Tea Tree Oil for Dandruff

Why use tea tree oil for dandruff? Because, the majority of dandruff cases are caused by a scalp specific fungus that causes the skin of your scalp to start flaking. The fungus that causes dandruff is specifically a yeast, one that feeds on sebum or sebaceous secretions.

The most common treatment for dandruff is the use of specialized shampoos however many of them contain strong chemicals in relatively small amounts. The chemicals are designed to help reduce or eliminate the fungus or yeast infection.

There are natural alternatives and home remedies available for dandruff.

A good tea tree oil dandruff shampoo may be just as effective or even more effective than the usual over-the-counter chemical preparations available at your pharmacy or drugstore.

The Best Thing About Dandruff Is...

I know, I'm unusual but I think it's pretty interesting how this little yeast or fungus can take the sebum from your head and convert the triglycerides in sebum into a pretty neat little lipid byproduct called oleic acid.

Oleic acid is a model unsaturated fatty acid that's often used as replacement for animal fat in restricted diets and also in the manufacturing of egg and butter substitutes. It's not the metabolizing of the sebaceous secretions that causes the dandruff specifically though.

What actually happens is that the fungus penetrates the top layers of skin and causes an inflammatory response or irritation. It's that irritation that causes the skin flaking that appears on your clothes.

So, although the yeast produces a useful byproduct, I wouldn't encourage anyone to start eating dandruff flakes on their corn flakes in the morning to get those extra Omega 9 oils into your diet.

How to Use Tea Tree Oil for Dandruff

What dandruff shampoo works best? In some studies using a 5% solution of tea tree oil significantly reduced dandruff and test subjects with mild to moderate cases of dandruff. The results were based on a four week study typically.

You can make your own 5% solution of tea tree oil medicated anti dandruff shampoo to use on a daily basis, using a simple formula.


For each 32 ounces of shampoo use 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil

For each 1000 mL of shampoo use one tea spoon of tea tree oil

A rough formula for getting the approximate amount of tea tree oil per milliliter of shampoo is to divide the number of milliliters by two and add the results in drops to the shampoo.

For instance, if you have 1000 mL of shampoo, divided by two, the result is 50 mL.

You would add about 50 drops of tea tree oil to create a roughly 5% solution. There are about 60 drops of tea tree oil per teaspoon, so you can see that this will give you a close approximation.

Use this tea tree oil for dandruff shampoo daily, and if you're like most of the folks in the studies in about four weeks you to may find your dandruff gone completely. You may find that your favorite shampoo might just be the most effective shampoo for dandruff once you've added a little tea tree oil.

Rainwater Herbal Tea Tree Oil for Dandruff Shampoo 18 fl oz: K