another newbie, requesting comments please!

[Guest guest]

Hi Folks, I'm looking for comments re: making essential oils and/or infused

oils.

 

Here is my experience: My sister and I have been trying to capture the wonderful

odor of the leaves of a shrub that grows in the high mountains near where we

live for use in lotions and soaps. Initially we infused sweet almond oil with

the leaves. I sort of tore them up roughly, covered them with oil in a glass jar

and kept it in a warm place for a day or so. Then strained it off and repeated

two or three more times. Seemed to loose a tremendous amount (1/3 to 1/2) of the

oil in the process but it ended up greenish and smelled great but each batch

varied of course.

 

I'm soliciting comments on

 

1) type of carrier oil used--anything better than sweet almond?

 

2) method of making the oil--it all seems so imprecise

 

 

Then, we decided to spring for the glass still, quite a big investment for us.

It's been quite disappointing at least for this plant (haven't tried anything

else yet). The yield of oil was shockingly small but that can probably be

attributed to the dry leathery quality of the leaves. Additionally, what oil we

did get seemed to have a somewhat " cooked " smell, not nearly so nice as the raw

leaves or the infused oil.

 

Questions: Is a very low yield unusual? And, do all distilled essential oils

tend to have an altered ( " cooked " ) odor?

 

So much to learn, I appreciate any insights. Jill

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Just a quickie answer on this, someone else will give a more complete reply.

 

1. Infusing. It takes much longer than a day or two: Generic information:

Stuff your Jar with your leaves. (what kind of leaves are you infusing?)

fill the jar to the brim with a stable oil such as Olive Oil, Jojoba,

fractionated coconut oil... Sweet almond, grapeseed they go " off " much

quicker. Let sit for several days (up to a week or three depending on the

leaves) in the sun, check to make sure your leaves aren't starting to rot,

take out leaves and replace with new leaves until your oil is rich with the

scent you like. It is imprecise but it's an imprecise science. Rhavda is

pretty good at this. There is also a heating process but I'm not going there

now.

 

2. Making EO's. Not everything will make a good essential oil. Just not

enough oil in the plant. 2 primo examples, Lilacs (Much to my dismay) and

Gardenias (to my delight). Gardenias smell much like you described your

leaves after the process... stinky, smelly, nasty.

 

Lot's of plants do much better infused than turning into EO's. My advice is,

ask the list if you don't know which is which.

 

K

 

On Tue, Jun 17, 2008 at 3:27 PM, Jill Livingston <jandk

wrote:

 

> Hi Folks, I'm looking for comments re: making essential oils and/or

> infused oils.

>

> Here is my experience: My sister and I have been trying to capture the

> wonderful odor of the leaves of a shrub that grows in the high mountains

> near where we live for use in lotions and soaps. Initially we infused sweet

> almond oil with the leaves. I sort of tore them up roughly, covered them

> with oil in a glass jar and kept it in a warm place for a day or so. Then

> strained it off and repeated two or three more times. Seemed to loose a

> tremendous amount (1/3 to 1/2) of the oil in the process but it ended up

> greenish and smelled great but each batch varied of course.

>

> I'm soliciting comments on

>

> 1) type of carrier oil used--anything better than sweet almond?

>

> 2) method of making the oil--it all seems so imprecise

>

> Then, we decided to spring for the glass still, quite a big investment for

> us. It's been quite disappointing at least for this plant (haven't tried

> anything else yet). The yield of oil was shockingly small but that can

> probably be attributed to the dry leathery quality of the leaves.

> Additionally, what oil we did get seemed to have a somewhat " cooked " smell,

> not nearly so nice as the raw leaves or the infused oil.

>

> Questions: Is a very low yield unusual? And, do all distilled essential

> oils tend to have an altered ( " cooked " ) odor?

>

> So much to learn, I appreciate any insights. Jill

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi

For small scale extraction of essential oils [water and steam distillation] buy

a clevenger apparatus- which should be available at any scientific shop

Regards

Gurpreet