Guest guest Posted May 10, 2002 Report Share Posted May 10, 2002 Susan~ Welcome to a great group. >I reckon most of >ya'll have been doing stuff like this for some time asya'll know what each >other of ya'll are talking about. Oh not always, but we are good at asking questions. And you should feel free to do the same. >Since I am extremely new to stuff like this >I really am lost. The one thing eveyone keeps talking about is rose hydrosol. >And from what I understand a hydrosol can be made out of other things as >well, IE the oregano hydrosol. So my question is " What the heck is a >hydrosol? I am snipping from some of Butch's prior emails hope this helps you. I am sure that is ok with him, he is a very knowledgeable fella and an all round good guy. I have learned much from his posts. From Butch > 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/hydrosol.html If you have more questions just ask. Oh the above link is from Butch's web site and list the hydrosols he carries. If I can help you further just ask. Ok I am back to pouring candles. Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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