How to Make Essential Oils

Essential oils are highly concentrated oils extracted from aromatic plants such as lavender and rosemary. There are about 700 species of plants that contain edible oils, and there are several ways to extract them, the most common of which is distillation. Essential oils are very expensive but are relatively cheap when distilling at home.

Table of Contents

Preparing the Essential Oil Distillation Equipment

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Buy essential oil distillation equipment. Although these devices are difficult to find in a store (unless you have a specialty store near your home), you can easily buy them online. However, you need to know that they can be very expensive, often several million dong. If you plan to produce large quantities of essential oils, it is well worth the investment in professional distillation equipment.

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If you don’t want to buy, you can make your own distillation device. If you are going to make a distillation device, there are many ways to do it, there are thousands of distillation designs, even today many distillers are homemade. The main parts of the distillation equipment include:

Heat source, usually direct fire
Pressure cooker
10 mm . diameter glass tube
Cold water tank to cool and concentrate the steam passing through the pipe. ^{[1] X Krell Research Source , Erich <i>Handbook of Laboratory Distillation.</i> New York: Elsevier Science Ltd., 1981.}
Isolator, used to separate essential oils from other substances that you don’t want to mix in your final product. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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If possible, use stainless steel and glass components. ^{[3] X Research Sources Krell, Erich. <i>Handbook of Laboratory Distillation.</i> New York: Elsevier Science Ltd., 1981.} Do not use plastic tubes instead of glass tubes as this may affect the quality of essential oils. Some plants react poorly to copper, but tin-plated copper is suitable in all cases. You can also use aluminum material but do not use it on wintergreen, cloves, or plants whose oils contain phenp.

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Bend the conduit to pass through the cooler. You put medicinal plants into the pressure cooker to boil, steam will be led into the pipe. You can cool the steam to a liquid by soaking it in cold water or ice. Depending on what you use as the cooler, you will bend the pipes to different shapes. For example, if it’s simply a pot, you’ll have to bend the conduit into a roll that’s inside the pot. If you’re using a large ice bucket, you’ll need to bend the hose to a 90-degree angle so that it goes from the side of the bucket to the hole in the bottom of the bucket.

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Connect the hose to the pressure cooker valve. Use a short piece of flexible hose, approximately the same size as the 10mm diameter of the conduit, that fits both open ends. You can secure the connector with a pipe brace purchased at a hardware store.

Make sure to cut the hose long enough to allow for a bend. Otherwise, the duct will go straight up into the sky, you also need enough room to bend the hose at a 90 degree angle to plug into the cooler.

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Insert the tube into the cooler. If you use a basin, roll the hose completely in the pot making sure it stays submerged when filling with cold or ice water. If you’re using a bucket, punch a small hole in the bottom to plug in the conduit. Seal the gap in the hole with silicone or epoxy resin to prevent water from leaking out.

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Place the tip of the tube into the isolator. When the distillate drops into the isolator, it does the rest of the work for you on its own. It will separate the essential oil from the rest of the substances that you don’t want mixed into the final product.

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Make sure the devices are securely in place. Depending on the equipment you use and the shape of the pipe, you may need to create a safe and secure place for the distillation equipment. Place the hose attachment on the mouth of the pressure cooker, insert the tubing into the cooling vessel, and place the tip of the tubing into the mouth of the isolator. Make sure the conduit bends to a proper angle and that no tools are broken.

Prepare the Material Tree

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Determine when to harvest raw materials. The amount of essential oil in a plant depends on what stage of its life cycle the plant is in, so harvesting the plant at the right time is important. You need to do a bit of research to know when to harvest the plants you want to distill. For example, lavender should be harvested when about half of the flowers on the plant have wilted. ^{[4] X Research Source} Rosemary, on the other hand, should be harvested while the flower is in full bloom. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Harvest properly. When figuring out when to harvest for the most effective oil production, you also need to research how to harvest. Careless transportation, improper harvesting of plant parts, and incorrect time of day can reduce the quantity and quality of essential oils. For example, you only need the blooming part of the rosemary plant when making essential oils. Leave or use the rest of the tree for something else.

Most essential oils are located in the oil glands, leaf veins and secretory hairs, which are very fragile. If you mess it up or break it, you’ll get less essential oil. Handle the tree carefully, as limited as possible.

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When buying plants, choose carefully. If you buy already harvested plants, you have no control over the harvesting process. Choose plants that look healthy and have little breakage, and ask the seller about the time to harvest the plants. Usually, whole plants (not crushed or ground into powder) are best.

While distillation removes many impurities, herbicides and pesticides can contaminate your oil. Therefore, it is best to use organically grown plants whether you grow them or buy them.

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Dry the plant material. Drying will reduce the amount of essential oil in each plant but can significantly increase the amount of essential oil extracted in each distillation due to the increased amount of raw plants used. Drying should be done slowly and out of direct sunlight. ^{[6] X Research Source} Commercially grown plants such as lavender and mint can be left to dry in the field after mowing for about a day.

The ideal drying method varies from plant to plant, but in general, you shouldn’t over-dry your plants. Dry in the shade or even in a dark room to minimize loss of essential oils.
Do not wet the plant before distillation. Distill it immediately after drying is complete.
You may not need to dry the plant if you want to skip this step.

Distilling Essential Oils

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Pour water into the pot. If you make your own distillation unit, the distillation part is your pressure cooker. Use clean water, preferably filtered or distilled and as soft as possible. If you use a commercial still, follow the manufacturer’s instructions. If not, make sure you have enough water to complete the distillation. Depending on the type and amount of plant material, distillation can take place from half an hour to 6 hours or more after the water boils.

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Place the plant in the water until the pot can hold it. While the water should be enough so that it doesn’t run dry during cooking, make sure the plant isn’t affected even if it’s tightly tied. Make sure they don’t block the steam exit through the hose attached to the pressure cooker lid. ^{[7] X Research Source} Leave a few centimeters in the still for comfort.

You don’t need to cut or prepare the tree in any other way, in fact, doing so will cause the oil to be lost.

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Heat the pressure cooker. Tighten the lid of the pot so that the steam that comes out must pass through the duct attached to the steam valve. Most plants release their essential oils at 100 degrees Celsius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit, the boiling point of water. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

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Take care of the distillation. After heating for a while, the distillate will pass through the condenser to the oil separator. You don’t need to get your hands on this distillation process, but you may want to check if the water has dried up. Depending on the distillation time, you may need to change the water in the cold water tank. If the hot hose warms the water, replace it with fresh cold or ice water to continue cooling.

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Filter the obtained essential oil (optional). After the distillation is finished, you can filter the essential oil with a bucket cloth or similar dry cotton cloth. Make sure the cloth is dry and clean, residual detergent and dirt can damage the essential oil.

Don’t be disappointed if you get very little essential oil from a large number of raw plants. The rate of yield varies with plant species, but is often lower than first-time distillers think. ^{[9] X Research Source}

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Pour the essential oil into the jar as quickly as possible. Most essential oils have a shelf life of at least a year or two, and some have a very short shelf life. ^{[10] X Research Source} To maximize the shelf life of essential oils, store them in an opaque glass jar or in a stainless steel jar. Use a clean funnel to pour the essential oil into the bottle, making sure the bottle is clean before adding the essential oil. Store essential oils in a cool, dark place. ^{[11] X Research Source}

You also need to determine what to do with the hydrosp. Another product obtained in the isolator is hydrosp, water that is distilled and released with the plant essence.
Some hydrosp products, such as rose water and lavender can be used.
If you don’t want to keep the hydrosp, you can pour it into the distillation pot for a later time as long as the distillation is done immediately afterwards. If not, throw it away.

Advice

Essential oils are very concentrated, and are often recommended to be diluted in a carrier oil before applying to the skin. The most common carrier oils are almond and grapeseed oils, but many other oils can be used. They can be added during bottling or mixed with virgin oil just prior to use. The latter is often preferred because there are cases where you don’t need to dilute the essential oil, moreover, carrier oils often have a shorter shelf life than essential oils.

Warning

Most essential oils are not edible, especially undiluted ones, many of which need to be diluted even for external use. Furthermore, some essential oils are toxic. For more details, see external links.
For most flowers, when distilling, skip the drying process and distill immediately after harvest.
Do not distill a batch for too long (see instructions for specific plant species) as this creates a bit more essential oil, but can ruin the whole batch by creating unwanted chemical compounds.
If the plant is grown organically, it does not mean that pesticides or herbicides are not used; just don’t use conventional synthetic drugs (sometimes synthetic drugs are less toxic than organic ones). Try to find growers in your area who can help you understand what the process is like.
When drying raw plants, you must be careful not to contaminate them with dirt or other contaminants. Contamination will degrade essential oils and render them unusable.

Things you need

Distillation apparatus, consisting of at least: a still pot, a condenser, a stove or other heat source, and an oil separator.
Glass conduit for connecting distillation units
Plant material for extracting essential oil
Bottles made of opaque glass or stainless steel to store essential oils

Steps