How To Make Lavender Oil
When you begin to seriously question all the things you can do, and things you can make with the Lavender that you grow in your garden, you know that you have truly fallen for this lovely plant.
Making your own Lavender Oil from your plants is a question that many people ask how to accomplish. I will tell you about making Lavender Oil as well as give you a simple recipe below.
If you grow enough Lavender plants you may wish to purchase a unit for steam distilling of the plant material also known as a Still or Alembic. This is the most popular method
for making Essential Lavender Oil. Growing Lavender can become quite addictive and you can find yourself with a lot of plants. Purchasing home distillation equipment is the natural next step.
There are many smaller essential oil stills available for purchase that will work nicely for home use when making essential oil. The Stills used for distilling essential oil are usually handcrafted out of copper which is both pleasing to the eye to look at as well as produces a nice finished product. Simply google Copper Alembics to find one. Buying your own Essential Oil Still is a small investment for a lifetime of joy making your own Lavender Essential Oil.
Did you know that you can use moonshine stills to distill essential oils as well? The Stills sold for home alcohol distillation will often work to distill other things including water or plant material. Below is a link to a table top still which will also work to distill essential oil. This still is made from easy to clean stainless steel and is small enough to sit on a table top making it perfect for home use.
Stainless Steel Home Still
You will need a sizable amount of plant material to get enough to make a small 1-2 ounce bottle of pure essential oil. Learn more about the Steam Distillation process used to make essential oils.
There are other methods for making your own Lavender Oil but
they are not necessarily aimed at the home producer. They are better
suited for the commercial growers and producers of large quantities of
essential oils.
These other ways are the Solvent Extraction method used primarily to produce Lavender absolutes and the extraction methods of Maceration and Expression.
The Maceration method of extraction will work for the home grower but does not produce pure essential Lavender oil but a Lavender infused oil instead.
Learn more about these other methods of extraction and the production of essential oils.
You will need Lavender flowers
which produce the best fragrance although you may also use Lavender
plant trimmings such as the leaves and stems but avoid the old woody
growth of the plant. Have about 2 - 4 cups of material. You may use
scissors to cut the stems and leaves into manageable pieces to fit into
the jar about 1-2 inches long.
Other Necessary Items Include:
- a large glass container with a tight fitting lid to make your Lavender Oil in - a large glass canning jar will work nicely
- a
carrier oil which has a pale color and mild scent as to not over power
the Lavender - You will need enough to fill the container almost to the
top leaving 1/2 inch of free space and to completely cover the plant
material.
- a fine mesh strainer or piece of cheesecloth for straining out the plant material
- a dark glass bottle (blue or amber) with a stopper for the storage of your finished product
Place
you Lavender into the glass jar and fill with your chosen oil. Put the
lid in place and set the jar in a warm spot to "brew" shaking it
periodically to mix. Allow to sit at least 48 hours although an extra
day will not hurt the process. The Lavender Oil will be attracted to
your base oil and create a Lavender infused oil.
If you cannot find a suitable warm spot you may run a sink full of very
hot water and then set the glass container in for a while refreshing
the hot water as needed and shaking the container to mix the
ingredients. You will still need to allow it to sit overnight.
You will need to strain out the plant material using the strainer or
cheesecloth squeezing out all the oil you can before placing more plant
material into the jar. You will want to repeat this process 2-3 times
or more until the desired strength of fragrance is achieved.
Store your finished oil in the dark glass bottle in a cool dark place
to preserve it's healthful properties. Your oil should last up to a
year when properly stored.
This makes a wonderful fragrant Lavender infusion that can be used for bath and body purposes such as massage or a lovely thoughtful handcrafted gift for a special person. This is not the same as pure Lavender Essential Oil made with the Steam Distillation process.
Depending on your choice of base oil you may even use it for culinary (cooking) purposes or one of the many other ways to use Lavender Oil. Making Lavender Oil from plants you have grown can be a very rewarding experience.
