Have you ever pulled an older herbal salve out of your bathroom cabinet and wondered if it was still effective? Or perhaps you’ve thought about making a large batch of herbal tea to store in the refrigerator and drink over the course of several days, later second guessing yourself because you weren’t sure how many days the tea would remain drinkable. What about the hydrosol that’s been sitting in the back of your refrigerator that now has a little white cloud floating in the bottom of it?
Questions about herbal preparation shelf-life are common, and while shelf-life and preparation potency will vary based on several factors such as the solvent used to make the preparation, how the preparation is made, stored, and used, and time itself, having a guideline can be helpful, especially if you’re new to making herbal preparations.
I’m over at the Herbal Academy blog this week, sharing some basic guidelines on herbal preparation shelf-life. There’s even made a free printable for you so you can have these guidelines handy in one place. Feel free to download, print, and store this chart in your herbal journal or on the inside of your bathroom cabinet (or wherever you store the majority of your herbal preparations) so you can easily reference it the next time you have a question about herbal preparation shelf-life!
So valuable articles! Just downloaded the chart, thanks a lot.
I had some doubts about oil infusions with fresh herbs, thanks for clearing this out.
Some herbalists recommend waiting one day before infusing the herbs. They don’t dry out completely but lose a significant amount of water, so the oil lasts longer. Have you tried this approach?
The tip with vitamin E and rosemary oil is great! I also use tea tree oil to extend the shelf life and improve the antiseptic properties of a homemade deodorant, toothpaste, and other cosmetics.
Best wishes!
Yes, Alex. There are a few herbs where fresh oil infusions are recommended over dried herbs, and I talk about how to make fresh oil infusions in this post – https://growingupherbal.com/fresh-dandelion-blossom-oil/.
Great, thanks a lot for your reply!
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