Hydrosols - What Are They

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

> Could someone explain the composition and uses of hydrosols versus

> essential oils?

 

I changed the subject line from " Question " to the above because it would

be difficult for someone to find the post later in the archives. All

of us need to try to keep subject lines like we would the labels on

files in a cabinet or files in our PC. :-P

 

I'll tell you what Hydrosols are .. and let the ladies on the list tell

you how they use them .. especially Chris uses a lot of them .. and from

the sales this last 4-5 days .. lots of other folks on this list are

using a LOT of them.

 

Hydrosols are much less concentrated than EO .. so they are more gentile

and you don't have to be concerned with irritation or sensitization ..

though there is no guarantee that one will not become sensitized from at

some point by the smallest application of an EO .. that can happen,

but odds are against it .. and also the lower the concentration of an EO

the lower the chance of sensitization.

 

> I'm in the bare beginning phases of creating miscellaneous body products.

> Right now it's just massage oil & bath salts, but hoping to move on to

> simple soaps & lotions.

>

> Thanks for your info! (Excellent group, by the way! I've already learned

> a lot here.)

 

Glad to hear it .. its really the best group on the Net .. and the

fastest growing group too .. membership has increased over 350 folks

just this year. :-P

 

Below is a repeat of a post I made to this list in December 2003.

 

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

 

Hydrosols are a by-product of the distillation process. When we distill

an aromatic .. we get four products .. essential oil, hydrosol, waste

aromatic material .. and waste water. Don't confuse the water used to

distill with the hydrosol .. little of the water will make it through

the distillation conversion .. but the hydrosol (which is simply an EO

bearing water) will.

 

The hydrosol is that water that is condensed into the Florentine Flask

and upon which the essential oil, which is lighter than water, is

floating. Hydrosols contain water soluble aromatic chemicals not found

in the EO as well as the oil soluble chemicals found in the EO. What I

am saying is .. the Hydrosol will more closely resemble the chemical

profile of the aromatic plant from which distillation occurred than will

the EO.

 

Check it out for yourself in the photos on pages 1 and 2 of the

following: http://www.av-at.com/distillation/rosadamascena1.html

 

Hydrosols are far less concentrated than EO .. and safer and gentler to

use than the EO .. but they do contain microscopic amounts of the EO.

That amount will depend upon two things .. the price of the EO and how

hydrophilic the hydrosol is. Meaning .. some EO will remain in the

water at a greater percentage .. and if the EO is not costly, it is not

economically feasible to remove it all. But for some, like Rose Otto in

particular and also Melissa .. both very hydrophilic, a process called

cohobation removes the lion's share of EO from the oil-bearing waters

via a second form of distillation .. of the waters only.

 

Some folks prefer the term Hydrolat .. and some prefer Hydrosol .. I can

handle either .. but I can handle ONLY those two terms. Many rumors

exist about Hydrosols .. some are based on normal misinformation common

in this industry .. others are based on incorrect information in some

publications. Contrary to popular belief, Hydrosols are NOT clear as a

crystal .. they will look cloudy if not filtered often and the filtering

begins at the still .. but we do it again after a barrel has set in

place for a while. The reason is because in addition to traces of EO in

that water, there will also be microscopic pieces of plant material - so

it has to be filtered finer than fine.

 

Back to terms .. I don't have a BIG problem with the term " Distillate "

but I think it leaves much to be desired and can be confused with other

things. I do have problems with " Aromatic Waters " but it is probably

more descriptive of what folks sometimes get - but not what they really

want. Why? Because we can find Hydrosols for sale that are from

fruits and aromatic plants that are NOT distilled .. and if there is no

distillation .. there is no Hydrosol. To me, the term Aromatic Water is

like recombined or condensed fruit juice. Folks take some distilled

water, drop in some EO or Absolute and then shake their booty till its

ready to sell. But it has to be shaken often and it does NOT have the

water soluble chemical components of a Hydrosol .. NOT a true Hydrosol.

 

The term I hate and one that is prohibited in my company - is FLORAL

WATERS .. folks who don't have stills can make floral waters - but they

can't make hydrosols or hydrolats without a still. This process is not

too different than soaking horse manure in distilled water and calling

it horse manure Hydrosol. Which .. by the way .. is likely to have some

therapeutic value. Take a feller from Texas who was raised on a ranch

and now lives (exists?) in the big city .. boy will likely gain a lot of

emotional value from sniffing .. or maybe drinking .. that mess. ;-)

 

I'll tell you something you should watch out for with some Hydrosols -

micro bacteria and mold!!! From a safety standpoint there is even far

more reason to test Hydrosols than there is EO .. Hydrosols are often

taken internally by many folks - rubbed on the skin and in the eyes by

many other folks .. so in my opinion, its important to test them on a

regular basis .. and we do that every 90 days .. at Superior Labs, Inc.,

2514 Billingsly Road, Columbus, Ohio 43235. If you know of any other

person in the USA who does this .. please pass their name to me. ;-p

 

Hydrosols are mostly water and water is an ideal breeding ground for

microbes, fungus and mold. Ideally, you can extend the shelf life

(somewhat) by refrigerating hydrosols and that's because refrigeration

slows the growth of bacteria - that's why we use refrigerators for

foods. Refrigeration reduces the likelihood of these things happening -

doesn't prevent it - reduces it. Doesn't prevent your mayonnaise from

going bad either but reduces the likelihood and extends the shelf life.

 

Ensuring that containers used for Hydrosols are sterile is important.

The drinking water we get from the tap is NOT sterile .. and reports of

analysis of my Hydrosols indicates that they are more sterile than many

of the bottled drinking waters found on grocery shelves. How can this

be? As I said, when they exit the still they are sterile. For my

Turkish hydrosols - I have new barrels constructed and deliver them to

the still .. they have my codes stamped in them so I can control such

things - not easy with other distillers but I have put the word out that

I will stop buying from anyone who takes shortcuts. I'm telling you all

this because folks in this industry do not tell of their failures - they

only talk of their successes - so watch out.

 

SO - ideally ALL Hydrosols should be refrigerated. But keeping them

locked tight, out of sight, out of the light and not contaminating them

ourselves by touching the lip of the bottle or the cap or pouring unused

hydrosol back into the container, etc., also helps greatly in avoiding

contamination. It is almost always the end user who contaminates

hydrosols - same with cosmetics.

 

BUT keep in mind that when one buys 3,000 kilograms (three metric tons)

as I often do, finding a refrigerator that large is a difficult task ..

so, I keep my 50 kilo barrels in a temperature controlled warehouse in

Maryland .. never less than 57 degrees or so there.

 

Most EO will never have bacterial contamination. This also holds for

the Hydrosols of those EO .. Oregano hydrosol won't allow bacterial

contamination as the carvacrol in the oil doesn't let them survive.

 

All Hydrosols are sterile upon leaving the still .. but some can be

contaminated by the end user if they are handled incorrectly after the

distillation process.

 

There are many therapeutic uses for hydrosols - especially Rose ... its

used for cooking, as a spritz for and directly in the eyes to cure

conjunctivitis .. Yarrow Hydrosol is effective as an anti inflammatory

for problem skin .. Oregano Hydrosol is antimicrobial and calms the

stomach .. adds digestion. All of the Hydrosols have therapeutic value.

 

Here in Turkey .. you can find a dozen or so Hydrosols on the shelves in

supermarkets .. folks drink them .. routinely .. and I drink them too.

 

That's it I reckon. Y'all keep smiling.

 

Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

GC Tested EO, Rose Products, Tested Hydrosols and other nice things

shipped to you from our store in Friendsville, MD .. pop: 597