DIY Homemade Orange Oil

I’m a pretty big essential oil user. Once I found out how great they can be, I always have a ton in my cabinet. I diffuse them in my children’s rooms while they sleep, apply topically for certain issues and my favorite..using them to clean! One of the best things to clean with is citrus! It smells great and cuts any grime!

I read a while ago on how to make your own orange oil and I thought I’d finally give it a try. Orange is one of my husband’s favorite ones, so I figured if I could make an extract, this could cut down on the money I’m spending on some oils.

This was a pretty simple process. In the end, I got exactly what it promised… an orange oil extract! Here’s how you do it!

Step 1: Collect as much of the outer skin of the orange. I used a peeler and used about 4 oranges. Try to get as little of the white as possible.

Step 2: Allow all the peels to dry out for a few days on a paper towel. They will get very hard.

Step 3: Fill a jar with all the dried out peels. You can also grind up all the peels before putting them in a container (optional).

Step 4: Cover the peels in vodka…I wouldn’t use any fancy vodka… any cheapo bottle of vodka will work for this. Cover with a lid. Shake well occasionally over the next 3 days.

Step 5: Over the 3 day period the orange peels will plump back up and release their oil. Strain the peels into another container through a cheese cloth or coffee filter.

  Step 6: Set aside orange and vodka mix for 1 week. To speed up the process you can put mixture into a shallow dish (I did this after 1 day realizing it would be evaporate much quicker). The Vodka will evaporate leaving just the oil….   *TIP at this point if you wanted to stop, this would make a great infused vodka!

Step 7: Take the oil that’s left in the container and strain through a cheese cloth or coffee filter one last time to remove all sediment from the oil.

Step 8: There ya have it. Homemade Orange Oil Extract.

Keep in an air tight container, use and enjoy. Since this is an oil extract, I probably wouldn’t use topically. I am personally using this mixed with vinegar for cleaning purposes and it has worked wonderfully. Smells great and cleans well! Since this is what I usually use my orange oil for, this is a great substitute from purchased oil.

Do you have any other great oil extract recipes? Please share below in the comments!