How to Process Pure Rose Oil
Pure rose oil is one of the most ethereal, exotic, and expensive substances in the world. Most rose oil marketed for beauty purposes is extracted from rose petals by soaking them in a light oil such as almond oil or light olive oil. Rose otto and other essential rose oils are extracted by a steam distillation process, using 60,000 roses to produce one ounce. You can process small amounts of pure rose oil at home using sunlight rather than distillation equipment to coax drops of this precious essence from your own rose petals. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- 1 dram glass pharmacy vial with plastic cap or eyedropper stopper
- 1-ounce plastic funnel for filling vial
- rose petals
- 1 pint mason jar with lid
- 8" length of 1" hardwood dowe
Instructions
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1
Pick petals from fragrant roses in the early morning hours, before the sun reaches the flowers.
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2
Wash the pint mason jar with scalding water, then dry completely. Fill the pint jar with rose petals.
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3
Pack the petals down firmly into the jar with the wooden dowel. Fill jar to top, and pack it down again. Repeat until you can not fit any additional rose petals into the jar.
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4
Seal the pint jar tightly with its lid, and lay the jar on its side in a location where it will be in full sun until late afternoon.
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5
Remove cap from glass dram vial and stand the vial upright on a sturdy surface. Place the 1-ounce funnel in the vial.
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6
Lift the pint mason jar, keeping it in its sideways position. Without altering the jar's position, hold it so that the top rim of the jar is over the vial and funnel. Carefully open the pint jar, holding it in your dominant hand.
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With the wooden down in your non-dominant hand, press the rose petals back towards the bottom of the pint jar and tilt the jar so that rose oil droplets fall into the funnel. Press hard on the petals with the dowel, and allow the pure rose oil to drip slowly from the pint jar.
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Place the lid back on the pint jar. Remove funnel from vial and seal the vial tightly. Return the pint jar to its sunny location each day and repeat this process until no more oil is being extracted from the petals. Refill the jar with fresh petals and repeat until desired quantity of pure rose oil has been processed.
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Tips & Warnings
Store vial of pure rose oil in a cool, dry location out of sunlight.
