Where Fir Oil Earns Its Place, Room by Room

Walk through a house with a bottle of fir oil and you will find it has a place in almost every room. It is a scent oil first and foremost: crisp, resinous and evergreen. Here is where it fits best, room by room, with the little bit of arithmetic that keeps each use easy.

Fir Needle Essential Oil bottle

Fir Needle Essential Oil

Our own Fir Needle Essential Oil, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.

From $10.99

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The entryway and the closets

This is the simplest use and one of the nicest. A drop on a cotton pad or a paper strip, tucked into a coat closet, a shoe shelf or beside the front door, greets people with a woodsy note. No heat, no water and no mist are involved, and the pad can be taken away whenever you like. Our guide to a tree-scented house ranks the options from gentlest to strongest.

The living room

A diffuser, a simmer pot or a scented candle can all carry fir. Dose matters more than the recipe here, and small amounts go a long way; our diffuser guide shows how few drops you need. A simmer pot adds heat and hot water, so read the simmer pot post before you start. The ASPCA suggests avoiding diffusers around birds, and says short use in a secured area is not likely to be a concern for generally healthy dogs and cats, so pets are worth a thought in any room where you diffuse. An artificial tree is a lovely place for a few drops too, covered in our artificial tree post.

The kitchen and the cleaning cupboard

Fir is a fine scent for a homemade floor or surface cleaner, and that is how we think of it: fragrance for a cleaner, not a disinfectant. In the US, the EPA's list of minimum-risk pesticide ingredients (40 CFR 152.25) names cedarwood, peppermint, clove and others, but not fir oil, and products on that list may not claim to control germs that affect human health. So the sensible plan is to enjoy the scent and rely on a labelled product when you need to disinfect. The cleaner post has the details.

The bathroom

Soap and shower steamers both suit fir. The scent in soap can fade, which our soap scent post looks at honestly, and steamers carry scent straight to the face, so the steamer post says who may prefer to skip them.

The craft bench

This is where fir really gets to show off. Candles and wax melts work by weight, not by drops, as in our candle order of work, and a reed diffuser is a quiet way to scent a room, with the load worked out in our reed diffuser guide.

On skin, diluted

Beard oils, body oils and lotion bars are lovely with a little fir, as long as it is diluted. The Tisserand Institute gives ranges as a percentage of the finished product: 0.2% to 1% for sensitive skin, 0.5% to 1.2% for the face, 1% to 3% for body products and 2% to 4% for wash-off products, and says never to apply essential oil undiluted. Our own guidance is 0.5% to 2% in a carrier oil, with a patch test first. A worked example: in 30 g of beard oil, 1% is 0.3 g of fir, about six drops at the density of about 0.924 on our certificate and the rough convention of 20 drops to the millilitre. The American Academy of Dermatology describes a simple patch-test method for skin care products, and a dermatologist can help with any reaction that will not settle. Our beard oil post has the full recipe.

What to look for elsewhere

We sell fir oil as a fragrance oil for external use, and that is all we offer it for. It is not for swallowing, and anything to do with health, sleep, teeth or pets belongs with a doctor, dentist or veterinarian. The carrier oils, waxes, wicks and soap bases that most of these projects need come from a craft or supply shop; we sell only the fir needle oil.

Start with the easy rooms, like the entryway, and add the others as your confidence grows.

Fir Needle Essential Oil bottle

Fir Needle Essential Oil

Fir Needle Essential Oil from our own shop, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.

From $10.99

Shop Now →

Sources & Further Reading