Thursday, July 31, 2014

A Guide On How To Make Homemade Essential Oils

By Annabelle Holman


There are certain liquids that can be squeezed out from plants. These essential oils have been used a long time by previous civilizations for medicinal reasons. They are also used for therapeutic and culinary purposes.

With this, there is a possibility that a person can make his own essential oil. Several steps are to be followed on how to make homemade essential oils. However, the final outcome of this homemade process will not be as potent as essential oils that can be purchased commercially.

There are a number of methods on how to make the liquid. The three most common methods are distillation, expression or mechanically pressing the plant, and extraction. For making the oil at home, distillation would be the most relatively easy and effective method from the three presented.

The producer should keep in mind several pointers prior to commencing distillation. It would be good if he can do a thorough research regarding the plant he will be using as different organic materials will produce different outcomes. He can use any flora which could from plants, flowers, spices, to fruit peelings. He should ensure that these materials are clean and have not been exposed to chemicals like pesticides.

Once he is ready, he would need to get a still. A still is an apparatus used for the distillation process. Most stills in the market costs a lot and are remarkably expensive so he may have the initiative to build one. A homemade still should have the four basic parts, a furnace, a tank, a condenser, and the separator.

The producer can gather his raw materials from his backyard if he has planted homegrown plants before. He needs to exercise extra care in handling them so that they will not be destroyed. If he needs to purchase the materials from the nearest market, he should take note that the materials are in good shape and should still be in whole form.

To make sure that there will be a bigger amount of produce, drying the organic plants that are to be distilled is recommended. Ideally, the flora should be dried under the shade or inside a very dark room. This is to lessen the amount of oil that will be lost, as well. The plants should stay dry and should not be exposed to sunlight directly.

While drying the organic flora, the maker can fill the tank of the still with water and heated. Ideally, it should be clean, like filtered or distilled water. The dried herbs are then to be submerged and the lid closed to boil. The heating procedure may take several hours depending on the quantity and quality of the flora selected.

When the distillation process is finished, the maker should filter the oil collected using a cheesecloth or other fabric. He must ensure the cloth is dry and clean so as not to contaminate the liquid. The final product should then be poured in glass containers and stored in cool and dark locations.




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