# Does anyone make their own?



## valor (May 8, 2009)

Do any of you guys make your own essential oil? I want to know about making your own. I know how, but I don't know how PRACTICAL it would be. If any of you have any knowledge, hints, tips, or just plain experience, I would love to hear about it!

Thanks!

Valor


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## dagmar88 (May 10, 2009)

Well, how big is your garden, Valor?   
Cause you'll need over a 150 pounds of lavenderbuds to make 1 pound of lavender EO. So, leave the EO making up to the pro's, this is not do able on your own.  :wink: 
Dagmar


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## rupertspal42 (May 10, 2009)

Good Idea but like dag, I think it'd take alot of time and a lot of resources as dag mentioned.. it's easier to leave it to the pros  :wink:


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## honor435 (May 11, 2009)

i thin youd have to do a steam distillation to make it a real eo.


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## Guest (May 15, 2009)

valor said:
			
		

> Do any of you guys make your own essential oil? I want to know about making your own. I know how, but I don't know how PRACTICAL it would be. If any of you have any knowledge, hints, tips, or just plain experience, I would love to hear about it!
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Valor



There are people who make [distill] their own essential oils.  You want to know about making your own.  First, you need to have access to the plant material and of course, a still.  Then, you have to test your crop to determine whether or not the crop you are growing is producing an essential oil worth distilling.  This is similar to growing grapes and making wine.  Any grape can ferment into wine, but will it be worth drinking?  The same goes for essential oil crops. So you grow your crop and run a test distilation and have it analyzes to determine whether or not it is producing the correct and desireable consitiuents for the essential oil you intend to distill. Only once you have the result, can your question be answered.  I have taken a distillation class with my friend Jeanne Rose, and it was amazing!  But I recently sold my copper still because I was not going to ever find the time to distill my plants.  Studying distillation is the absolute first step...


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## donniej (May 15, 2009)

I know nothing about making essential oils... BUT... I have done lots of research on extracting oils from plants, which is similar to what you want to do.  

There are 2 basic ways to extract "stuff" from plants...

Press it.  This is done simply by squeezing the oil or juices out.  You can use a garlic press or seed press.  Press's can be found in virtually any size.  

"Wash" it out.  In Absinthe (the drink), it's flavored by soaking assorted botanicals with strong alcohol.  Even if you distill the alcohol again, some of the plants oils remain in the drink.  That's how they flavor it.  If you evaporate the alcohol off, the oils will remain.  By soaking the plants in alcohol, draining the alcohol off and letting it evaporate in a dish will leave you with *something* from the plant.  DIfferent alcohols and other chemicals will extract different stuff.  

PS. The way the remove caffeine from coffee is a little different.  It uses a system that's called "super critical".  If you compress and heat a gas to a certain point it becomes both a gas and a liquid.  In this state, different gases can wash out certain things.  Super critical CO2 for example carries out caffiene.  You release the pressure, the CO2 turns back into a gas and the caffiene falls out in powder form.  This method is often used for extracting botanicals and is commonly used with CO2, ammonia, butane and even the same chemicals used in air conditioners (R134a, etc...).


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## Guest (May 15, 2009)

donniej said:
			
		

> I know nothing about making essential oils... BUT... I have done lots of research on extracting oils from plants, which is similar to what you want to do.
> 
> There are 2 basic ways to extract "stuff" from plants...
> 
> ...


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## I love soap! (May 17, 2009)

Yep you would a big warehouse for this for the steam distiller and it would take lots of money and whatever you wanted to get oil from.


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## Guest (May 17, 2009)

I love soap! said:
			
		

> Yep you would a big warehouse for this for the steam distiller and it would take lots of money and whatever you wanted to get oil from.



That's not actually correct.  I had a small still which I sold recently...it was not that much bigger than a large pot for cooking lobsters.  I don't know any distillers that work in warehouses!  In fact they often distill right in the fields where the herbs and flowers are growing.

Here is a link to my friend here in town, he teaches distillation and grows lavender. I took his course and then we became friends and I designed his website.  http://www.sleepybeelavender.com/index.htm

If you click on the AromaServe link on the left side, it will take you to more information on distillation.

I also designed this website for my friend Jeanne Rose, internationally well-known aromatherapist, author and educator who also sells copper stills for home or small business use: http://www.copperstills.com/

Sue


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