Our Top 5 Travel Uses for Coconut Oil

Since moving to Spain and traveling more, we’ve only expanded on our travel uses for coconut oil. That didn’t seem possible since even before we were fanatics about the stuff. We even originally thought that living in Europe would mean having to pay more for coconut oil and that it wouldn’t be convenient to travel with. Yet, what’s the saying…? Where there’s a will, there’s a way…? Well for us, where we are, you can bet there will be coconut oil. Gist is, it’s great stuff, even to travel with. So rather than believe you have to go without when traveling, here’s our top 5 travel uses for coconut oil.

Good to Know First About Travel Uses for Coconut Oil

The best coconut oil to use is organic extra virgin coconut oil. This is unrefined, meaning the oil is extracted from fresh coconut meat, not dried coconut. Living in Spain, it’s referred to as ‘crudo‘ which translates to raw, and the jar will say organic and/or ‘ecologica certificada‘. We think it’s actually the only coconut oil that should be used in regards to body application and ingestion.

The physical state of coconut oil changes according to the temperature. At room temperature, or below 75F, it will be solid and you need to dig it out with your finger or a spoon. When it’s warmer than that, it becomes a liquid. Either way, we store it in glass jars. When we travel, we’ll put a smaller amount into a smaller, travel-size jar that has a good lid and put the entire container into a plastic ziploc bag. We have found that even with a tight lid on, it can tend to leak some when traveling in warm areas.

Travel Uses for Coconut Oil | #1 – Natural Skin Moisturizer

Using coconut oil as a skin moisturizer has been around for a long time. We can see why. It was actually Eric who first got Amalia to regularly use coconut oil on her face and even legs. Now we both use it daily on our face, legs, elbows…anywhere our skin is getting dry. Aside from how good our skin feels, we love that it’s a natural sun protectant. While it’s not as strong as official sunblock or waterproof (it’s only an average of SPF 4), it’s way healthier than most and truly works, especially for every-day use.

You may already know about the other awesome, natural benefits of it, so here’s just a quick run-down to refresh our memories:

• Contains good, saturated fats that keep the skin smooth and can reduce the appearance of pores.
• Capric/Caprylic/Lauric acid – it has this trio of fatty acids that contain strong disinfectant and anti-microbial properties. This protects against microbial infections that can enter through our pores or get into open wounds. Essentially, it’s a deep cleanser.
• Chock full of Vitamin E, which helps keep our skin from cracking and preventing wrinkles with its nourishing antioxidant properties.
• Can prevent premature aging of the skin thanks to its anti-aging properties.
• It’s loaded with healthy proteins that our bodies and skin need, externally and internally. It also contributes to cellular health and tissue repair.
• Coconut oil doesn’t become rancid, so it can work for a longer time on the skin and why it’s included in skin care products today.
• Is known to boost metabolism and great for the immune system.

How to Use Coconut Oil for the Skin

Travel Uses for Coconut Oil | #2 – Healthy Mouth by Oil Pulling

Sounds gross at first, but once you start, you don’t want to stop. This is the first part of our daily morning routine and it is so healthy for your mouth and even the rest of your body! Because when your mouth is healthy, your immune system is stronger and you’re less likely to get sick.

Our mouths actually house tons of bacteria. When we do oil pulling first thing in the morning (even before brushing our teeth), it literally pulls the bacteria out of our gums, tongue and mouth lining, that has surfaced and intensified throughout the night. Usually, this is just rinsed out with just a good brushing in the morning. But oil pulling actually pulls it out, disinfects, and reinforces. It breaks up and removes plaque from our teeth, kills bad breath and prevents cavities. And these are just a small handful of the many benefits to oil pulling. The reaction created from the oil and our saliva activates these positive bacteria-cleaning agents.

While there are several good oils that can be used for this, and that we’ve tried, we’ve come around to liking coconut oil the best. We think the taste is slightly better than others and it has all the powerful benefits in it that really clean the mouth. Here’s how you do it:

1. As soon as you wake up, first thing and before drinking or eating anything, put a spoon full of coconut oil in your mouth. Start on the smaller amount at first to see how much is good for you and because as you have it in your mouth, it increases with your saliva.
2. For 15 – 20 minutes swish it around in your mouth. We know – seems like a long time and unpleasant, but we find it actually creates a nice, quiet environment for the morning because we can’t talk. Amalia tends to use the time to meditate and Eric checks emails. You can get other things done like get your coffee started, make your bed, get dressed, start making breakfast…all sorts of things. Whatever you do though, make sure to not swallow it!
3. When time’s up, spit out the coconut oil into a well-lined trash can or somewhere outside in grass or dirt where no one will step on it later. If you don’t like those options and want to spit down a drain, make sure to run really hot water to wash it down. We recommend you DO NOT flush it down a toilet – over time it can line it with residue, making it even harder and yuckier to clean, and can clog the drain. If you get a look at it, you’ll see (especially at first) that the oil is dingy and sludgy from all the bacteria it’s pulled out of your mouth. Talk about seeing effectiveness!
4. Then rinse your mouth with warm water. From there, it can differ. Amalia likes to then brush her teeth, even before coffee and eating. Eric likes to have his coffee and then brush his teeth later.

Getting Creative with Oil Pulling

Our awesome friend Jeanne, and fellow travel-lover and expat in Spain, recently introduced us to making oil pulling…well, not really sure what it call them, but in this case they’re hearts!

She combines extract of Propolis oil and a healthy mouth oil (which usually have peppermint oil) with a good Organic extra virgin coconut oil, blending them together on the stovetop for a short time over low heat. Then she pours the liquid into a plastic chocolate mold, only filling them up half way because if they’re full size, it will be too much oil in your mouth. Once the mold is filled, place it on a plate to keep flat and place it in the fridge so they harden. Should take only half an hour and you can pop your little treats out and place them in a glass jar. Make sure to keep stored in the fridge.

The results are fantastic. The combination of oils are even more beneficial and healthy for our mouths, they improve the taste and are refreshing and even smell good. Most of all, they make it even more convenient and enjoyable to maintain the practice of oil pulling daily. The treats are already the perfect size to just pop in your mouth and start swishing. To make it all, Jeanne found that here in Spain the chocolate mold is an inexpensive item that can usually be found in a dollar store (which here are referred to as ‘chino stores’ or Chinese Stores) and the other extracts can be found in a natural food store or in a Pharmacy.

These are great for having at home and can still be good for traveling, just watch out about them changing their form with those warmer temperatures.

Travel Uses for Coconut Oil | #3 – Natural Hair Tonic

Yep! Even for the hair. We’ve already covered so much about the goodness of coconut oil, so we won’t repeat that here. What’s important to keep in mind about using it for your hair is that, once again, less is more. When applying it, start out with a bit more than what you would put on your face, but rub it around the palm of your hands and in your fingers. Then run through your hair. We recommend you start with the ends and underpart of the hair, then work your way around to the top, back and front of your hair. Be careful to not apply too much to the top and front because it will leave your hair looking slick and oily.

Also make sure to rub the coconut oil in your hands if it’s starting out in solid form. You’ll want it to be liquid form before you get it in your lovely tresses. We apply it just after washing our hair, when it’s lightly towel dried but still damp. Then there are also times that we’ll add a little bit to it when it’s dry, usually just to the ends if they seem dry.

We’ve noticed that coconut oil seems to do best in thicker hair types versus thin and very straight hair. But even in those cases, it can be beneficial to massage a little into your scalp or rub it into the ends of the hair, especially longer hair.

Travel Uses for Coconut Oil | #4 – Conditioning and Cleaning Leather Goods

Rub a clean, microfiber cloth with some coconut oil and go to town on those nice leather boots or shoes of yours. When traveling, you can really kick up road dust, mud and we don’t want to think of what else, happily wondering city streets, country trails, airports and stations. And same applies for that treasured leather briefcase handed down to you or the Italian Leather purse you bought while visiting Florence.

Just make sure that you first brush off residue if the item is really dirty, like mud-caked boots. Do this first round of cleaning as you know best for your particular kind of leather good. Then apply and work in the coconut oil with the before mentioned cloth (nothing cotton or that will leave residue), working the oil into the leather and dry cracks with circular motions.

Not only does the coconut oil properties act as a great cleaning agent, but it also wonderfully conditions the leather, helping it last longer. Just make sure that you’re item is made of real leather and first test this process on a small area to make sure you like the result. Lastly, while it doesn’t work as a waterproofing, we don’t think it strips away already existing waterproofing, since it is not a solvent on other oils. Still, double check that one for yourself.

Travel Uses for Coconut Oil | #5 – Cooking and Ingestion

Ah…finally, the use of coconut oil that is traditional and normal. Or so you thought. Cooking with coconut oil is just what it means. Use it in place of olive oil and most certainly vegetable oil (which is horrible for you by the way). Great for stir fries, meats, veggies, and definitely fish, it’s also quite affordable in a lot of parts of the world.

The places where we’ve encountered it to be really expensive are most areas of the United States and, surprisingly enough, in Costa Rica. Yeah, Costa Rica makes great coconut oil and it’s one of it’s biggest exports, yet crazy expensive there. We think that’s pretty messed up.

Otherwise, wherever you’re traveling to nowadays, chances are you’ll be able to find good coconut oil to cook with. And even when you don’t cook with it, coconut oil is great to ingest for its amazing internal benefits. Seriously. While some people swear by swallowing a straight spoonful, you can also blend it into smoothies or stir into yogurt along with honey and granola. There’s even great recipes out for drinking it with your coffee! Eric does that quite often.

What’s one of your favorite travel uses for coconut oil?

It’s pretty amazing, all the benefits of coconut oil. And funny, how one item can go from being used on our faces to polishing up our leather boots. We think that for the traveling lifestyle we have, it’s our favorite, and most important, multi-use item. So let us know about ways that you use it that maybe we didn’t mention here. As you can see, we love the stuff so most likely we’ll enjoy using your coconut oil use too!