Essential oils are essential to aromatherapy, and there are a couple of different methods for extracting them from the plants. Solvent extraction is used for plants that cannot withstand the high heat used in steam distillation. For some plants, the heat damages them so much that the essential oils are ruined therefore, they must be extracted via other means.

For essential oils solvent extraction methods one might use alcohol, hexane, ethanol, ether, methanol or even petroleum to coax the oils out of the plant. Most people don’t approve of these methods, however, because some of the solvent will end up in the final essential oils that are consumed. This makes for an impure oil, that aromatherapy and healing purists can’t tolerate.

During solvent extraction, the plant is put into a bath of solvents which dissolves the plant material. This liquid mixture now contains the essential oils and other parts of the plant and is filtered and goes through a low pressure distillation process. Alcohol is then used to help separate out the essential oils.

This method is fast and inexpensive, but since it produces a non pure oil, it is mostly used in oils that are put into perfumes and not on the skin. The other problem is that anyone allergic to the solvents will have a reaction if rubbed on the skin.

A new essential oil solvent extraction technology called critical carbon dioxide extraction will yield a highly concentrated essental oil. It uses high pressure and low heat to turn carbon dioxide into liquid. This produces an inert solvent which will not alter the essential oils. The best part is that after the extraction is complete, the carbon dioxide turns back into a gas leaving only the essential oils behind. It produces a high quality, pure essential oil but is very expensive at this time.

Another method, called maceration, is sometimes used with good results. This method of extracting essential oils involves soaking the plant in hot oil. This causes the cell membranes to burst and the essential oil to leak out. Then the plant itself is removed and the oil is decanted.