What is Hydrosol and how can you use it around your home?
Recently we introduced a brand new product to Belvedere Lavender customers – Hydrosol. But what is this product, how can you use it around your home and most importantly, why should you?
Let’s dive in!
What’s Hydrosol?
When we extract essential oil from lavender, the process creates the essential lavender oil – which we bottle and sell, and the hydrosol. This hydrosol is the floral water, containing essence of lavender and water. Hydrosols are a gentle scent and less concentrated while essential oils are a heavier smell, and more concentrated.
Hydrosol has so many uses and purposes! While new in popularity, you’ll find a rich history of using floral water in various forms. These include: Perfumes, Skin toners, Aromatherapy, Makeup products, Skin care products, and Natural Health Products.
We’ll focus our attention on lavender. When we make essential lavender oil, using our copper still, we end up with 2 different products – the essential oil and the hydrosol. After these mixtures are separated and cooled, they’re bottled separately and dated. At each step we control the manufacturing process to ensure quality. Using both liquids from this manufacturing process is a smart, environmental move. We hate waste!
What do you use hydrosol for?
Now that we know what hydrosol is, what is its purpose? What can the floral water be used for, during or with? This is an excellent question. As we use all natural, organic products in our work and home lives, using hydrosol in our homes is the perfect addition to going green and using sustainable products.
Room deodorizer
You can use hydrosol for many purposes, including in place of room deodorizers. Looking to add a light, gentle scent to your room? Give hydrosol a try. You can add this light scent, without using products full of chemicals.
Ironing
Looking to iron a shirt or pair of pants, or whatever you iron? Use hydrosol in place of regular water. Be careful when ironing – cotton, linen clothing work well with hydrosol. But stay clear of using hydrosol on all silk items.
Cleaning Products
If you’re looking to kick your cleaning products to the curb because they’re made with too many chemicals for your liking, try making your own. We suggest a mixture of distilled water, white vinegar and lavender hydrosol. This cleaning mixture can also be used on windows and glass. If you’re cleaning greasy items, add a little dish soap into the mixture.
Rinsing Clothing
Adding lavender hydrosol to the final rinse of your washing machine is a great way to add softness and a light lavender scent to clothing. Consider swapping out fabric softener.
Makeup Remover
So many makeup removers are full of chemicals and dry out your skin. Instead of using these products, switch to a lavender hydrosol. You can add a little hydrosol to a cotton makeup pad and remove your makeup. The addition of lavender hydrosol adds moisture back to your skin and helps condition and tone it.
These 5 uses for hydrosol begin to demonstrate how useful and how versatile this product is. As we and many others continue to incorporate using all natural ingredients and products in our homes, we’ve begun to use our Lavender Hydrosol in place of many household products. We don’t miss the chemicals, but love the all natural scents.
