Description
Hydrosol Storage Tips and Guidelines
Pure hydrosols can be more fragile than their essential oil counterparts. Hydrosols do not have the same concentrated anti-bacterial properties that essential oils possess and are subject to much more rapid degradation, especially when improperly stored.
Due to the highly fragile nature of hydrosols, we strongly encourage our customers to use the following guidelines for storing and handling hydrosols.
Direct sunlight and UV rays are especially damaging to hydrosols. Repeated exposure to any light source may be damaging to hydrosols as well. Store your bottles in a room that does not receive much, if any direct sunlight. Ideally, store your bottles in a cabinet, container or boxes to protect them from all light sources.
Amber glass bottles are ideal for storing hydrosols. Amber glass is the most affordable dark colored glass, but cobalt glass is beautiful and is known to be equally effective in blocking out damaging sunlight. From Nature with care ships hydrosols in plastic bottles to keep product and shipping costs reasonable. Larger glass bottles become costly and are more prone to breakage during transit. Since a number of our clients use their hydrosols in product formulation immediately after purchase, there is an added reason why it’s not always necessary to ship hydrosols, in glass bottles. Unless you intend to use up your hydrosols immediately after delivery, we recommend that you transfer them into dark glass bottles as promptly as possible.
When a bottle of hydrosol is left only partially full, the oxygen that also lives inside the bottle reacts with the hydrosol and begins to oxidize it. Oxidization can harm the fragile aromatic and therapeutic constituents of the hydrosol.
The empty space inside a bottle of oil is called the “headspace.” You can prolong the shelf life of your hydrosols by reducing this headspace. As an example, let’s say that you have a 16 oz. bottle of neroli hydrosol that is only half full. You will prolong the shelf life of your neroli hydrosol by either transferring the hydrosol into an 8 oz. bottle or by transferring it into two 4 oz. or four 2 oz. bottles. Transferring a larger quantity of hydrosol into multiple smaller bottles helps you use only what you need later on.
Oxygen is an enemy to hydrosols. Don’t overly tighten your bottle caps as they could potentially break and allow oxygen in, but do always ensure that you keep all bottle caps screwed tightly onto each of your bottles of hydrosol.
Store your hydrosols in a room that is kept cool and dry.
Hydrosols can be refrigerated (not frozen!) to prolong their shelf life.
Don’t allow unsterilized items like your fingers, cotton balls or other items to come into direct contact with the hydrosols you are storing. Instead, pour off the quantity that you need or measure it into a separate container and then work with that, leaving the integrity of the remaining hydrosols intact.
Floral Waters are not the same as natural hydrosols. Floral waters are synthetic, water-soluble fragrances that can be used to make linen sprays, face & hair mists, body splashes and other water based products. Hydrosols are natural, more fragile and require greater care in storage and handling.
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