Urban Herbalism: DIY Hydrosols

Here's a fun afternoon project that will make your house smell lovely and give you a useful product in return! A hydrosol is a steam distillation of an herbal decoction- called a disillate. The great thing about a hydrosol is that it allows you to access the whole spectrum of available nutrients an herb contains. They are often compared to aromatherapy oils, which they do contain, but a hydrosol boasts containing both the water soluble and the fat soluble properties of an herb. When a recipe calls for rose water or orange water, they mean a hydrosol of rose petals or orange zest. You can make it yourself!

In this post, I am using eucalyptus that I bought at the farmers market and dried. Originally I had meant to craft with it, but I had so much of it that I had to consider how to play with the extra.

Eucalyptus is an herb with so many healing properties: antimicrobial, cooling sore muscles, opening clogged noses, clarifying the air with a fresh scent. So I decided I would use it for a hydrosol. This eucalyptus is from an ornamental relative of the eucalyptus known to koalas, but still contains the useful elements of the same.

Hydrosols can be used as toners, body spray, cleansing agents, muscle rubs, after-sun sprays and air fresheners. Others -like rosemary- are useful for hair care.

To make a hydrosol (pictures of each stage, below): 

1. Start with a large stock pot. Using a rock, brick, or, in our case, an upside down mortar or crucible. Place filtered water to an inch or so of your stand. 
2. Add two or three heaping handfuls handfuls of the herbs that you would like to distill. Lavender, chamomile, peppermint... anything leafy and lovely makes a good first bet. Make sure there is room for the herbs to move freely, but don't be afraid to add a healthy bunch. 
3. Place an empty heat-safe bowl on top of your hard surface. Use a bowl you know to be sturdy. Sometimes I use a ramekin, since I know they can absorb high heat. In this case, I tried a sturdy bowl I got from a thrift store. 
4. Cover your pot with an upside down metal lid or a large metal bowl. DO NOT USE GLASS. We made this mistake once. Shattered the top of my stock pot. Like exploded. Like all over. Don't go there. 
5. Turn your pot at medium heat. While it is heating up, add ice, as much as you can fit, to the bowl on top of your pot. This will cause the steam that rises to become liquid again quickly, sliding back into your bowl. 
6. Allow to come fill boil. Very carefully, after about ten or so minutes of boil, check your inner bowl. It should be filling with distillate. This liquid will be clear and scented, you may see drops of essential oils floating on the surface. 
7. For this hydrosol, I actually got several bowls worth of amazing eucalyptus goodness. I think the moment you are "finished" is the moment you notice a decrease in smell quality. Around 30-45 minutes. 
8. The bowls of distillate should be added to a tightly sealed container and allowed to condition in the fridge over night. From there, add to a spray bottle to keep it fresh as you use it. It's great for all kinds of things. I recently lent to a friend with a cold for her pillow. I've used it as a room freshener and a toner. I'm struggling to NOT to use it all!