1 Cup salt

10 Drops e.O. Palmarosa or ti tree

10 Drops e.O. Lemon

A.H. winter savory, ti tree, or oregano, or a combination

Combine baking soda, salt, and essential oils in a glass bowl and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle the cleaning powder over the surface, wet a cloth with the hydrosol, and use a little elbow grease. The mix is gritty enough to remove bath residue but will not scratch the surface. Rinse well for a clean shine.

TELEPHONE SPRITZ

40 Ml ethyl alcohol (not rubbing alcohol) or overproof vodka

5 Drops each e.O. Thyme, palmarosa, lemongrass, and peppermint

80 Ml a.H. Ti tree or thyme ct thymol, or a combination

Combine alcohol and essential oils in a 120 ml spray bottle; shake well. Slowly add the hydrosol and shake again. The alcohol will help the oils disperse in the waters for a short period before they separate again. Spritz the mix on your telephone handset, dial—the whole phone—and wipe off with a clean, dry cloth. I also use this on my computer keyboard: Spray the cloth, then wipe the keys with it; don’t spritz the board directly.

HUMIDIFIERS

100 Ml a.H. Of your choice

Add the hydrosol to the humidifier every time you add water. It will drastically reduce the musty smell that can come with increased humidity, and if you choose something like oregano, thyme, savory, or one of the more antiseptic hydrosols, you not only have a nice odor but kill germs as well.

COMPOST

Any hydrosols that are past their best-before date or have developed a mold or off odor can be poured into the compost heap or diluted in water and used to feed the plants. Compost making actually requires a certain amount of thought, skill, and work, and years ago I was given a tip by an old Yorkshire farmer. He used to urinate in his compost pile to speed up the decomposition process. The acidity of urine is extremely beneficial to compost, although he specified, and I have since seen it in old books, that it must be only male urine, as female is too acidic. You can imagine how well it went down with male friends when I asked them to “help” with my compost! Hydrosols, being acidic in nature, also work, and as they become more alkaline as they degrade, you never have to worry about the level of acidity. It’s also much less embarrassing.

Appendix 1

Sources and Resources

In the ten years since this book was originally published much has changed in the world of plants and aromatherapy. Some changes are for the better, but others, not so much. For this reason you will find this updated suppliers list is smaller than previously. Those listed here meet my personal quality standards and are all companies producing hydrosols that I can personally guarantee from experience and can vouch for the therapeutic effects that their products can deliver. Let me explain further.

For years I have worked directly with distillers all over the world helping them refine distillation processes to produce not just the best oils but also the best hydrosols. Until recently, quality of available product in the market increased year by year. Distillers learned to collect only the most potent part of the distillation waters and new varieties popped up nearly weekly. Very quickly every aromatherapy company around the world started selling hydrosols as an integrated part of their lines, and use by practitioners and consumers grew rapidly.

However, sometimes popularity is the enemy. If we consider that global production of therapeutic-grade essential oils is less than 1 percent of the total global production of oils, we can recognize that our source pool is tiny compared to total production. Now imagine that these few producers are suddenly inundated with requests for hydrosols and oils from all over the world; it does not take long for demand to outstrip supply. This is exactly what has happened.

Additionally, governments around the world have established legal definitions of “Organic Agriculture” based solely on process or quantitative parameters (absence of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, etc.) but without any qualitative standard attached. For most people the term “Organic” is linked in their mind to a quality standard, dating back to the old days of small-scale, chemical-free, natural farming practices with the farmer closely linked to the land and producing the highest-quality products for the health of people and planet. Although government regulation of Organic is ultimately positive, the exclusion of quality as a parameter has disappointed and bred some mistrust in the public at large.

What this all means for hydrosols is that Organic certification became open to anyone who could afford it regardless of their dedication to quality, and we now have two streams: what I call “industrial organic” and “boutique organic.” Obviously my preference is for the latter. To meet quantity demands, distillers began collecting more and more product from each distillation run, sometimes collecting 2 or 3 times as much product as should be produced to maintain therapeutic grade. One can’t blame them; economics are a powerful driving force for farmers, particularly in many of the countries producing our exotic aromatics, but it breaks my heart.

Neroli, or orange blossom, hydrosol is one that has suffered particularly. Demand so outstrips supply for this oil and hydrosol that every distiller working with orange blossom is over collecting. Worse, many distillers then extract the tiny amounts of essential oil in suspension to produce the much more valuable essential oil. What is currently on the market as neroli hydrosol bears no resemblance to what I have used for more than seventeen years. In fact, I no longer recommend this hydrosol as no sample has met my standards for more than two years.

Then there are the fakes. Far too many companies are selling so-called hydrosols that are nothing more than water and oil combined in a high-shear blender. This is discussed at length in chapter 1, under Fakes and Adulterations. Beware of companies that advocate the boiling or sterilizing of hydrosols before use or ingestion, as it is an indication that the company does not vouch for the quality of their products, and they may be fakes. True, therapeutic hydrosols do not need to be boiled before use.

So to my dear readers, I hope you will understand that you deserve the best for your health, and to that end, here follows a list of those who deserve your trust in their products.

SUPPLIERS

North America

Suzanne Catty, Inc.

Bulk wholesale sourcing and custom distillations only.

Education, classes, and research on new hydrosols www.suzannecatty.com

A Woman of Uncommon Scents

Top-grade, mostly organic hydrosols www.awous.com

Sensory Essence

Organic hydrosols from Bulgaria www.organicbulgarianrose.com

Harvest Moon Farms

Lavender and lavendin hydrosols www.harvestmoonfarmslavender.com

Forces of Nature

Hydrosols as adjunct therapy, limited range www.forcesofnatureusa.com

Original Swiss Aromatics

Small selection of retail-size, top-grade hydrosols http://originalswissaro­matics.com/default.asp

Boswellness

Frankincense hydrosol only http://boswellness.com

Scents of Knowing

Wholesale only, variable selection by season http://web.ma­c.com/scent­sofknowing/scents_of_k­nowing/scents_of_k­nowing.html

Rest of the World

Golgemma

Located in France with global partners Top-grade, organic hydrosols, huge range http://golgemma.com/ind­ex.php?lang=english

Natura Products

UK-based company Hydrosols for humans and animals, retail sizes www.naturaproduc­ts.ltd.uk/index.html

Florihana

Retail organic hydrosols Located in France www.florihana.com

Oshadi

One of the oldest distributers, large selection German company with UK headquarters www.oshadhi.co.uk

BioCham

Damask rose from Damascus Syrian company located in Damascus http://biocham.com

Aromatherapy Today

Australian distributor for Suzanne Catty, Inc. http://aromatherapytoday.com

The English Chamomile Company

Small selection, retail and bulk www.phytoessentialoils.com

Essential Therapeutics

Small range of therapeutic-grade hydrosols Australia based www.essentialthera­peutics.com.au/about.htm

PUBLICATIONS

Aromatherapy Today (Australia)

Published 3 times per year; excellent articles for both professional and amateur www.aromatherapytoday.com