If you enjoy aromatherapy, you may be wondering how to make essential oils at home. It requires a little effort, but what is gained from the process is a completely natural, pure product, and it can be a lot of fun to make! While the initial set-up costs may seem expensive, when the price of these products over the course of a lifetime is considered, learning how to make essential oils at home is cheaper over the long term.

If you run or are planning on starting your own aromatherapy business, then knowing how to make essential oils at home is going to benefit you, as you will be able to tell your customers with no hesitation that the oils are natural, and of the best quality. In addition, there is a savings to the business in not having to buy from a manufacturer, and an increased profit margin on the sale.

The following outlines the basics in how to make essential oils at home. Firstly you will need a still, which is used to distill essential oils. It's possible to make your own, and there are plenty of instructions to be found on the internet. However, if you lack the time, and the know-how, then it's possible to buy a still designed specifically for this process.

The next step in how to make essential oils at home is harvesting your plant materials. For the best quality essential oils, different plants need to be harvested at particular times, so it's important that you are aware of the best harvesting time for each plant. This information can be found easily in a good guide to herbology, though depending on what climate is in your area, all of the correct plants may not be available.

You then need to decide whether you want to dry your plant material or not. Drying does reduce the amount of oil in the plant, but you will actually get more when it comes to distilling if the dried plant material is used, as it is possible to fit more material into each distilling cycle.

Once you've decided whether to dry your plant material or not, continue onto the next step of how to make essential oils at home. Add filtered or distilled water to your tank, following the manufacturers directions. When making these products, make sure that the water is close to, but not actually touching the plant material, which will be housed in a false bottom.

The next step in how to make essential oils at home is to pack your plant material tightly into the false bottom of the still. Then close the still and boil the water. Most plants begin to excrete their essential oils at 100 degrees Celsius, or 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

Different plants take different amounts of time for the full extraction process to work, so it's important to research this to ensure that the essential oil you obtain is of the highest quality.

Once your oil has been extracted, place into a dark glass storage container as soon as possible. If you require more of the product, simply repeat the process. It is possible to use he same container for storage.

The steps required to make essential oils at home are not complicated, they just require some knowledge, and the correct materials. However, it's well worth going to the trouble to make essential oils at home, as you can control the quality, and ensure that the oils are completely natural.