making your own essential oils

[paillo]

i'm insane, i admit freely but with the cost of EOs rising, seemingly exponentially for my favorites, i may be insane, but i'm gonna try it.

has anyone else ventured into this time, labor and yard-intensive effort?

i now have every window in my house full of seed flats, and a couple in the laundry room with flourescent lights. i know i won't be ready to harvest them until at least next year, but i'm planning to make raised beds out of a LOT of my property, and try it.

i know it sometimes takes 10 pounds of raw herb (lavender, rosemary, peppermint, what have you) to make an ounce of EO, and that i probably have to make a small still of sorts (and am not sure i'm even allowed to mention this) to distill the essential oil.

nonetheless, i'm a gardener at heart as well as a soaper, and i can't imagine anything more pleasurable than distilling my own essential oils.

if i'm TOTALLY insane i would love to hear thoughts. if it can be done, i'd even MORE like to hear thoughts. thanks!

 

[TJ]

That sounds exciting! I don't have much knowledge for soap making yet, let alone making my own EOs, but I would love to do this one day as well. And if for some reason it doesn't work out (I'm sure it will though ) at least you're having fun gardening! Nothing wrong with that, and you can always just add the herbs whole, or powdered, etc. to your soaps too! Good luck!

 

[soapbuddy]

I took a class on distilling EO's in Santa Barbara many moons ago. It was interesting. The lady that taught the class had a cool copper still.

 

[foresthome]

I have a large vegetable garden, and I too am changing a lot of it for flowers and herbs for my soaps, with this years planting. I have not distilled EOs, but I have been doing some infused oils with herbs, that have worked pretty well. I have a small crock pot and I fill it with fresh herbs, flowers, or even teas, then cover it with soybean oil, and leave it cooking for 7 or 8 hours. I pour it through a strainer and into a glass bottle. I don't have a bunch of the amber bottles, so I keep them in a cool, dark place and label them as to what they are, and when I made them. They are supposed to be good for 6 months. They smell stronger after they have sat for a few weeks, they have worked okay for scenting some potporri's, but are not strong enough to hold up in CP soap. So I would be interested in how yours turn out and how you do it. For now I just keep trying to make mine stronger.

 

[paillo]

I took a class on distilling EO's in Santa Barbara many moons ago. It was interesting. The lady that taught the class had a cool copper still.

that is very exciting to hear, thank you! i've found numerous resources on the web, but a class would be fantastic, i shall see if i can find anything in the area.

 

[carebear]

I took a class on distilling EO's in Santa Barbara many moons ago. It was interesting. The lady that taught the class had a cool copper still.

Did you learn about how much plant material it too Ito get a decent amount of EO?

 

[LavenderLady]

I took a class on distilling EO's in Santa Barbara many moons ago. It was interesting. The lady that taught the class had a cool copper still.

Did you learn about how much plant material it too Ito get a decent amount of EO?

Each herb/spice/shrub/flower is different, so this is not easily ansered. It takes about 10 thousand pounds of rose petals to get 1 pound of oil, so you probably shouldn't plan on that one being on your list! Lol.

But if you research the ones you want specificilly, you may be able to get an idea from someone like SoapBuddy is talking about. But, since most of the essential oil business is very secretive, it is difficult to get detailed information from the experienced professionals.

One thing to keep in mind when planting and then destilling, is making sure that you get the proper genius for what you want. For example, calendula is a pot marigold, but it is not really a marigold (its an imitation marigold), and a real marigold will not provide you with the properties that you want. Diffrent Chamomiles offer diffrent properties, and so on.

Much luck, it is certainly quite an undertaking!

Oh, and for those that want to make a concentrated oil infusion, along the lines of an EO, begin by placing plant material in a jar, bruise it to help begin the release of its oils, and cover it with just barely enough oil to ensure that all the plant material is coated and kept from air. Store it in a cool, dry, dark place. Remove once a day and shake, the replace. Allow to steep for at least 3 weeks, but 5-6 is better. Then strain and toss all plant material. Bottle the oil in a dark bottle and keep out of sunlight.
Make sure that you begin with dry plant material or you will have mold, not good smelling oil.

 

[madpiano]

I nearly did the same, as my ex has a large field which is currently covered by stinging nettles and brambles - I was planning on planting Mint there. Replacing one weed with another. Then I saw the price for stills, even small ones.....I gave up.

Mint would have been easy though. It's yield is quite a lot per pound of plant material and as it grows so easy and spreads well, it would have been perfect for a field which is 250km away from where we live. Peppermint EO is very cheap though, and therefore it just wasn't worth it. So the field stays a nature reserve....

 

[paillo]

I nearly did the same, as my ex has a large field which is currently covered by stinging nettles and brambles - I was planning on planting Mint there. Replacing one weed with another. Then I saw the price for stills, even small ones.....I gave up.

Mint would have been easy though. It's yield is quite a lot per pound of plant material and as it grows so easy and spreads well, it would have been perfect for a field which is 250km away from where we live. Peppermint EO is very cheap though, and therefore it just wasn't worth it. So the field stays a nature reserve....

i love your idea of mint! and also the idea of leaving a nature preserve

yeah, i gasped at the price of even the tiniest stills, and am planning to make my own when the time comes. there are tutorials and youtube videos, even though none of them makes it look remotely easy. hopefully by then i'll understand a little more about the various parts, pieces, tubes and other mysteries

 

[Healinya]

I know this isn't a popular concept... but does anyone create eo in a lab? A good old synthetic that is chemically identical to essential oil in nature?

It sounds like an easy enough thing, given all the other things man can create... maybe it's just not in the funding?

 

[carebear]

I took a class on distilling EO's in Santa Barbara many moons ago. It was interesting. The lady that taught the class had a cool copper still.

Did you learn about how much plant material it took to get a decent amount of EO?

Each herb/spice/shrub/flower is different, so this is not easily answered.

Yes, of course. Fragrances and such are my field, so I'm well aware of that. I wasn't looking for a difinitive answer that would apply across the board, but wanted to know if it was part of the discussion, and to spur discussion here. Even for materials that have a relatively heavy oil content, it takes a very large amount of plant material to get even small amounts of oils. I'm linking here to just one of the many videos showing the extraction of an EO (in this case Lavindin). In the video you will hear that the expected "return" is 1.2% - and lavindin is pretty "oily" compared to many botanicals ("43 plants can produce up to 2.3# of oil" I think he said). I don't know that most stills would be as efficient, either - but then again I don't know that they wouldn't be.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLFqNIOJ564&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLFqNIOJ ... re=related[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHsCaamS40I&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHsCaamS ... re=related[/ame]

 

[TJ]

I found a video of someone who makes their own essential oil. It looks complicated, but he explains the process so it seems easy enough, but he got very very little oil! I was surprised. I knew he wouldn't get all that much oil, but I was shocked at such a little amount. :shock:
Here is the video, he has other cool videos too. He seems to do just about everything!
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ja-_1Gy7vo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ja-_1Gy7vo[/ame]

 

[paillo]

I found a video of someone who makes their own essential oil. It looks complicated, but he explains the process so it seems easy enough, but he got very very little oil! I was surprised. I knew he wouldn't get all that much oil, but I was shocked at such a little amount. :shock:
Here is the video, he has other cool videos too. He seems to do just about everything!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ja-_1Gy7vo

thank you for the helpful link!!! i googled home essential oil distiller and see there are some for under $200, which ain't bad though i don't know how much plant material they will hold. yeah, you have to be prepared to use something like 10 POUNDS of raw plant material to get an OUNCE of eo. not for the fainthearted for sure

 

[madpiano]

Shame there is no Dandelion EO. I have the stuff growing in my garden and I could easily harvest a pound a day....

Or maybe Bindweed EO? I wish these plants were good for something...I guess Peppermint EO is the closest we get to turning a weed into a useful and rather nice EO.

 

[youreapima2]

I recently saw a video somewhere online to make your own EO's using veggie oil, sunflower oil, OO, and such. The person made fruit scents and flower scents.

Personally I have tried this with fresh oranges (as it was the only citrus fruit in my house at the time). It has been sitting in a jar for a month now. I added 1 cup veggie oil and the rinds of 2 small oranges. I used an old jelly jar, and put it into a paper bag and left it on my counter. Every day for 1 month I shook the jar up as all the rinds dropped to bottom.

Today I took the lid off, and it smelled great. I decided that it has been cooped up long enuf and I am dying to try it in soap.

I filtered the oil into a coffee cup, discarding the Orange rind and put the oil without rinds back into the jar.

Interestingly enuf I thought that the oil would turn a bright orange color but it is a very light orange.

I have also tried this with freshly ground coffee beans. Which I read somewhere that you can do this as well. I added too much coffee and the scent was very bitter, so today when I took out all the grounds I added a little more veggie oil to cut down the bitter scent, and it smells great as well.

I then went out into the front yard and picked the Honeysuckle that has bloomed, and packed another jar and oil, to try making an EO of honeysuckle. I will wait another month and see if it turns out.

The video said to put the oil into brown jars. I didn't have any, so I used mason jars, and placed in brown bag instead. Labeled the bags so I knew the date they were made, and what scent. Made it much easier to remember when it's been 4-6 weeks when the bag is marked.

I still have some M&P soap left and will try some tomorrow.

 

[soapbuddy]

The scent of orange rind will fade in soap. The coffee will add a light scent. The honeysuckle won't survive the harsh pH of lye. You won't get any scent from that.

 

[carebear]

I recently saw a video somewhere online to make your own EO's using veggie oil, sunflower oil, OO, and such. The person made fruit scents and flower scents.

Infused oils are great, but don't mistake them for essential oils which are actually extracted from the plant material.

I've not found that infused oils give me much, if any, scent in soap. But play and have fun. And remember, if you use food oils, and food ingredients, you can always cook with them! Orange oil sounds interesting...

I do like infusing vanilla beans in my vodka, though. and lemon rind for making my creme di limoncello!

 

[Clemmey]

Mint up the Wazoo!

I just found this thread and am interested in trying to do something with my mint other than mottling it for Mojitos (since I am 8 months prego!) .

If my goal was to use the infused oil for soaping, and external body use would a good oil to use be Olive Oil? I saw the video that talks about vegetable oil, but I don't use vegetable oil in soaping... so I thought using an oil that I have for soaping would be a better idea.

I could just go for it (and probably will...) maybe try a few different oils out and see how they do... What is the shelf life of these oils...

Any thoughts? Thank you!

 

[Wyldwytch Studios]

I recently saw a video somewhere online to make your own EO's using veggie oil, sunflower oil, OO, and such. The person made fruit scents and flower scents.

Infused oils are great, but don't mistake them for essential oils which are actually extracted from the plant material.

I've not found that infused oils give me much, if any, scent in soap. But play and have fun. And remember, if you use food oils, and food ingredients, you can always cook with them! Orange oil sounds interesting...

I do like infusing vanilla beans in my vodka, though. and lemon rind for making my creme di limoncello!

Ohhhh, creme di limoncello. Would you be willing to part with that recipe?

Rose

 

[green soap]

i'm insane, i admit freely but with the cost of EOs rising, seemingly exponentially for my favorites, i may be insane, but i'm gonna try it.

has anyone else ventured into this time, labor and yard-intensive effort?

i now have every window in my house full of seed flats, and a couple in the laundry room with flourescent lights. i know i won't be ready to harvest them until at least next year, but i'm planning to make raised beds out of a LOT of my property, and try it.

i know it sometimes takes 10 pounds of raw herb (lavender, rosemary, peppermint, what have you) to make an ounce of EO, and that i probably have to make a small still of sorts (and am not sure i'm even allowed to mention this) to distill the essential oil.

nonetheless, i'm a gardener at heart as well as a soaper, and i can't imagine anything more pleasurable than distilling my own essential oils.

if i'm TOTALLY insane i would love to hear thoughts. if it can be done, i'd even MORE like to hear thoughts. thanks!

I might be insane too, but I intend to do the same thing. I hope we can share information.

I have huge amounts of citrus zest, bay leaves, and good amounts of other herbs like spearmint, oregano, sage, and rosemary. Do any of you have information on pounds required to yield an ounce of EO for those?

One reason I have so many herbs is that they work as 'living mulch' and also to deter pests. When I surround a cauliflower plant with oregano, it does not get eaten as much as it would otherwise. Problem is, the oregano then takes over. Some herbs I use to attract different types of beneficial insects. Spearmint I another story. Someone planted spearmint on the ground 20 years ago, now it is everywhere. It is like a weed, but a very nice smelling weed and I love the tea!

I intend to make a still out of cooper and/or stainless steel. The glass ones are nice, but too small for my needs. Also, I am clumsy, glass breaks, and each part is pricey. I think there is a size limitation (1 gallon) for stills to distill water, since they could be used to make alcohol. The middle part of the still is different for the EO and alcohol applications. Not sure i am making sense, i am really tired. Will post some of the links I found tomorrow.