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Most essential oils are thin in viscosity,
meaning they are almost of a water-like consistency. Some steam distilled
essential oils, namely patchouli and sandalwood, are thicker but still are
relatively easy to work with. Some CO2s, absolutes, balsams, resins and other
botanical aromatics, however, can be nearly solid at room temperature and are
much harder to work with, measure and blend.
Heating oils until they are at a workable
consistency helps, but it's important to heat oils gently and for as brief a
period as possible. Heat can potentially destroy the fragile constituents of
particular oils.
I recently received a question from an
AromaWeb/AromaTalk visitor who would like to know the best method to handle
thick oils. Beyond my basic recommendation to gently
heat thick oils in warm water, I have wanted to take out some time to
develop an article where I describe and explore the options for working with
thick oils.
When first working with a new oil, I begin
by using a water bath technique: I gently heat the bottle or jar of oil by
placing it in a small bowl of warm water, and then allow the bottle to rest in
the warm water for 10 minutes or more. If the water cools, I replace the water.
It is often a trial-and-error process, and each oil can differ in the precise
temperature of warm water that works and the length of time that's needed for
the oil to reach a workable consistency. I also use this method for liquefying
balsams and resins like benzoin. I have also used it to loosen hard vegetable
butters from their containers for easier removal. Of course, you risk damaging
the legibility of labels. If that matters to you, you can try applying a
waterproof, clear tape to the label before submerging the container into water.
Sidenote: This water bath technique is also a useful technique for opening
bottles that have tops that refuse to come off. Over time, my bottles of
patchouli and vetiver can become difficult to open, especially if I've allowed
any essential oil to drip onto the grooves of where the cap screws onto the
bottle. I place the bottle, upside down, into a bowl of warm water and allow it
to rest there for at least 15 minutes. Of course, this technique can risk
allowing water to enter the bottle, but I haven't experienced that problem yet.
Marge Clark is founder and President of Nature's Gift and is one of AromaWeb's
largest advertisers and supporters. Marge is an expert in working with precious,
rare and thick absolutes, CO2s and other aromatic oils. I asked her for her
input in compiling tips in working with solid/thick oils, and she happily
shared some especially helpful tidbits:
- Heat thick
oils in warm water. Mentally imagine how baby bottles are gently warmed.
If you are planning to blend the oil with a carrier oil, be sure to also
warm the carrier oil. "Plunking a warm dollop of, let's say Calendula
Total into cold jojoba gives you jojoba with a blob of CO2 in it."
- Marge
discovered that using a triple
boiler heating method
rather than just using a double boiler helps, especially when heating a
tiny bottle. Marge recommends placing the small bottle in a custard cup or
tea cup with a small bit of warm water. Then set the small cup into a larger
container of hot water. So if you
are looking to buy essential oils visit Allindiayellowpage.com to get detail information about essential oil
available stores.