you know…
If you use vodka instead of the oil, it’ll be just like commercial flavoring and perfect for candies, cookies and cakes. You’d pretty much use it just like vanilla flavoring.
Plus, no worries about spoilage, since there’s all that alcohol, so you’d be fine using it for upset stomach, etc.
That might work! I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know what the addition of oil to soap would be, but it’s worth a try, right? After all, the leftover soap is free, so you’re not risking much.