Essential oil bottle shattering

[Hope Elisabeth 68]

I came home today to an Orange 5x glass Essential Oil bottle having shattered everywhere. Nobody was home, and no animals in the house. Has anybody else had that ever happen and can you give me any suggestions as to why? It was an expense I don't need right now (although I am thankful it was one of the lesser expensive oils) and I really don't want it to happen again.

 

[paradisi]

Never anything like that in about 25 years of using essential oils.

 

[akseattle]

I came home today to an Orange 5x glass Essential Oil bottle having shattered everywhere. Nobody was home, and no animals in the house.

@Hope Elisabeth 68 , that's crazy. Where was your EO bottle?
If in your basement, maybe mice or rats? or worse....

I think @melinda48 suggested in a post not too long ago that mice really like soap and that she had to put screens or something on her storage racks.

I was dubious. But, after her comment, I realized some little white powdery shavings and little tiny black things that looked like 1/2 a piece of rice (or less) were mouse droppings and the white plastic where the mice were chewing away at the lid to my coconut oil (a new container I wasn't yet using so hadn't noticed.) The mice had managed to chew a line about 3" long and 1/16th of a inch wide on the lid. I don't know how long they had been working on it. I had soaps that were sitting in cardboard boxes curing and I had not yet put in a filing cabinet cuz I was running out of room. I guess they hadn't spotted my soap yet.....

As I looked around my basement, I realized that mice have been scampering all over my basement (little tiny mouse turds.) My husband put out some mice traps and sure enough, got some! (I hope that doesn't strike anyone as inhumane.)

So, possibly, critters are to blame.

 

[justsomeguy]

I've never had one of my amber boston round glass bottles with essential oils shatter. And I've knocked a couple off a countertop on to a tile floor without them breaking...

 

[dibbles]

I came home today to an Orange 5x glass Essential Oil bottle having shattered everywhere. Nobody was home, and no animals in the house. Has anybody else had that ever happen and can you give me any suggestions as to why? It was an expense I don't need right now (although I am thankful it was one of the lesser expensive oils) and I really don't want it to happen again.

I'm sorry you lost your EO I've never had a bottle of EO/FO shatter. I remember reading 10 or more years ago that the caps of the bottles should periodically be unscrewed to release any pressure that has built up in the bottles. I did do that for awhile, but it's been many, many years since I have and no problems. The suggestion critters is a possibility. Can you tell if the bottle shattered spontaneously while sitting on a shelf, or did it appear that it was knocked to the floor and shattered when it hit?

My husband put out some mice traps and sure enough, got some! (I hope that doesn't strike anyone as inhumane.)

Not inhumane in my mind. We live in a wooded area and occasionally mice will find their way into the basement. Once they come inside, I am fine with trapping them.

 

[soapmaker]

I have had mice eat soap but never a shattered glass bottle. I'm thinking pressure inside, but can't understand why. Are you sure it was pure essential oil? Where did you buy it?

 

[melinda48]

Holy cow! I bet the mice did it. Did you find any evidence of them? They are stealthy!

 

[Hope Elisabeth 68]

Thank you for all your suggestions! Likely the pressure, thank you! I had never heard to loosen the lids, but now that I did, I notice a few did indeed have pressure! WOW! Purchased from New Directions so probably good there. I learned early on to never purchase Eos from Amazon and similar suppliers. (By making that mistake, lol.)
I have had mice eat soap as well, ugh! It wasn't the mice though, as it was in the middle of a kitchen island with several bottles on it.
It really scared me, and since it was orange it did take my finish off my floor and destroy a couple things on the counter, but overall I was mostly scared of it happening again.
Also with the pressure I am wondering if taking them in and out of the fridge helps build pressure?
The good news is my house smells wonderful, lol.
Thanks y'all.

 

[cmzaha]

@Hope Elisabeth 68 , that's crazy. Where was your EO bottle?
If in your basement, maybe mice or rats? or worse....

I think @melinda48 suggested in a post not too long ago that mice really like soap and that she had to put screens or something on her storage racks.

I was dubious. But, after her comment, I realized some little white powdery shavings and little tiny black things that looked like 1/2 a piece of rice (or less) were mouse droppings and the white plastic where the mice were chewing away at the lid to my coconut oil (a new container I wasn't yet using so hadn't noticed.) The mice had managed to chew a line about 3" long and 1/16th of a inch wide on the lid. I don't know how long they had been working on it. I had soaps that were sitting in cardboard boxes curing and I had not yet put in a filing cabinet cuz I was running out of room. I guess they hadn't spotted my soap yet.....

As I looked around my basement, I realized that mice have been scampering all over my basement (little tiny mouse turds.) My husband put out some mice traps and sure enough, got some! (I hope that doesn't strike anyone as inhumane.)

So, possibly, critters are to blame.

I do not find in inhumane. Where we moved we have to keep mouse traps out at all times in our house. Mice are rampant where we now live.

I still have some bottles of EO that I have had for well over 10 yrs and none have shattered.

 

[Ephemerella]

While I haven't experienced spontaneous combustion of a fragrance oil, I did have an oopsie a few months ago when I was rearranging the soap studio, and trying to be clever and scootch over a freestanding shelf of supplies without taking all the supplies off not my finest moment. Anyhow, about 30 bottles of FO — glass and plastic — hit the concrete floor. About a dozen exploded. I was so glad it didn't happen in a place where I had a finished floor!

Since that little episode, I always, always keep FOs, whether in use or in storage, in a plastic bin, or bag so if there is another catastrophe hopefully damage will be minimized. I mostly use plastic bins from the dollar store, and bonus, they're stackable so I can maximize my hoarding space.

 

[akseattle]

I knocked over ONE 2 oz jar of EO&FO about 3 weeks ago while soaping. Even though I cleaned it up, probably a whole ounce spill out, within seconds it ate through my silicone mats and for a couple weeks, my kitchen counter top was heavily fragranced. I can't imagine breaking a bunch of FO or EO bottles at once. Yikes!

 

[paradisi]

Thank you for all your suggestions! Likely the pressure, thank you! I had never heard to loosen the lids, but now that I did, I notice a few did indeed have pressure! WOW! Purchased from New Directions so probably good there. I learned early on to never purchase Eos from Amazon and similar suppliers. (By making that mistake, lol.)
I have had mice eat soap as well, ugh! It wasn't the mice though, as it was in the middle of a kitchen island with several bottles on it.
It really scared me, and since it was orange it did take my finish off my floor and destroy a couple things on the counter, but overall I was mostly scared of it happening again.
Also with the pressure I am wondering if taking them in and out of the fridge helps build pressure?
The good news is my house smells wonderful, lol.
Thanks y'all.

Likely the heat of the room caused it.

Eo's don't increase in volume or pressure, just sitting at a stable temperature over time. (Otherwise glass bottles of eo would be exploding all the time for everyone.)

But liquids will expand when brought from a colder to a hotter space and left there. And contract if capped when hot and then chilled.

If the bottle of orange eo was capped on a colder day, then brought into sunlight or other heat, the contents would expand.
Bottles of eo or fo can ooze under their caps if shipped in hot weather, for example.

 

[Becky1024]

Did the bottle fall sometime before this happened?

Happened to me once with a 2 oz bottle of frankincense EO. It dropped on the tile floor a few weeks before and looked ok but must have had a hairline crack. The bottom shattered when the bottle was sitting in the cupboard.

 

[soadsudz]

was it really hot out? This has only happened before when its extremely hot inside and the bottles filled to top

 

[Tammyfarms]

Also with the pressure I am wondering if taking them in and out of the fridge helps build pressure?

I’m guessing it was the temperature difference that caused pressure to build up. Was the bottle full?

I have never heard of keeping EO in a refrigerator. Am I missing something?

 

[paradisi]

I’m guessing it was the temperature difference that caused pressure to build up. Was the bottle full?

I have never heard of keeping EO in a refrigerator. Am I missing something?

Best place for citrus eo. among others.

 

[Tammyfarms]

Best place for citrus eo. among others.

Thank you.