› Forums › HomeGrown Herbalist Student Forum › Essential Oils › Distilling herbs
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November 21, 2023 at 10:24 AM #43984
Laurie Sheppard
StudentHi, I have began experimenting with distilling herbs for essential oils. I have tried peppermint, spearmint, lavender and wintergreen. I got a little oil and a lot of lovely hydrosol. I was wondering if others have had success?
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November 26, 2023 at 2:48 PM #44176
Chris Devincenzi
StudentHello Laurie, I tried distilling peppermint years ago and got very little oil. The process was fun and intriguing. You really have to have a lot of plant material. So it was not cost effective for me. I think that I’m really after the hydrosol and the wee bit of oil is a bonus then it’s worthwhile.
Cheers, Chris
4 users thanked author for this post.
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November 26, 2023 at 6:13 PM #44188
Joelle
StudentI don’t know anything about distilling but it has been on my list to learn. Where did y’all get your knowledge from? And what is hydrosol?
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November 27, 2023 at 9:44 AM #44219
Laurie Sheppard
StudentTopic AuthorHydrosol is the liquid you get from distilling. You remove the essential oil from the top and you are left with an amazing smelling liquid. I use mine for room/linen spray.
1 user thanked author for this post.
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January 30, 2025 at 1:59 PM #61760
April Cooper
StudentAnyone have any other interesting uses for the leftover hydrosol?
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January 13, 2024 at 3:59 PM #47205
Charlotte Chumlea
StudentI purchased an Alembic still last fall, but have not yet used it. I have planted rosemary, lavender, and chamomile in hopes of having enough plant material to begin distilling this year or next depending upon the growth of my transplants.
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January 24, 2024 at 10:56 PM #48413
Yolanda Pretorius
StudentHi Charlotte, I don’t know what type of still you bought but I have also been experimenting with a copper one. One thing I quickly learned was that it requires a lot of water to keep cooling down the steam in the second pot so that it can condense. After Googling around I found a solution to this problem by adding an extra 40L container with a small water pump to the system so that the water can keep recycling and you don’t use that much.
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May 10, 2025 at 12:58 AM #65460
Elizabeth Bass
StudentHydrosol is the liquid you get from distilling. You remove the essential oil from the top and you are left with an amazing smelling liquid. I use mine for room/linen spray.
Wondering what all hydrosol can be used for, does it need refrigerated, and how long is it good for? Thank you!
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