Can essential oils be made at home? Such products are in no way inferior to those sold in a pharmacy, but are several times cheaper and are prepared from environmentally friendly raw materials. In addition, you can not be afraid of fakes.
Collection and procurement of raw materials
How to make essential oil at home? An obligatory preparatory stage is the collection and preparation 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 the May lily of the valley contain only about 0.04% of such substances, although the smell is very pronounced, and in the fruits of the carnation - 22%.
When to harvest plants
Flowers and inflorescences (chamomile, calendula, rose) are harvested at full opening. Leaves and stems (basil, rosemary) must be plucked before flowering. If the entire aerial part (St.flowering time.
Fruits and seeds (milk thistle, coriander) must fully ripen, because during this period the maximum content of healing components is reached. Roots (burdock) and underground parts of plant material are dug up in autumn. At this time, the growing season ends, and the roots are saturated with useful components.
The time of collection of vegetable raw materials is important. It is better to collect in the morning hours (immediately after the dew has dried) in sunny and dry weather. You can not collect raw materials near industrial enterprises and roadsides. It is best to choose places outside the city, ecologically clean meadows, mountains, forests, unplowed fields, or grow plants in your own backyard.
How to dry raw materials
You can make your own essential oil from the fresh plant or the dried parts. Any herbs should be dried in ventilated areas on paper mats, on shelves or boards. The absence of sunlight is obligatory, because under the action of the sun the useful ingredients contained in the raw material decay, 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 plants lose more than half of their weight during the drying process.
Cooking Methods
How to make essential oil at home? Oils prepared at home are similar in their beneficial properties to natural oils that are sold in a pharmacy, but are less concentrated, so they can be used without dilution. aromatic oilobtained by pressing, enfleurage, distillation, infusion. The method is selected according to the type of raw material.
Pressing and distillation
The easiest and fastest way to obtain aromatic oil, which does not require extra costs and additional preparations, is pressing. This method is mainly used to obtain oils from citrus fruits 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 grind a kilogram of berries. Filter the sea buckthorn and leave in a cool place. After some time, you need to remove the oily film formed on the surface.
Absolutely any raw material is suitable for extracting oil by distillation, except for seeds and fruits. 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 pharmacy drugs.
Fat extraction
Enfleurage is a complex procedure for obtaining an oily substance by extraction with purified fat. Mostly beef is used. Parts of plants are laid out on a thin layer of fat, pressed and left for a while. Subsequently, the fat is dissolved in alcohol and filtered, obtaining a pure oil.
Making essential oils at home by extraction is quite problematic. It is laborious and costlyprocess. So this method is only used to treat fragile flowers of plants such as violet, jasmine or rose.
Preparation of tincture
Some oils can only be made by infusion. Additionally, you will need alcohol or neutral, odorless vegetable oil for this. Prepared raw materials are poured into the base and insisted from three days to three months. After the alcohol tincture must be filtered, the oil must be squeezed out. 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, mint, calendula, citrus, St. John's wort, 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 strong-smelling garden roses. Two cups of petals are pressed down with a press, and then 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 squeezing) are thrown away, the aromatic product is poured into a dark glass container and stored in a cold place.
Intact fresh peppermint leaves are used to make stress-relieving mint oilmint. The raw materials must be washed, dried with a waffle towel and chopped into small pieces (by hand) to enhance the release of juice.
Mint leaves should be packed into a glass jar, filling it to the top. Vegetable raw materials are poured with neutral oil (for example, grape seed oil), the lid is closed and hidden in a dark place. After a day, the mixture must be filtered, the leaves squeezed and discarded. Repeat the process using new leaves and previously 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, poured with any odorless refined oil. The mixture must be allowed to brew for a day. Previously, the composition is put on a steam bath for 30 minutes, after which the substance is filtered, squeezing the peel. Chilled homemade citrus essential oil is ready.
For the preparation of lavender oil, the stems are harvested during the flowering period. Raw materials must be tied in bundles. Oil can be prepared from both fresh plants and dried ones. For cooking, you need two tablespoons of chopped raw materials, pour a glass of any vegetable oil (almond, olive, macadamia, linseed). Infuse the oil for two months in a cool place, shaking occasionally. Keep out of direct sunlight.
To make calendula essential oil with your own hands, you need to collect the flowers of the plant. You will need one part of the flowers and five parts of neutral vegetable oil. The most commonly used olive oil. You need to insist the composition for three weeks, and then squeeze and filter. The oil is effective in treating wounds, bruises and cuts.
How to make St. John's wort essential oil at home? It is necessary to use only St. John's wort, which differs from other species in narrow sheets with a smooth edge, large flowers with long petals. You need to collect St. John's wort during flowering. Butter can be prepared from fresh or dried raw materials.
Three tablespoons of crushed dry vegetable raw materials should be poured with a glass of any vegetable oil. Infuse the mixture in a sealed container for two to three weeks, shaking occasionally. After this period, squeeze the composition and strain through cheesecloth folded in two layers. Keep refrigerated. Apply the oil effectively on wounds that do not heal for a long time.
