Re: seperating oil and water

[Guest guest]

I don't understand how this is an essential oil. from what i have

learned/studied, most eo's are steam distilled and wouldn't have dirt in them.

nor would they have water left over as a residue. sounds to me like youu have

more of a peppermint infusion than eo.

deb

seperating oil and water

What is the best way to pour oil off of water. Specifically, I

purchased some peppermint esssential oil from a local grower and

there was still water and dirt in the bottom of the bottle. I know

how to get rid of the dirt, just filter it. But I am not so sure of

how to properly pour off the oil without letting the water through

too.

[Guest guest]

It is an essential oil, the farmer I bought it from explained the

process and I will be able to witness it first hand in a month or

two. Yes it is steam distilled. They put the mint into a large

trailer that is hooked up to the steam pipes. The steam heats the

mint up to some really high temperature and as the steam rises it

catches the oils in the process. Those droplets of water and oil are

then put into another machine that does some filtration and drops the

temperature down to 150 degrees. It then sits for a few days so the

water and sediment can collect at the bottom of the very large

barrels. The peppermint essential oil that I received was the last of

his stock until august and that probably why there was sediment in

it. Anything that comes from nature, unless it has been thoroughly

cleaned first, has the potential of having dirt on it. Its a simple

straining to get the sediment out. Its the water that I am having

issues with.

Steam distillation uses water so it isnt so far off to think that

there would be water than needed to be removed at some point in the

process.

> I don't understand how this is an essential oil. from what i have

learned/studied, most eo's are steam distilled and wouldn't have dirt

in them. nor would they have water left over as a residue. sounds

to me like youu have more of a peppermint infusion than eo.

> deb

[Guest guest]

Bobbi,

How fun to get essential oil directly from the still!

I wouldn't filter it as you might loose some of the oil. I would

take the smallest (narrowest) pippette you can and gradually suck

off the oil from the top. If you try to pour it you wil risk mixing

them again. Or if it is a large amount, you can pour a majority of

it, then let it set and pipette off the smaller amount. I assume the

dirt is in the water phase and so will just stay back with the water

then. It will be better to loose some of your oil rather than get

some water in your oil!

Sagescript Institute, LLC

Microbiology Assays

> What is the best way to pour oil off of water. Specifically, I

> purchased some peppermint esssential oil from a local grower and

> there was still water and dirt in the bottom of the bottle. I know

> how to get rid of the dirt, just filter it. But I am not so sure

of

> how to properly pour off the oil without letting the water through

> too.

>

> Please Help,

>

> Bobbi Benski

[Guest guest]

Hi Bobbi,

It sounds like the local distiller needs to learn how clean up their

product after the distillation process. If you have any of the transfer

pipettes you can use them to get the water off. No matter what you're going to

end

up loosing a little bit of the oil but it's better than having the water

there.

Bill

Seraphim's Touch

http://store.seraphimstouch.com

Essential Oils, r Oils, Lotions, Body Butters and Bath Salts.