How To Store Essential Oils - Your Guide To Lasting Purity
One of the biggest concerns aromatherapy enthusiasts have while buying wholesale essential oils is how to store them for maximum shelf life. There’s a lot of confusion if you should refrigerate them, transfer to different bottles or simply let them be. So we asked our expert QC team for answers on how to store essential oils for maximum shelf life.
Join us as we explore dos and don'ts of storing essential oils and uncover if essential oils even expire. Whether you are a soap maker, candle maker or skincare formulator, our tips and tricks will help you make the most out of your pure essential oils.
Why Storing Essential Oils Matter?
Being natural plant extracts, essential oils are extremely sensitive to heat, light, moisture, microbes and other natural factors. These can determine how long your essential oils will last. Since the chemical composition of pure essential oils changes with type of oil, origin, extraction and more, this also impacts its shelf life and storage requirements. A reputed wholesale essential oil supplier like Aromachology Oils always ensures the oils are shipped with a manufacturing date and storage guidelines.
How To Store Essential Oils?
Here’s how you can store your precious essential oils at home or other environments.
Put Essential Oils In Opaque Bottles
Always store your essential oils in opaque materials like aluminium or dark frosted glass bottles. These prevent the light from entering the oils. Sunlight can make the essential oils’ particles to speed up oxidation. This means the oil can go bad even before its expiry date. Storing essential oils in a dark place in containers that prevent passing of sunlight is one of the ABCs of essential oil maintenance.
Maintain The Temperature Around 15°C to 20°C
Just like light, excess heat can also speed up oxidation giving your oil that weird smell. If you are using essential oils for candle making or soap making, you might not have access to a cold storage. In such cases, you can easily store your bulk essential oils at home by ensuring the temperature remains between 15°C to 20°C
Do Not Transfer Them To Dropper Bottles
If the goal is to store the essential oils for a longer period of time, dropper bottles are a big no no! They can not be sealed completely, allowing air to enter the oil. This can start the degradation process way earlier and make your natural essential oils go bad.
Make Sure The Bottles Are Full
If your essential oil bottle is not full and has space inside, this again becomes a trap for air. But why is it bad for the oil? Well, there are numerous microbes and water particles in air which leads to oxidation of essential oils.
Do Not Dilute Them Before Storing
While diluting essential oils is a crucial step in using aromatherapy oils but if you dilute way in advance, it can impact the product quality. The carrier oils you will use to dilute will interfere with the chemical composition of the essential oil and speed up the degradation. In general, carrier oils degrade much faster than essential oils hence mixing them for storing is a terrible idea.
Blend Only If Extremely Necessary
Blending one essential oil with another also impacts the molecular structure of the final synergy blend. For example, since grapefruit essential oil deteriorates much faster than vetiver essential oil, mixing these two can impact the degradation timeline of vetiver. So we recommend mixing the essential oils right when you want to use them.
Keep The Lids Marked
Do not use the lid of one essential oil to cover the bottle of another type of essential oil. This can severely impact the aroma of essential oils and create confusion.
The Refrigeration Game - How To Store Essential Oils In The Fridge?
Storing your essential oils in the fridge is a cheap and effective way to ensure you get the most of every drop. While certain oils like vetiver, cedarwood, sandalwood and patchouli can still withstand more challenging circumstances, citrus oils are more delicate. If you have purchased citrusy elixirs like orange essential oil or bergamot essential oil in bulk, we highly recommend keeping them in the fridge towards the back side in sealed aluminium bottles. Here are some important points to keep in mind while storing essential oils in the fridge:
- Avoid deep freezing at all costs.
- Glass bottles can break in the fridge so stick to metal bottles.
- Keep the lid sealed.
- If the oil is already opened, keep the lid closed.
- Keep the essential oil bottle straight to avoid spillage.
- Store them in a tray away from food products.
How To Prevent Essential Oils From Evaporating - Going Beyond Storage
Do not keep the bottle open, always seal with a dropper sealer or the inner closure along with the top cover.
If you use essential oils for candle making or soap making, take out the desired quantity in a beaker and keep the rest of the bottle away.
Seal the lid back tightly before storing them at the designated position.
Frequently Asked Questions About Essential Oil Storage
Do I need To Refrigerate Essential Oils?
If you have purchased wholesale essential oils in bulk and are looking to use them over a long period of time, refrigeration becomes crucial if not must. So the short answer is Yes, you should refrigerate essential oils for a longer shelf life. Avoid keeping glass bottles in the fridge as they might break over time.
How Long Are Essential Oils Good Once Opened?
While the exact timeline depends on the type of essential oil, they are mostly good for 2 years given that you follow proper storage guidelines. It also depends on the manufacturing date of essential oils. When buying wholesale essential oils, always ask your supplier for shelf life and manufacturing date for best results.
Do Essential Oils Need To Be In Dark Bottles?
The answer to this is a big yes! Sunlight and heat are two of the greatest rivals of essential oils’ longevity. Storing them in dark bottles prevents exposure to heat and sunlight, thus slowing the oxidation and improving shelf life of these aromatic treasures.
