I first came across Four Thieves when someone on Instagram mentioned they burned it to help with the mould in their house. Living in a cold and damp house myself, I am never not on the lookout for some sort of miracle cure for the long winter of nasal drips we face as a result.

When looking into it further, I discovered that it was so named because apparently graverobbers used it during the Plague to stop themselves from getting ill. Rather than the modern version of heavily distilled oils, historically it was an infused vinegar that contained a mix of wormwood, marjoram, sage and other aromatics.

Take three pints of strong white wine vinegar, add a handful of each of wormwood, meadowsweet, wild marjoram and sage, fifty cloves, two ounces of campanula roots, two ounces of angelic, rosemary and horehound and three large measures of camphor. Place the mixture in a container for fifteen days, strain and express then bottle. Use by rubbing it on the hands, ears and temples from time to time when approaching a Plague victim [from Gattefosse’s Aromatherapy, via Wikipedia].

While there hasn’t been much modern day research into the effectiveness of Four Thieves, there is some evidence that the individual aromatics protect against germs.

Modern day Four Thieves is usually either an essential oil blend of equal parts…

• cinnamon

• clove

• eucalyptus

• lemon

• rosemary

…or an infused vinegar.

We make a large batch of the infused vinegar in winter for cleaning. There is research the Four Thieves does stop some airborne bacteria and the individual oils contain a variety of antimicrobial properties. And while we haven’t particularly noticed a huge change in our house, I would say that it is by far the best smelling vinegar infusion we’ve ever made.

We will work through this and a few other spring cleaning tips in our March 12th Makealong: Natural Home