Hydrosol/Hydrolats ** Making Your Own ??

[Guest guest]

Yo Janet,

 

> I received a price list from a distributor who carries Floral Waters.

 

So far .. sounds like a real rookie distributor .. or if they are trying

to make any claims, they are a con artist.

 

> They can be purchased in 1 gal kits.

 

Seems to be a fair way to package .. more bang for the buck first time

around cause folks ain't likely to buy the second time .. ;-p

 

> The kits consist of a bottle with 15g of concentrate, a vial with 4g

> of sorbitol and instructions.

 

Concentrate what? Is the concentrate supposed to be an aromatic oil?

 

> The kits do not contain the 1 gal of distilled water necessary to

> complete the product.

 

Cheaper to ship .. cuts off around 8 pounds. Cheaper to buy and stock

as all they have to stock is the crap mentioned above .. ;-p

 

> It does say Do not use floral waters internally or for cooking.

 

Great .. does it say what you should use them for?

 

> Some years ago I was told this product was a hydrosol.

 

The person who told you that was misinformed.

 

> Comments? Oh come on, I know you have some.

 

I have a couple .. and I would like to hear Kathleen's comments too.

 

> Janet

 

There are some fairly efficient ways to make a hydrosol .. all of them

involve the use of a still. ;-p

 

There are important differences between a TRUE distilled hydrosol and

one you make yourself .. or even Rose Otto (EO) or Absolute or some

other EO in distilled water.

 

First, in addition to the small amounts of EO found in hydrosols (or

hydrolats) produced by steam or hydro-steam distillation, you also find

water-soluble constituents of the plant that you won't find in the EO.

The chemistry, therapeutic value and odor will be different in a True

Hydrosol than in a man-made Floral Water made by putting EO in water.

Distilled waters contain the volatile components found in plants but the

EO in water won't contain this. This concentrate is likely to have far

less value than the useless effort of trying to mix EO with water.

 

Hydrosols are naturally diluted, but with an EO in water you either have

to add a dispersing agent or shake it every time you use it .. and still

it's likely you won't get a proper dilution.

 

Hydrosols can be used where EOs shouldn't be used - like in the area of

the eyes or mucous membranes. In many countries, ingesting hydrosols

for the therapeutic value is a norm - Turkey is one of those countries.

But you wouldn't do that with an EO in water. And the one you mention

is not to be used for any of these purposes.

 

Hydrosols are mild enough for use on infants but you wouldn't use an EO

in water on your own skin, much less a baby's skin ... the one you refer

to could not be used at all.

 

Pure rose hydrosol, one of the products of distillation, can be safely

consumed in massive quantities. I drink it mixed with club soda - it's

refreshing. My maid/cook uses many hydrosols in her cooking - as do

many Turks. Now, she's started using a few EOs but this is due to my

insistence. Many desserts in Turkey are made using Rose Hydrosol ..

Lokum (Turkish Delight) and Ashure are but a couple that most Westerners

are familiar with. But I wouldn't drink it or eat it if I was not sure

it was the real thing and some non-AT sources don't know the difference.

The product you mention can't be used for these purposes. Come to think

of it (maybe I asked this) what can it be used for? ;-p

 

EO in water can work fine for lots'a purposes - household disinfecting

or fragrancing laundry or curtains are a few examples. But you would

not use it for therapeutic purposes.

 

Finally, why one go to the trouble of making something expensive and

useless from a therapeutic standpoint when they can get the real thing a

lot cheaper? It takes over 4 metric tons (8,820 pounds) of rose petals

to make a kilogram (2.205 pounds) of Rose Otto .. and also from that

hydro-steam distillation process we get a pure Rose Hydrosol .. and it's

not all that expensive.

 

Rose Hydrosol .. or for that matter, all hydrosols, are not expensive.

I pay more for my barrels than for the hydrosols in them .. but the

internationl shipping and fixed costs of export adds a lot of cost.

This is the real cost of an imported hydrosol and all decent Rose

Hydrosols are imported if you live in North America.

 

Still, they're pretty danged inexpensive for true hydrosols and I'll

point out that some suppliers use the term " floral water " to mean both

true hydrosols and EOs in water, so if you're not sure what the supplier

means you might wanna ask before buying! That's my opinion.

 

By the way, did you mention what that Floral Water can be used for? ;-p

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com