How to Isolate Clove Oil From Cloves Using Steam Distillation

Distillation can sound like complex chemistry, but the process is simple.

Essential oils are distillates that concentrate the aromatic ingredients of a plant. They are a component of many natural-fragrance products, and are often used as components in herbal medicine. Cloves, which are a common spice, can also be used for their oil. Many people use clove oil as a natural analgesic to relieve pain, especially after dental work, as cloves contain painkillers. Isolating the essential oils from cloves is best done through the process of steam distillation, which can be done at home.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Fresh cloves
• Pot
• Stove
• Lid with valve
• Tubing
• Bucket
• Ice cubes
• Glass jar
• Strainer
• Caulking

1. Place fresh cloves in a strainer that can fit in your cooking pot. You can use as few or as many cloves as you like, but be aware that there will not be very much oil from each one. Six or more is best. With enough water, all the essential oils can be drawn from any cloves you use.

2. Pour water into the cooking pot. Fill it so that the water will not reach the strainer.

3. Set the strainer in the pot, low enough for the lid to fit tightly. You may need a few small stones or other inert objects to hold your strainer up above the water. The steaming process involves passing steam, not water, through the cloves.

4. Cover the pot with a lid that has a steam escape valve in it. Many large pot and pressure cooker lids have them, or you could drill a small hole through one yourself.

5. Attach a length of tubing to the steam valve. This can be any kind of flexible tubing.

6. Run the tubing to a bucket placed on a lower level than the stove surface. Loop the tubing as many times as you can in the bottom of the bucket. Copper tubing will chill quickly and so will deliver the best condensation. If possible, make your bucket loops out of copper pipe and connect them to the flexible tubes coming from the pot.

7. Cut a hole in the bottom of the bucket and pass the tubing through it. Seal the edges of the hole with caulking.

8. Place the end of the tubing in a glass jar or pitcher at a level lower than both the bucket and the stove.

9. Fill the bucket with ice.

10. Turn on the stove and set it to maximum heat. When the water boils, the steam will pass through the cloves and into the tubing. As it passes through the tubing cooled by the ice in the bucket, the oils will condense onto the sides of the tube and drip downhill into your collection jar. The essential oil will sit in the jar, floating on top of the water.

11. Skim the essential clove oil from the collection jar and bottle it.

Tips & Warnings

• Never leave a still unattended. If it boils dry, it could be a fire risk.

• Be careful when using clove oil. Although generally considered safe, if taken in large quantities it can cause many complications, including nausea, abdominal pain, a sore throat, seizures, breathing problems, accelerated heartbeat, intestinal bleeding, and mouth/throat burns. It should not be taken by pregnant women or children.

References

• Bryn Mawr College: Clove Steam Distillation Experiement
• Steam Distillation
• American Cancer Society: Cloves