Making your own scented oils

[Willow]

Recently I've been looking into ways of obtaining the things that are important to me while also being more earth and wallet-friendly, and have come across something called the "cold method" (I may have the words wrong) to create your own scented oils.

Basically, the method is to place your dried herb(s) of choice into a jar that can be sealed, put enough olive oil or vodka into the jar to just cover the herbs and let the jar sit for a few weeks while occasionally turning the jar to make sure the herbs stay coated. Then straining the dried herbs out and using the fluid as a scented oil in a diffuser or for anointing. There are a few variations on the method, and on ways to increase the strength of the resultant product, but that's basically the gist of it.

I was wondering if anyone has tried this and what your results were like? Do you have any pointers?

[thalassa]

Re: Making your own scented oils

I make infused oils all the time...the key is to use as small of bits as possible--run your plant matter through a blender, food mill, food processor, etc. It makes for more surface area contact between the oil and the plant. You can reinfuse the oil multiple times for a stronger presence of the plant. You can also use essential oils in conjunction with it. I have a number of concoctions I use reguarly if you are looking for anything in particular

Also, I prefer sunflower oil as my carrier oil, with grapeseed oil or vitamin E (it acts as a preservative) for anything general purpose. REally, you should choose you carrier on the basis of what you want to use the oil for.

[Odahviing]

Re: Making your own scented oils

I'm harvesting herbs from my garden and getting ready to make my own oils now (for the first time).
But concerning the cold method, don't you have to open the jar occasionally to let out whatever gas there is?
I read somewhere that the oils would go bad if you don't "vent" them.

Maybe thalassa would like to share more about how she does it?

[thalassa]

Re: Making your own scented oils

I'm harvesting herbs from my garden and getting ready to make my own oils now (for the first time).
But concerning the cold method, don't you have to open the jar occasionally to let out whatever gas there is?
I read somewhere that the oils would go bad if you don't "vent" them.

Maybe thalassa would like to share more about how she does it?

No, you don't have to vent. There shouldn't be anything in them to react, particularly with dry herbs. The key is to use clean stuff and have no water present--water is what makes mold/rot, which is what would make gasses...though probably not in enough quantity to know that you were even doing anything).

Wash your herbs before you dry them (just rinse them really well and drain them---I use a salad spinner, but a collander works just fine). With herbs that have a high water content, make sure they are totally dried. Some herbs with a very low water content do okay to infuse fresh, but I don't find any benefit added to that in a functional sense (this article explains more on infusing fresh herbs for culinary purposes and has some useful info). Once your herbs are dried, crush or grind them (depends on the herb)--you don't want a powder, that becomes too hard to strain, but something about the consistency of a commercial tea is good.

Make sure you clean your jars (don't forget the lid!) thoroughly--a dishwasher, or if by hand, extra hot water and soap, or even a little bleach in the water (2 teaspoons/10 mL to 1 gallon/3.8 L)--and then air dry inverted on a clean drying rack (towel drying tends to put whatever is on the towel back in the jar you just cleaned). Make sure everything is clean...it doesn't have to be aseptic or anything, just clean.

I have a selection of jar sizes (you don't always want/need a the same amount of oil)....because you want to fill up the jar completely. Personally, I generally fill the jar with the herbs (again, this depends on the herb) somewhere between 2/3 and completely full--don't pack them, just loosely filled. And then cover with oil (one or a combination) all the way to the top of the jar.

You may or may not want to add something that will act as a preservative--a sprig of rosemary, some vitamin E oil, and grapeseed oil as most of the carrier, all work fairly well, depending on how long you plan to keep the oil. Carrier oils have a shelf life. This is the biggest thing that limits how long your oil is "good" Some shelf-lives are as short as 2-3 months, others as long as 6 months or a year, or even longer.

Stick your jar somewhere dark and cool....you can take it out and shake it every few days. Honestly, its really not necessary. I've been doing this for years--sometimes I've shaken, sometimes not...there's really no difference in the final product. What I do instead, it check my infusions about every week, and I turn them over each time. Most infusions I let sit about 6 weeks.

Then its time to get the herbs out of the oil. This can be tricky. I would recommend at the minimum, a mesh strainer, and coffee filters. Better is a potato ricer and a cone-shaped collander (called a chinois--even better with a stand, these are often used to make sauces and purees by hand). Also, an extra jar or two. I drain the oil overnight from one jar into another through the strainer (in my case, the chinois) (which I cover, tent-style over the top with a clean cloth), then take out the herbs anad smush them in the potato ricer to press out more oil from the herbs. After that, I put a coffee filter in the strainer and run the oil again through a coffee filter into a new jar (it could be the original jar, cleaned out and dried) to filter out anything I missed the first time. You could also use cheese cloth, or a super fine mesh strainer. This part usually takes a while (you can set it and forget it) too, because it takes time for the oil to drip out the coffee filter.

Also, rather than throwing the herbs away, depending on the formulation, you can put them in muslin bags and use them in your bath. After your bath (depending on what else you've used in the bath, you may need to rinse the left overs) you can squeeze out the excess water and compost the herbs (and wash, dry, and reuse the bag).

It sounds more complicated maybe than it actually is... Anyhoo, when you are done, you can do whatever with your oil. For food oils, I bottle them. For stuff to use on the skin, I generally make a salve with beeswax and cocoa butter.

[loststarshine]

Re: Making your own scented oils

interesting I was thinking of making my own after looking at prices.

carrier oils pros and cons?

[thalassa]

Re: Making your own scented oils

interesting I was thinking of making my own after looking at prices.

carrier oils pros and cons?

Ask and ye shall recieve...I think I cross-posted it somewhere on the forum too, but I know its on my blog for sure.

[Odahviing]

Re: Making your own scented oils

Wow, fantastic! Thank you very much, thalassa! Just what I needed now that me herbs are almost ready...

[Willow]

Re: Making your own scented oils

Thank you for your responses! I will definitely be giving this a try in the near future. Don't have a lot of time here today, but I'm bookmarking the information. ^^

[loststarshine]

Re: Making your own scented oils

Ask and ye shall recieve...I think I cross-posted it somewhere on the forum too, but I know its on my blog for sure.

Thank you so much!!!!