I just finished reading e-newsletter from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, I was glad to see the recipes for cleaning products. I think it is a lot of fun to use essential oils for so many things. Essential oils can be very beneficial to your health, actually one oil can have a number of health and emotional benefits. To keep it safe and fun just follow these simple safety guidelines.

DO:

Always keep a little olive or jojoba oil handy, incase the essential oil causes discomfort.
Keep lids of essential oils on tight, they evaporate easily.
Keep bottles out of sunlight. Sunlight causes essential oils to break down.
Keep all essential oils out of reach of children.
If a child swallows an essential oil give them milk or honey.
Do a skin test; apply a small amount of essential oil to the inside of the elbow.
If an essential oil stings or burns apply any vegetable oil, olive, jojoba, even corn oil.
Keep essential oils out eyes, ears and away from mucous membranes.
Allow drops of essential oil to fall freely from the bottle with out touching either your skin or another container.
Educate yourself about individual essential oils before you use them! I highly recommend Essential Oil Desk Reference , it is loaded with information. My copy is getting worn out!

Epileptics and those with high blood pressure should consult their health care provider before using essential oils. Use caution with hyssop, fennel, basil, birch, nutmeg, rosemary, peppermint, sage, tarragon and Idaho tansy.
People with high blood pressure should avoid using sage and rosemary.
 

DO NOT:

DO NOT touch the orifice reducer (The little plastic thing inside the opening) or the dropper. The orifice reducer is designed to funnel the last little droplets back into the bottle, so if you touch it or allow it to touch another container then contaminates will get into your essential oil and it will go bad.
DO NOT try to wash an essential oil off with water; it will only spread on top of the water, instead use a vegetable oil, like olive.
DO NOT go into the sun for prolonged length of time after using citrus essential oils, they cause sensitivity to sunlight.
DO NOT use essential oils on pregnant women. (Most therapeutic grade essential oils are safe to use on pregnant women but it is better to be safe. I had one lady tell me she had a miscarriage because they used peppermint on her face during a facial. There is nothing in peppermint oil that as the ability to cause a miscarriage but she would not believe me!) 
DO NOT use essential oils in metal containers, unless it is stainless steal or a steamer unless specially designed for aromatherapy, because it will react with the metal parts and cause corrosion.
DO NOT use essential oils near open flames; some oils such as orange, fir, pine, and peppermint are potentially flammable.
DO NOT play Doctor. It is very tempting to suggest oils for other people's ailments but we can’t. You can refer them to reference books.

If you want to read more about essential oils visit my website: http://www.heavenlyessentialoils.com

Naomi