How to extract essential oils & flower fragrances

[IceCreamFreak]

Hi!

I am an avid gardener. I have recently moved into my parents home to care for them. At one time my mother had half an acre of herbs, spices and flowers. I am working at restoring her beds.

I want to learn about aromatherapy. While I can't practice massages and such, I want to learn as much as I can. I would like to find a course on line from which I can learn.

I want to learn how to preserve, extract oils and fragrances from my various different plants for my own use.

Are there any good web sites from which I can learn some techniques? I am on a very tight budget and can't afford expensive courses. Also, I live in thee USA in a very small rural town. There is no where near me where I can go to take courses.

I would appreciate any suggestions or insight.

 

[Voldemar H. Guerta]

Hi. What a lovely idea, but I really do think that it probably isn't worth it. The essential oil industry is a huge industry and they use tons and tons of plant material to extract the oils.

You would need huge quantities of plant material to get one drop of essential oil and the extraction methods would involve you making a still or pressing the matter between pieces of glass and fat and endless time.

It just doesn't seem viable. If you get yourself a good book on aromatherapy then it will cover the distillation process and you can see what is involved.

Hope that helps.

 

[Sukai__<3]

Hi Silent Soul,

I am afriad that CNadie is right about th epracticalities of the process for essential oils. However, you can use the herbs to make medicinal teas (fresh herbs whenever possible, it not dry them for later use), you might also be able to make alcohol infusions out of them. However I do not know much about it.

Artemis

 

[Anus]

Hi Silent Soul,

I agree with your other two responses, but you could possibly make macerated oils or pomades Valerie Ann Worwood's book 'The Fragrant Pharmacy' has details of making both. Roughly, for macerated oils, you pack a clean jar with the herbs you want to use and fill it with good quality oil such as sunflower. Leave the jar on a sunny windowsill for a couple of weeks and then strain the oil - repeat until the smell is the strength you want. Alternatively, put the herbs is a good solid saucepan and add half their quantity of oil. Heat to 65 degrees centigrade, leave to cool, strain and bottle.

Pomades are a bit messier because it involves spreading glass plates with sunflower spread and repeatedly putting flower petals on top, so I will leave that description to Ms Worwood, who does it far better than I can! She also give details of how to turn the pomade into an 'essential oil', but to my mind that's just a waste of perfectly good alcohol!

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[qoevluwwipdikgemq]

I was going to suggest maccerating the oils. I know someone who makes his own creams on a small scale and he actually 'cooks' his herbs in oil by placing them in a carrier oil i.e. olive or sunflower and putting them at the bottom of a slow oven.......often when the Sunday roast is cooking.

His creams are really lovely.

yasmin x