Drying Essential Oils.

After draining the oil collected in the receiver, it’s time to remove any remaining water in the oil: your essential oil will now need 'drying'.

Take a glass pear-shaped separation flask containing the oil and place in the support ring on your laboratory stand.

Carefully tap off the visible water layer at the base: this is hydrosol and can be used in the production of various products including soaps etc. The oil is now visibly free from water but will still be saturated and in need of dehydrating. If this water is not removed the essential oil can possibly hydrolyse in time, i.e. it may react chemically with water it contains - and this process can create some undesirable off-notes.

Always keep a bung in the top of your separator except when letting liquid out at the bottom tap: the stopper should then be raised a little to let the air in. If you forget this move it will create a vacuum and 'bubble' - mixing everything back together again!

Now place a funnel with a wide stem in the top if the separation flask and add about two tea spoonsful of anhydrous sodium sulphate, a simple salt that is quite harmless. It is a white powder and will remove the last vestiges of water from your oil while itself becoming the hydrated sodium sulphate in the process.

Replace the stopper and gently shake and swirl the contents for a few seconds and then, with the stopper firmly in place, hold the separator upside down and open the tap. There will be a slight rush of air as the pressure equilibrates: then immediately shut the tap and turn the separator the right way up. Repeat this procedure a few times more until no further air escapes when the tap is opened. By now some of the sodium sulphate will have absorbed the water and taken on the ‘crystalline’ appearance of its hydrated form, whilst your oil should have become absolutely crystal clear. If the oil is still slightly murky, give the sodium sulphate a little longer to do its job, then repeat the swirling. If all else fails, add a little more of the dessicant - the anhydrous sodium sulphate, and that should do the trick.

You will then need to filter the dried oil to remove the salt crystals. Line a funnel with a filter

disc and carefully filter into a suitable glass receiver making sure to keep the oil within the filter paper. Don’t overfill the funnel so that the oil overflows and runs between the filter paper and the glass.

When finished, label the bottle with the name of the essential oil, date etc. and store in a cool place.