How to Make Essential Oils From Orange Peels

According to editors at Green Living Tips, "limonene, which comprises 95 percent of the oil in an orange's peel is being used in all sorts of applications." Orange oil is a natural insect repellent. It's used in bath and body products and cleaning solutions, mainly for its scent but also for its mild cleaning properties. You can make orange oil at home, using orange peels that would have otherwise been discarded. While this doesn't yield as high a quality oil as cold pressing, it does allow you to make the oil at home.

Things You'll Need

• Orange peels
• Paper towels
• Food processor
• Vodka
• Large bowl
• Mason jar with lid
• Coffee filter
• Shallow dish
• Kitchen towel

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Instructions

• 1

  Lay out your orange peels on a paper towel. Allow them to dry out until they are hard. This usually takes one or two days, depending on the humidity in your house. This process goes faster if you tear the orange peels into smaller one-inch pieces.

• 2

  Place the orange peels into a food processor with a sharp blade. Grind the peels to a coarse consistency. When they reach a course consistency, stop processing because over-processing can cause loss of oils from the peel. Place the ground peels into a clean glass mason jar with a tight fitting lid.

• 3

  Warm the alcohol. Place the bottle of vodka into a bowl filled with hot tap water. You want the vodka to be warm but not hot. Pour the vodka into the jar until it completely covers the orange peel.

• 4

  Screw on the lid and shake the jar. Shake it vigorously over a period of several minutes. Do this several times a day for at least two or three days. The more you shake it and the longer you leave the peels in the vodka, the more oil you will get.

• 5

  Strain the peels into a shallow dish using a coffee filter. Squeeze any excess liquid out of the filter. Cover the dish with a kitchen towel. Be careful not to let the towel fall into the liquid. Let it sit for a few days: when the alcohol has evaporated, what remains will be orange oil.