How to Make Your Own Thieves Oil

(This is the second part of the Legend of Thieves Oil)

This recipe shows you how to make your own Thieves Oil at home. This medieval five-essential oil blend is super easy to make with wholesome natural ingredients that are available from your kitchen pantry and your backyard.

And for a fraction of the cost of the commercial brands, you can have your own homemade Thieves Oil using natural and organic ingredients.

Here is a recipe that you can try out on a blissful Sunday afternoon.

Things You’ll Need to Make Thieves Oil

The utensils you will need are: a measuring cup, a fine-mesh strainer, and a medium-size pot. And of course, the five ingredients—cinnamon bark, whole dried cloves, eucalyptus, lemon, and rosemary.

You can probably forage the dried whole cloves and cinnamon bark from your well-equipped pantry. If not, these spices are readily available in Indian or any Asian grocery stores.

If you don’t already have a rosemary bush in the garden, these days many grocery stores sell the fresh herb. You can also buy a potted rosemary plant or sprigs of the culinary herb from the fresh veggies section in some supermarkets.

Organic lemons are readily available in most supermarkets these days. Those of you who live in a milder climate zone may even have a lemon tree in your backyard or your neighbor’s garden.

Fresh eucalyptus may not be so readily available. If you don’t live in Australia, the chances of finding a eucalyptus tree may be slim.

I got lucky to get some eucalyptus sprigs from the local florist.

However, you can always substitute this ingredient with a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil.  

Let’s get started with our homemade blend.

What You Will Need to Make Thieves Oil

• A glass or a stainless steel pot
• A strainer
• Potato peeler or knife
• Measuring cup (glass preferred)
• Glass jar(s)

The reason you would want to use a glass pot is because glass does not retain the aromatic fragrance of the spices and oils. You can also use a stainless steel pot. But, you would not want to use an earthenware pot unless you want the pot and your food to smell and taste like the thieves oil blend.

Here’s your homemade five-essential oil recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 pieces of cinnamon bark
• 1/2 cup of whole cloves
• Peel from two medium lemons
• 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or 4 drops of rosemary essential oil) 
• 4 cups of water (preferably filtered or spring water)
• 5 drops of eucalyptus essential oil (if you do not have free eucalyptus leaves)

Method

1. Peel lemon with a potato peeler or knife.
2. Place lemon peel, cinnamon bark, cloves, and rosemary in the pot with 4 cups of water.
3. Cover pot and bring mixture to a boil over high heat. 
4. Lower the heat and let mixture simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Then turn off the heat source before adding 5 drops of eucalyptus oil and 4 drops of rosemary oil (if you cannot get fresh ingredients).
6. Let mixture cool before straining the aromatic brew.
7. Store concoction in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid.

If you prefer the energy-saving way, you can turn off the fire after the mixture boils. Then let the herbal concoction sit to infuse for a couple of hours before storing it in glass jars.

Recycle used ingredients

Remember not to throw out the strained ingredients. Simply store the used ingredients in a glass jar and keep the jar in the refrigerator until you are ready to make another batch of thieves oil. You can reuse the ingredients to make another two to three batches of thieves oil. Simply add fresh lemon peel from one lemon each time. 

The bonus for making your own five-essential oil blend is having your kitchen and entire house fill with the warm and refreshing scent of the herbs and spices. Another fruitful outcome is that it will make a splendid gift for your environment and health-conscious friends.

Uses for Thieves Oil

While I make no claims, I can share with you how to use the homemade thieves oil blend for a variety of cleaning jobs around your home.

• All-purpose spray: Mix 2 tablespoons of your homemade thieves oil blend with 1 cup or 8 ounces of water. You can increase these amounts according to the size of your spray bottle.

For my home, I make several bottles of the all-purpose Thieves Oil spray. I keep one under the kitchen sink for wiping the countertop, tabletop, stove, microwave oven, and refrigerator doors and handles. In winter, I have one near the pellet stove to keep the glass on the stove door sparkling clean. And of course, keeping one in each bathroom is a good idea.

• Glass surfaces: The five-oil blend works like magic on mirrors, window and sliding glass, keeping the surfaces sparkling clean. The secret is to add a quarter cup of vinegar to the spray bottle for glass surfaces. However, with the vinegar added in the spray, it is best to avoid using it on wooden surfaces.

• Dish detergent: Another favorite way of using the blend is for hand-washing dishes. Mix 4 tablespoons of the five-oil blend with 2 cups of water, 1/2 teaspoon of any brand of dishwashing liquid, and about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. You can store the mixture in a squirt bottle. This amount usually lasts about two weeks for me.

Besides my dishes and glassware coming out sparkling clean, using the homemade thieves oil blend makes cleaning a lot easier for me. It’s making an environment-friendly choice and helping to reduce the use of chemical substances and toxins around children and pets.

If you have other ingenious ways of using the Thieves Oil, please share with me.