Is it possible to make essential oils at home? Such products are in no way inferior to those sold in the pharmacy, but they are several times cheaper and are prepared from environmentally friendly raw materials. In addition, you can not be afraid of fakes.
Collection and harvesting of raw materials
How to make essential oil at home? Mandatory preparatory phase - the collection and procurement of plant materials. Aromatic oil can be prepared from almost any raw material, but first you need to clarify in which part of the plant the greatest amount of aromatic substances is concentrated. For example, the flowers of May lily of the valley contain only about 0.04% of such substances, although the smell is very pronounced, and in the fruits of cloves - 22%.
When to collect plants
Flowers and inflorescences (chamomile, calendula, rose) are harvested with full disclosure. Leaves and stems (basil, rosemary) must be picked before flowering. If the whole aboveground part (St. John's wort, lavender, yarrow) is used to prepare the essential oil, then you need to collect the raw materials during flowering.
Fruits and seeds (milk thistle, coriander) must fully ripen, because during this period the maximum content of healing components is achieved. The roots (burdock) and underground parts of plant material are dug up in the fall. At this time, the growing season ends, and the roots are saturated with useful components.
Important time to collect plant materials. It is better to collect in the morning (immediately after the dew has dried) in sunny and dry weather. Raw materials cannot be collected near industrial enterprises and along roadsides. It is best to choose places outside the city limits, environmentally friendly meadows, mountains, forests, uncultivated fields or grow plants in your own personal plot.
How to dry raw materials
You can make the essential oil itself from a fresh plant or dried parts. To dry any herbs you need in ventilated areas on paper mats, on shelves or boards. The absence of sunlight is imperative, because under the influence of the sun, the beneficial ingredients contained in the raw materials break down, and the oils evaporate. You can dry the raw materials in ovens or electric dryers at 30-40 degrees Celsius. It is important to consider that during the drying process, plants lose more than half of the mass.
Cooking methods
How to make essential oil at home? Oils cooked at home are similar in nature to natural oils that are sold in a pharmacy, but are less concentrated, so they can be used without dilution. Aromatic oil is obtained by squeezing, enflerage, distillation, infusion. The method is selected by type of raw material.
Spin and Distillation
The simplest and fastest way to obtain aromatic oil, which does not require extra costs and additional preparations, is spin. This method is used mainly to obtain oils from citrus and sea buckthorn. The bottom line is the manual extraction of the oily substance from the peel.
How to make essential oil? To prepare sea buckthorn oil, for example, you need to chop a kilogram of berries. Filter the sea buckthorn and leave it in a cool place. After some time, you need to remove the oily film formed on the surface.
For the extraction of oil by distillation, absolutely any raw material except seeds and fruits is suitable. The disadvantage of this method of preparing essential oil is the need to use a special apparatus similar to moonshine. Using such a device, at home you can get a product that is in no way inferior to pharmaceutical preparations.
Fat extraction
Enflerage is a complex procedure for obtaining an oily substance by extraction with purified fat. Used mainly beef. On a thin layer of fat, parts of plants are laid out, pressed and left for a while. Subsequently, the fat is dissolved with alcohol and filtered off to obtain pure oil.
Making home essential oils by extraction is quite problematic. This is a time consuming and expensive process. So this kind of method is used only for processing fragile flowers of plants such as violet, jasmine or rose.
Cooking tincture
Some oils can only be prepared by infusion. Additionally, you will need odorless alcohol or neutral vegetable oil. Prepared raw materials are poured into the base and insisted from three days to three months. After alcohol tincture should be filtered, oil - squeeze. The saturation of the finished product depends on the duration of infusion.
Popular recipes
How to make essential oil at home? The most common recipes are oils of rose, peppermint, calendula, citrus, hypericum, lavender. This raw material is affordable and fragrant, and the cosmetic product itself is easy to prepare and has valuable properties.
To make rose essential oil with your own hands - an excellent aphrodisiac (Cleopatra conquered Caesar precisely thanks to this product with a delicate smell) - they collect strongly smelling garden roses. Two glasses of petals are pressed with a press, and then they are poured with neutral oil so that it covers the petals with a thin layer on top.
The mixture should be infused in a dark place for at least four weeks. Every two days you need to mix the contents of the container. When the composition is ready, the petals (after pressing) are discarded, the aromatic product is poured into a container of dark glass and stored in a cool place.
For the preparation of peppermint oil, which relieves stress, use intact fresh leaves with a peppermint pepper. The raw materials need to be washed, dried with a waffle towel and chopped into small pieces (by hand) to enhance the excretion of juice.
Mint leaves need to be tamped in a glass jar, filling it to the top. Raw materials are poured with neutral oil (for example, grape seed oil), close the lid and hide in a dark place. After a day, the mixture must be filtered, squeeze the leaves and discard. Repeat the process using new leaves and pre-filtered oil. With each repetition, the oil will acquire a rich smell and a characteristic greenish tint.
How to make citrus essential oil at home? To prepare the product, the peels of several oranges or lemons are crushed, filled with any odorless refined oil. The mixture must be allowed to brew for a day. Previously, the composition is put for 30 minutes in a steam bath, after the substance is filtered, squeezing the peel. Chilled homemade citrus essential oil is ready.
To prepare lavender oil, stalks are collected during the flowering period. Raw materials need to be bundled. Oil can be prepared both from fresh plants and from dried ones. For cooking, you need two tablespoons of crushed raw materials, pour a glass of any vegetable oil (almond, olive, macadamia, linseed). Infuse the oil for two months in a cool place, periodically shaking. Avoid direct sunlight.
To make calendula essential oil with your own hands, you need to collect the flowers of the plant. It will take one part of the flowers and five parts of neutral vegetable oil. Most often use olive. It is necessary to insist the composition for three weeks, and then squeeze and filter. The oil is effective in the treatment of wounds, bruises and cuts.
How to make St. John's wort essential oil at home? You need to use only St. John's wort, which differs from other types of narrow leaves with a smooth edge, large flowers with long petals. St. John's wort must be collected during flowering. Oil can be prepared from fresh or dried raw materials.
Three tablespoons of crushed dry plant material should be poured with a glass of any vegetable oil. Infuse the mixture in a sealed container for two to three weeks, periodically shake. After this period, squeeze the composition and strain through folded in two layers of gauze. Keep refrigerated. Apply oil effectively for long non-healing wounds.