Learning About Hydrosols

I’m getting ready to make another batch of natural bug repellent and remembered my recipe calls for Lavender Hydrosol. When I wrote my original article about this recipe last Spring I just followed the recipe. You can see the article here: https://marykisner.com/natural-bug-repellent-for-dogs/.

Here is the final recipe for this repellent:

I ordered Lavender Hydrosol from Amazon…starting with a small bottle and then went to this quart jug so I could mix up enough for Nittany Greyhounds:

I did a little research that reminded me that this is basically lavender water…that is a byproduct from the distillation process of extracting lavender essential oil…and it is water soluble. Since my recipe called for lavender hydrosol and essential oils they would not stay mixed. I had to add an emulsifier to help them disperse. Polysorbate20 was recommended in the recipe.

Learning More About Hydrosols

This year I wanted to know more about Hydrosols. I found this book that was very helpful:

This book, Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy by Suzanne Catty, has a wealth of information about how hydrosols are made, how the field of aromatherapy is maturing and how the production of hydrosols is becoming more consistent around the world. The author’s research provides many recipes to use hydrosols, from skin care products to using them in cooking to enhance flavors. While few essential oils are safe for babies (and even cats), hydrosols could be just the right product for many of those products.

Next, I did a search online for sources of hydrosols. Many companies that sell essential oils also offer hydrosols of those same plants. One company had a great article about hydrosols with the following illustration:

On another site, www.edenbotanicals.com I was able to order a set of 8 tiny spray bottles that would let me try them. So…these are very tiny samples, but might give me some ideas for future products.

I can see there is so much more to learn about Hydrosols; I’ve barely scratched the surface! Look for Hydrosols to appear in some of my future products! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.