Re: filters for tinctures and preservation

[Guest guest]

> You do not need to refrigerate tinctures. Hydrosols benefit by

refrigeration, as do citrus essential oils, but tinctures are sufficiently

preserved as is and do not need the cold.

....I usually use cheesecloth to strain my preparations

I know that Jeanne rose says lilac tinctures should be refrigerated from season

to season, why's that?

I'm sure I heard people speaking of refrigerating thier tinctures.....

do you not find that the cheesecloth soaks up the smell of one tincture, thus

inhibiting the use of this same cheesecloth for other plant tinctures?

Thank you for your response

Hemla

[Guest guest]

> I know that Jeanne rose says lilac tinctures should be refrigerated from

season to season, why's that?

> I'm sure I heard people speaking of refrigerating thier tinctures.....

I'm not sure about keeping them refrigerated, but I do know that heat, UV

light and air will eventually deteriorate a tincture. I keep mine in amber

glass bottles and store them in a cool, dark closet.

Cat

[Guest guest]

> these are my questions -1. must we worry of the bleach in the coffee filters?

should I look for unbleached filters or does this not matter?

> 2. I remember while learning Chinese herbology my teacher mentioning that 10%

alcohol is enough to preserve, Tinctures are a much higher percentage, why would

they need refrigeration?

> I would love to hear more information on these subject

> Thank you

> Hemla

That does not sound right. An oil and water emulsion which is subject to mold

and bacterial growth could be preserved with alcohol at a rate of 22% (that's

with pure alcohol). Alcohol based hand sanitizers need to be 62% alcohol. So

if your alcohol is 190 proof or 95% alcohol it will have 5% water, so you have

to factor that into your calculation to get the proper volume of alcohol. Hope

that makes sense!

Maggie