There are no clinical trials of mullein for smokers or for people who vape. The European Medicines Agency lists mullein flower as a traditional herbal remedy for the sore throat that comes with a dry cough, on the strength of at least thirty years of use, not trial data [1][2]. The social-media claim that it cleans out the lungs has no evidence behind it: the physician asked about mullein found none [6], and a pulmonologist asked about lung-cleaning products in general said nobody knows whether they are safe or whether they work [5]. We sell a product that contains mullein, so read this with that in mind. Here is what is known.
What mullein is
Mullein is Verbascum thapsus, a tall plant with soft grey leaves and a spike of yellow flowers. Flower and leaf are used differently. The EMA text covers the dried flower taken as a tea [1]. The TikTok trend is about the leaf, smoked or drunk as tea, and sellers package it as teas, tinctures, capsules, gummies, diffuser pens and smoke blends [6]. Mullein oil, the flowers steeped in a carrier oil, is a third form. Clear uses mullein oil in an oil base, which is not the preparation the EMA assessed, and we say so plainly.
What the evidence actually says
The strongest document on mullein is the EU herbal monograph, adopted 27 March 2018. It lists mullein flower tea as a traditional herbal medicinal product "used to relieve symptoms of sore throat associated with dry cough and cold", for adults and children over 12, at 1.5 to 2 g of dried flower per cup, three to four times a day [1]. That is the EMA's wording for licensed European tea products, not a description of Clear. The basis matters: a traditional-use registration means the effect is plausible and the preparation has been used safely for at least 30 years, not that a trial showed it works. The EMA's public summary notes the lack of clinical studies [2].
A 2020 review of Verbascum species in the journal Plants reaches the same point from the laboratory side. It lists the traditional uses, including bronchitis and spasmodic cough, then states that high-quality clinical research has not been conducted and that no approved drug comes from the plant [3]. WebMD carries the same caveat: herbal practitioners may recommend mullein for cough, cold, bronchitis and COPD, but there has been very little study of these effects in a medical setting [4]. The history of use is real. The trial that would say what mullein does in smokers has not been run.
The TikTok lung claim
The claim travelling on TikTok and Instagram is that mullein, smoked or drunk as tea, cleans out the lungs. Men's Health traced the trend in February 2026: pharmacists with paid partnerships on TikTok, and sellers packaging the leaf as teas, tinctures, gummies, capsules, diffuser pens and smoke blends. The family medicine physician interviewed, Dr Benjamin Caplan, said that at best the plant coats and soothes irritated mucous membranes, which he put nowhere near lung repair. The article found no credible evidence that mullein has protective effects on the lungs [6].
Hackensack Meridian Health put the same question to a pulmonologist, Dr Lisa Casale, in January 2026. Her answer on lung-cleaning products in general: most are not FDA-tested, so nobody knows whether they are safe, whether they interfere with medicines, or whether they work. There are no fast fixes for the lungs after smoking or vaping [5].
What does happen when exposure stops is the body's own work. The cilia lining the airways get back to sweeping once smoke or vapour stops slowing them down; the recovery figures and the studies behind them are on our science page.
Mullein for smokers: what you can honestly expect
For people who smoke, or did until recently, the traditional use of mullein is throat comfort: the dry, scratchy feeling that comes with a cough. That is the whole of it. Nothing in the monograph, the review or the consumer guides says anything about tar, mucus or lung tissue [1][3][4].
Smoking's effect on the airway is a separate question with its own data. A 2009 study in PLoS ONE measured cilia in healthy smokers and nonsmokers and found the smokers' cilia were 7 to 15 per cent shorter depending on the measurement, about 10 per cent on average, with lower expression of six cilia-related genes [7]. That is a change in the machinery that moves mucus, and the variable in that study was smoking, not any herb. Mullein tea for smokers is a warm drink with a traditional use for throat comfort, not a counterweight to a pack a day.
If what brought you here is the morning throat-clear or coughing up gunk, the mechanism is in mucus in your throat from vaping, and what happens after you stop is in the mucus and cough guide.
Mullein for people quitting vaping
Same answer. "Does mullein work for vaping" has no trial behind it, because nobody has run one, in people who vape or in anyone else [2][3]. Everything above about smokers applies to people cutting down on vaping, with less data again, since most airway research is in cigarette smokers.
The lung-cleaning wording on seller listings is marketing: no credible evidence for mullein [6], and no evidence for lung-cleaning products as a class [5]. The Federal Trade Commission has a record here: in 2005 the marketers of Smoke Away paid $1.3 million to settle charges that their quit-in-seven-days supplement claims had no reasonable basis [8]. Mullein will not help you quit vaping. Nicotine withdrawal is a nicotine problem; Smokefree.gov and 1-800-QUIT-NOW are the resources for that.
Can you vape or smoke mullein? Please do not
Two separate warnings. First, mullein oil, Clear included, is for the mouth and never for a device. Inhaling aerosolised oil has been linked to lipoid pneumonia, inflammation caused by lipid settling in the small airways; the CDC described a cluster of five such cases in e-cigarette users in 2019 [9]. Do not put Clear in anything that heats or atomises.
Second, smoking mullein leaf, the TikTok version, makes smoke, and inhaling any kind of smoke raises health risks, whatever the plant [6]. A reputation for throat comfort does not change what combustion does to the airway.
How Clear uses mullein
Clear is the morning step of the vape reset: a blend of menthol, peppermint, mullein, orange peel and lavender oils in MCT oil, 40 drops in the morning, 30 servings a bottle. Supports respiratory comfort.* Mullein, traditionally used for the airways.* Menthol and peppermint give a cool feeling in the throat. It is not a cough medicine and it does nothing to mucus; the EMA's traditional-use text covers flower tea, not drops, and no trial covers either in smokers. It sits in our Throat & Mouth collection with Hydrate.
Safety
The EMA monograph does not recommend mullein flower for children under 12 for lack of data, says safety in pregnancy and breastfeeding has not been established and does not recommend use, and reports no known side effects, interactions or overdoses at the time of assessment [1][2]. It says to see a doctor if symptoms last more than a week, worsen, or come with shortness of breath, fever or discoloured sputum [1]. Clear's label carries its own warning: for adults, do not exceed the recommended dose, and anyone pregnant, nursing or with a medical condition should consult a healthcare professional before use. Cilia Labs sells to adults 21+. Essential oils are concentrated, so the dose on the label is the dose.
When to see a doctor. A cough that lasts more than three weeks, blood in what you cough up, chest pain, shortness of breath, fever or a cough that keeps getting worse are reasons to see a doctor, for people who smoke, people who vape and people who have stopped. No herb is a substitute for that visit.
Frequently asked questions
Is mullein tea good for smokers?
It has a long traditional use for the sore throat that comes with a dry cough, which the EMA accepts for flower tea on the strength of thirty years of safe use [1]. There is no trial of mullein in smokers, so nobody can say it does anything beyond throat comfort [2][3].
Does mullein work for vaping?
Nobody has tested it. There are no clinical trials of mullein in people who vape, and the reviews say high-quality clinical research has not been done at all [3].
Does mullein actually help your lungs?
There is no evidence that mullein does anything to lung tissue. The physician asked about the TikTok claim said that at best it coats and soothes irritated mucous membranes, nowhere near lung repair [6], and a pulmonologist asked about lung-cleaning products in general said nobody knows whether they work [5]. The thing with data behind it is stopping the exposure.
Should I use mullein leaf to clear out my lungs?
No. No study shows mullein moving tar, mucus or anything else out of the lungs [3][6]. Reducing or stopping smoking and vaping is the thing with data behind it.
Can you vape mullein?
No. Inhaling oil has been linked to lipoid pneumonia [9], and Clear's oil-based drops must never go in a device.
Can you smoke mullein?
People do, which is the TikTok trend, but smoking any plant produces smoke and inhaling smoke carries risk [6]. The traditional use is tea, taken by mouth.
How to use mullein for lungs?
The traditional preparation is 1.5 to 2 g of dried flower in a cup of boiling water, three to four times a day, for sore throat with a dry cough, adults and over-12s only [1]. That is a throat use, not a lung use. Clear uses mullein oil by mouth, 40 drops in the morning. Supports respiratory comfort.*
Does mullein help with COPD?
Some herbal practitioners may recommend it for COPD, but there has been very little study in a medical setting [4] and no clinical trial [3]. COPD is a diagnosed disease that needs a doctor's care.
Does mullein help you quit?
No. There is no evidence that mullein affects nicotine cravings or withdrawal, and that is not what it is traditionally for. Smokefree.gov and 1-800-QUIT-NOW are free and evidence-based.
What does Clear do?
Clear supports respiratory comfort.* It is a morning routine of mullein, menthol and peppermint drops for people cutting down on vaping. It is not a cough medicine, it does nothing to mucus and it does not help you quit.
Sources
- European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. European Union herbal monograph on Verbascum thapsus L., V. densiflorum Bertol. (V. thapsiforme Schrad) and V. phlomoides L., flos. EMA/HMPC/611537/2016, adopted 27 March 2018. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/herbal-monograph/final-european-union-herbal-monograph-verbascum-thapsus-l-v-densiflorum-bertol-v-thapsiforme-schrad-and-v-phlomoides-l-flos_en.pdf
- European Medicines Agency. Mullein flower: summary for the public. EMA/269687/2018, 5 June 2018. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/herbal-summary/mullein-flower-summary-public_en.pdf
- Amin HIM, Hussain FHS, Gilardoni G, Thu ZM, Clericuzio M, Vidari G. Phytochemistry of Verbascum species growing in Iraqi Kurdistan and bioactive iridoids from the flowers of Verbascum calvum. Plants (Basel). 2020;9(9):1066. doi:10.3390/plants9091066. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7569995/
- WebMD. Mullein tea: health benefits, side effects, and more. https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-mullein-tea
- Hackensack Meridian Health. Is lung detox a thing? How to help heal your lungs after smoking or vaping. 20 January 2026. https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/healthier-you/2026/01/20/is-lung-detox-a-thing-how-to-help-heal-your-lungs-after-smoking-or-vaping
- Vinopal L. Wellness influencers say smoking mullein leaf is a "lung cleanse." Doctors say there's a much healthier alternative. Men's Health, 12 February 2026 (syndicated on Yahoo Health). https://health.yahoo.com/conditions/respiratory/articles/wellness-influencers-smoking-mullein-leaf-171700634.html
- Leopold PL, O'Mahony MJ, Lian XJ, Tilley AE, Harvey BG, Crystal RG. Smoking is associated with shortened airway cilia. PLoS ONE. 2009;4(12):e8157. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008157. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0008157
- Federal Trade Commission. Marketers of Smoke Away pay $1.3 million to settle FTC charges. Press release, 23 August 2005. https://ftc.gov/node/41810
- Davidson K, Brancato A, Heetderks P, et al. Outbreak of electronic-cigarette-associated acute lipoid pneumonia, North Carolina, July–August 2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019;68(36):784–786. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6836e1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6755817
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Cilia Labs products are for adults 21+.