Sunday, August 10, 2014

Steps On How To Make Homemade Essential Oils

By Annabelle Holman


Essential oils have already been used for therapeutic and medicinal purposes since ages ago. Aside from that, they have been used for culinary reasons, as well. These essential liquid are extracted from flowers, plants, and even peelings of citrus fruits.

A person may decide to make an oil of his own at home. This is certainly possible and guides are available on how to make homemade essential oils. It should be noted, however, that the resulting product from the homemade process is not that potent as those that are manufactured and bought 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.

To begin with the procedure, the person should be able to bear in mind several things. Researching the plant where the fluids are to be extracted should be a priority since distinct herbs produce a variety of results. He may use flowers, spices and fruit rinds, as well. The herbs should be thoroughly cleaned and should be free from pesticides and other chemicals.

A still is the primary apparatus used for distillation. These stills may be expensive and could cost a large sum of money if bought from commercial business. The producer can actually make his own homemade still, if he is on a budget. The four parts that should be present on this still are the furnace used for heating, the tank or pot for holding water, the condenser for cooling the steam collected from heating, and the separator for filtering the essential fluids from the water.

The maker should have his raw materials gathered. The raw materials can be herbs that he have planted himself. He needs to handle them very well so as not to damage them. He can also purchase them from the market but he needs to make sure to purchase those in whole form. The plants should appear healthy and in good condition.

For a large amount of yield, it is recommended to dry the materials to be distilled. Drying should not mean exposing the plants to direct sunlight. They should be dried inside a closed room or under the shade. Doing this will mitigate the oils that could be lost. Once dried, they should not get wet again.

The pot or holding tank should be filled with water at this point. The pot should be filled with clean, possibly filtered water or distilled water. The dried herbs will then be placed inside the heated tank and left to boil. Depending on the quality of the material used as well as its quantity, the heating step may take up to several hours.

Upon completion of distillation, the oils need to be filtered by pouring the liquids into glass containers. The producer needs to use cheesecloth or a different cloth. The fabric should be dry and clean to prevent contamination. The containers will then be stored in places that are cool as well as dark.




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