Make your own clove oil: DIY instructions

Making your own clove oil – how to do it yourself

 Before you start making your own clove oil, there are a few preparations you need to make. The first of these is to harvest the cloves at the right time. Only cloves harvested before flowering contain enough oil to be processed into clove oil.

• Clove oil is not extracted from fresh cloves, but from the dried buds of these popular flowers. Accordingly, you must first dry the clove blossoms. You can do this, for example, by hanging the flowers on a clothesline in the attic.
• To determine whether the cloves are ready for further processing, gently run your fingers over the plant stem. If you then have a trace of oil on your fingers, the cloves are on the right track. The dried flowers will have lost about 60 percent of their volume and will therefore be noticeably smaller.
• The number of flowers you use for your clove oil depends on how concentrated you want the mixture to be. Generally, about eight to ten flowers are used for 30 milliliters of clove oil. Please note that very high doses of clove oil can cause side effects, depending on the application. In addition to the dried clove flowers, you will also need a carrier oil. Olive oil is most commonly used for clove oil.
• After pouring the dried clove flowers into a jar, add the olive oil. This should cover the flowers well. Depending on how much clove oil you want to make, the filling level should be about four to five centimeters above the flowers.
• Then shake the closed jar several times before storing it in a cool, dark, and dry place.
• After about two weeks, your clove oil is ready and can be transferred to small glass containers. A small, fine-mesh sieve or coffee filter is ideal for filtering out the flowers. Alternatively, you can leave the flowers in the clove oil.
• The homemade clove oil should be stored in small, darkened glass containers, which you can obtain from a pharmacy, for example. Ideally, you should use containers that have a pipette. You should also store the finished clove oil in a cool, dry, and dark place.