Page 18 - Essential Oils for Beginners

Essential Oils for Beginners

Extracting essential oils Sandalwood essential oil
is created using steam
After proper harvesting, plant parts are transported to a distillation.
facility, where the oil is extracted. No matter how carefully
or expertly a plant is selected, cared for, and harvested, the
To retrieve the oil from the Hawaiian sandalwood
quality of an essential oil can either be preserved or ruined
tree, the outer layers of the wood are stripped
during the extraction process. There are two main methods
away from the heartwood, or the wood located in
for extracting essential oils: distillation and expression.
the center of the tree. The heartwood is chipped
into fine pieces, filtered, and then chipped even
The main objective of each of these methods is to separate
further to create incredibly fine pieces. The wood
the essential oil from the plant part to make it a useable
then undergoes a 36-hour steam distillation
product. Distillation and expression are organic processes
process, using high heat and pressure to extract the
that allow aromatic compounds to be gently separated from
Sandalwood oil.
the rest of the plant, while also preserving the potent and
delicate chemical components of the essential oil.

Distillation is the process of

seperating the oil from the plant
material using heat.

The plant matter is suspended
above boiling water.

The resulting steam extracts
the oil from the plant.

When the oil cools, it
returns to a liquid state,
which is then collected.

During this process, distillers must be precise, paying
careful attention to temperature, time of distillation, the
amount of pressure used, and so on. Because of this
attention to detail, it becomes almost an art form.

18