How can I extract essential oils from a peppermint plant at home?

Question

Ive looked around on the internet and ive seen some pretty complicated methods of extracting essential oils from plants.I wanted to see if anyone has any simple methods where i could extract the oil from a peppermint plant in my kitchen.

I saw on a movie they extracted poison from an Oleander flower by boiling it,and i wanted to know if i can boil the plant to extract the oil into liquid or if that was just for the movie.

Answer 1

Peppermint has a good deal of oil so when you boil it it will bead up on the top after it cools down, but extracting it is time consuming. Cut the peppermint  into small pieces (a pound at least) Boil it for about 5 mins, simmer about 30mins. Let it cool. Use a dropper to suck up the oil beads and place into a small container. Once you get all the beads of oil you need to get the water out of it. You can just let it air dry overnight in the fridge uncovered. To concentrate it you would need to heat it ( almost a boil ) like you would do to chicken stock. Be careful not to burn it or yourself.

Answer 2

i suppose you could just steam it in a vegetable steamer, then collect the oil off the condensed water from the bottom of the pot?

Answer 3

Do you have to have the pure oil or might you consider using the fresh peppermint in maceration form?

That is easiest to do and is very useful in body oil concoctions.

Place the fresh plant parts in a glass container and cover with coconut oil, since it has the longest shelf life, and cap the container and set it on a window sill. Let the mixture mellow for a few weeks and then pour off the oil for use.

Answer 4

Hi,

making essential oils by yourself is very easy. You can use this essential oils for scenting your room or make floral water. but I doubt about its therapeutic value.

for instructions on making homemade essential oils, you can go to this site: