Essential oils are the aromatic volatile oils extracted from parts of plants, including leaves, stems, flowers, roots and bark. Used to enhance a relaxing massage or provide scent-based stress relief, an essential oil is diluted with carrier oil, such as almond oil. Making essential oils from plant materials usually involves water or steam distillation. An essential oil distillation unit has three primary components: a steam generator or heat source for water, a condenser and a separator. Other methods to make essential oils include cold-pressing, enfleurage---absorption using odorless vegetable or animal fat---solvent extraction and carbon dioxide extraction.
Step 1
Collect your raw plant material. Direct steam distillation works best with fresh plant material that has a high boiling point, such as seeds, roots and leaves. Collect enough plant material to fill the upper chamber of your distillation system.
Step 2
Set up your distillation production system, including a heat source, such as a burner, a lower container for water and an upper container for the plant material.
Step 3
Add distilled water to the bottom container that will rest on the heat source. Distilled water eliminates the chance for chemicals added to tap water to affect the raw plant material vapor.
Step 4
Fill the upper container with raw plant material and affix it tightly over the water container.
Step 5
Connect the tube or glass pipe from the upper plant container to the condenser where the essential oil vapors are cooled.
Step 6
Connect the condenser to the separator vessel.
Step 7
Heat the water in the bottom container. As the water heats, the created steam rises into the upper container saturating the plant raw materials. The essential oil is extracted in vapor form and moves into the condenser where it is cooled into oil that drops into the separator.
Step 8
Draw off the essential oil from the separator. The oil is lighter than the cooling water in the separator and rises to the top. Most distillation systems use a separator with a tube at the top to remove the essential oil and a feed at the bottom where the water condensed from the steam, called floral water, can be removed.
Step 9
Store your essential oil in a dark, airtight container.
Tips and Warnings
- You can purchase complete distillation systems, such as the copper alembic system, or you can buy the basic parts of the system from a chemistry supply company.
- The steam used in distillation can burn you. Use care in handling equipment such as handling clips or potholders. Steam distillation is too harsh for flowers. Essential oil from flowers should be extracted using water distillation.
Things You'll Need
- Plant material
- Distillation equipment
- Distilled water
- Storage container
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