Steam Distillation: How We Extract Lavender’s Purest Drops
Steam Distillation: How We Extract Lavender’s Purest Drops
Steam distillation is one of the oldest, most trusted methods for extracting essential oils — and it's our go-to process at Homestead Lavender Farm. Why? Because it’s gentle, effective, and preserves the delicate compounds that give lavender its signature scent.
Here’s how it works in a nutshell: we place freshly harvested lavender (flowers, buds, stems, and a few leaves) into a still. As water heats below, steam rises through the plant material, coaxing the oil out from within. That steam — now full of fragrant oil molecules — travels through a condenser where it cools and separates into two things: essential oil and hydrosol.
💧 The essential oil floats to the top and is collected for use in everything from massage oils to aromatherapy blends.
💦 The hydrosol (a gentle floral water) is captured too, perfect for linens, skin care, and even pet-safe sprays.
Lavender is a steam-sensitive plant, which makes this method ideal. It allows us to distill at low pressure and preserve the integrity of those volatile oils without burning or breaking them down.
According to ScienceDirect, steam distillation has been used for centuries to extract essential oils from perfumery plants by passing steam through botanical matter and collecting the condensed vapors. And while it sounds high-tech, it’s nature’s version of alchemy — steam in, lavender gold out.
Want to see the process in action? This short video by Tazeka Aromatherapy does a great job of visualizing how it all works.
📚 Curious what else goes into making lavender oil or how we grow it here in Tennessee? Check out our complete lavender FAQ:
Your Lavender Questions, Answered
🔬 For the Science-Minded
If you're curious about the technical side of steam distillation, there's a fantastic research study that breaks it down in detail, covering lavender, basil, and rosemary. It models yield curves, extraction rates, and even the math behind mass transfer.
Read the full article here:
Steam Distillation Modeling for Essential Oil Extraction Process – Industrial Crops and Products (2009)