Lavender essential oil is one of my favorite ways to get relaxed (especially during the stressful year of 2020). But at my level of stress buying enough oil is getting expensive quickly. I figured it must be cheaper to make my own. After poking around on the internet, I found that making lavender essential oil is pretty easy, and way cheaper than buying pre-made oils.
All you need is a few common supplies from around the house, and a little bit of time. Bam: your own home-made lavender essential oil. If you’re intimidated by the oil-making process, lavender is a great place to start: it’s easy and smells amazing. Let’s get started, so you can get ready to relax.
Obviously if you’re going to make lavender essential oil you want to get your hands on some lavender buds to start out. Dried lavender is the easiest way to make this happen.
Release the fragrance
Here’s where you get to start smelling that delicious lavender smell. Grab a mortar and pestle and start gently crushing the buds. Emphasis on gently: you don’t want to completely mash them. Just enough to release the scent.
If you don’t have a mortar and pestle just laying around, you can snag this one from Amazon for all your oil-making needs.
We’re going to use our first of two jars for this stage. Put your buds at the bottom of the jar and choose an oil as your carrier. It could be olive oil, coconut oil, almond oil…just about anything works.
Take your chosen oil and pour it over your buds so that it covers them but leaves some space at the top. Then close that jar tight and let it sit.
undefined
Find the right baking sheet
When your oil has finished steeping, it’s time to transfer the oil to a new jar. But you don’t want those buds in your finished oil, so you’ll need something to strain the oil as you transfer it into the new jar.
I like to use cheesecloth, but in a pinch you can also use a coffee filter if you have one around the house.
Funnels make life easier
I like to put my filter at the top of a funnel. This makes it much easier to manage pouring without spilling (and after infusing this oil for multiple weeks I do not want to waste any).
This set of collapsible funnels is great because there are multiple sizes, so no matter what kind of jar you’re using, it works well.
Use the right bottle
You’ve got your final product now! But you want to make sure that you’ve put it in a bottle that will keep it safe and usable for a long time. Pick something with tinted glass so that your oil doesn’t get damaged by the sun.
You’ll also want to make sure the jar or bottle is airtight. These classic little bottles are a great choice for any essential oil.
If you’re like me, you cannot do a project like this and not make it as adorable as possible. I like to add hand-made labels to my bottles when the oil is finished so I know what’s what on my shelves.
Take it to the next level.
If you’ve finished this process and just want more, never fear: what we’ve done is an infusion. You can also do a distillation, which is a bit more complicated. Check out the Essential Oil Maker’s Handbook to learn about other methods of making essential oils, or try a different scent.
Don’t forget the most important part
Now that you’ve made your essential oil you want to make sure your whole house smells absolutely perfect. Get this cute diffuser to make the most of your new oils. You’ve earned it.