Bacteria and germs are a part of day to day life. They're everywhere, they live on your skin, in your home and even in your food. Some is mostly harmless, some we've built up strong natural defences over years of exposure. But every now and then a virus or bacteria strain can get the best of us. With the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic amongst us, it's more important than ever to protect ourselves from such viruses.

Nature itself developed natural tools to fight all sorts of viruses, bacteria and fungi since nature itself existed. The plants essential oils come from are also susceptible to these pesky micro-organisms - so they created their own natural antibacterial and antiviral defences which we can use too. Many essential oils are well known for their natural antibacterial cleaning properties. Countless tests have been carried out by labs across the world that shows how effective they can be at killing germs. Clearly essential oils are not 100% effective against against all microbes but some are better than others and they can be used as an eco-friendly ingredient to help clean our homes.

The list below is a guide to some essential oils regarded to be naturally effective against microbes.

Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis)

Known effective properties: Antibacterial, Antiviral, Antifungal.

Eucalyptus Globulus

Known effective properties: Antibacterial, Antiviral.

Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi)

Known effective properties: Antibacterial, Antiviral.

Cinnamon Leaf (Cinnamomum zeylanicum)

Known effective properties: Antibacterial, Antiviral, Antifungal.

Petitgrain (Citrus aurantium)

Known effective properties: Antibacterial, Antiviral, Antifungal.

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