Expert: Rachel A. Markel - 2/20/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi, today I received a large bulk of essential oils that I plan on having to last a
year for me. I know you can put them in a dark cabinet, away form the light
but I actually have more space in the fridge so I plan on putting them in the
fridge. The oils however, came in plastic bottles so I was wondering if its
better for the preservation of my oils...to transfer the oils into glass bottles.
And if so, do they have to be amber bottles? The whole point of amber bottles
is to keep sunlight away right? So if I'm putting the oils into glass bottles in
my fridge, which is away from sunlight completely...as it is locked in the
garage, I should be able to put them in just plain glass bottles right?

ANSWER: Dear Alex,

Hello, I am happy to assist you with your storage question!  First, you need to transfer your essential oils into glass immediately.  Shipping in plastic is a very cheap method for a supplier to utilize. I would be interested in knowing what type of plastic the container is composed of.  Most suppliers ship in glass or spun aluminum.  Plastic is not compatible with essential oils.

Over the years I have not followed any rules regarding refrigeration or much else for that matter.  The main thing is to keep your essential oils capped tight, the less air space in the bottle the better, store in regular temperatures that is not too hot and not too cold.  

Unfortunately, there is a great deal of misinformation and marketing fluff put forth by the Aromatherapy industry when it comes to storing essential oils. Some individuals will tell you that amber is best, others will tell you that green is best, etc.

Most essential oils are photochemically inactive in the visible region and reactive in the ultra-violet (UV) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Since UV light of high enough energy to cause photochemical reactions in most organic molecules is absorbed (not transmitted) by normal glass, regardless of color, it makes no difference if the oils are in brown, blue, green, purple or whatever color glass.

There are a few exceptions, like with the chamazulene containing oils (blue chamomile, blue yarrow, blue tansy, etc.) that you would not want to store in colorless bottles for long periods under heavy lighting conditions.

I hope that this information is helpful to you, feel free to let me know if there is anything else that I can assist you with.

Be well,

Rachel

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for the advice Rachel. I actually cleaned out all my cabinets and
drawers today, looking for glass bottles so I could transfer my oils. I found a
clear bottle of soy sauce which I emptied into a few plastic water bottles. I
have 16 oz of lemon oil which would fit perfectly into the bottle. The only
problem is even after rinsing out my soy sauce bottle, there is still a slight
smell of soy sauce despite being rinsed heavily, and the glass actually
appears to be stained even though there isn't anymore sauce in there to
speak of. Do you think it would still be okay for me to transfer my lemon oil
into this bottle without worrying about it being contaminated or anything?

Thanks for your thorough answer.
Many thanks,
Alex

Answer
Dear Alex,

I would not advise you to reuse the soy bottle, the lemon oil will more than likely absorb the soy flavor and aroma.  I am not sure if you live in the U.S. if so here are two packaging and container suppliers where you can purchase bottles by the piece or by the case in small quantities.

Cape Bottle- http://www.netbottle.com/
SKS-http://www.sks-bottle.com/GlassBottles/Glass_Bottles_2.html

If you would like to reuse glass in the future I would recommend first sanitizing followed by a cleaning with alcohol and then dry the inside with a  hair dryer on high heat

Have a great weekend!

Be well,

Rachel