How to Extract Essential Citrus Oils
Citrus essential oils are found in the flowers, leaves and fruit. You can extract the essential oils by distillation -- or by steeping the flowers, leaves or fruit peelings -- in oil or alcohol. You can also use plant material to make a tea, steeping it in boiling water. Once you have your scented oil, tinctures and teas, you can use them to make a variety of products like lotion and creams, soap, fragrance oil and salves.
Things You'll Need
- Fresh citrus flowers
- Fresh citrus leaves
- Fresh citrus peel
- Quart glass jars
- Screw-on lids
- Vodka
- Strainer
- Almond, avocado, apricot kernel or canola oil
Instructions
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Tinctures
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1
Rinse flower blossoms and shake them as dry as possible. Pick only the petals and discard all the other parts of the flower. Citrus blossoms produce a floral, perfumed essential oil. If you are using the leaves, rinse them and pat them dry. If you are using the peel, use a sharp vegetable peeler or small knife to cut off just the colored portion of the peel. The leaves and the peel will produce the more familiar citrus scent.
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2
Pack as many petals, leaves or strips of peel as you can, into a clean, dry glass jar. Pour in enough vodka to completely cover the petals. Screw on the lid and store the jar in a cupboard away from light, for 2 or 3 days.
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3
Strain the plant materials out of the vodka. Pack more petals, leaves or strips of peel into the glass jar, pour the scented vodka that you strained, over the new batch of plant material, and top it off with more vodka, if necessary. Screw on the lid, store the jar as before, and strain again after two or three days. You can repeat this again, until the vodka is saturated with the fragrance of the plant material.
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4
Strain the final batch of citrus-infused vodka and store it in a glass jar with a screw lid. Use to make perfume, flavoring for food, or a toner for your skin.
Perfumed Oil
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5
Prepare your plant materials as you did for the tincture. Make sure the petals, leaves or peels are dry, with no water droplets clinging to them.
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6
Fill a glass jar as full as possible with the plant material and pour in enough oil to fill the jar. Screw on the lid, and store the oil for two or three days.
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7
Strain the oil, discarding the used plant material. Fill the jar again with petals, leaves or strips of peel, pour back in the oil you strained. Add more oil, if necessary to fill the jar. You can repeat this process two or three times, until the oil is saturated with fragrance and flavor.
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8
Store the oil in a closed container in the refrigerator. Use it to make lotions, creams, massage oil or flavoring for food.
Tea
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9
Prepare the plant material, as you did for the tincture.
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10
Use 1 tbsp. of plant material to 6 oz. of boiling water. Pour the boiling water over the blossoms, leaves or strips of peel, and allow it to steep for 5 minutes.
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11
Use the tea immediately as a tisane, or as an ingredient in lotion, cream or soap.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Use the essential-oil infused tea in your bath, or as a toner for your skin.
Make a liqueur with the perfumed vodka, by adding an equal amount of simple syrup. Make a small batch first, to make sure you like the taste, before using all your tincture to make a liqueur.
Wash your glass bottles and the lids in the dishwasher or in very hot soapy water. Rinse well and allow to dry before using them.
Any moisture in the oil will make the oil eventually smell musty. Dry the plant materials you are using thoroughly before infusing in oil.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit florida citrus fruit image by Edward Cooper from Fotolia.com
