Hydrosol: Sweetgrass, Social Enterprise

Price: $9.75
Flower Waters: Sweetgrass True Hydrosol

Hierochloe odorata Organically farmed and distilled from Sweet Grass leaf in Alberta, Canada.

Sold by the 100ml bottle included.
250mL bottle included.
10% off for 500mL, bottle not included
20% off for 1000mL, bottle not included

PLEASE BRING OR BUY A BOTTLE FOR THE 500ML AND 100ML SIZES. These are inexpensive because they don't include a bottle, and are 10% and 20% off respectively.

We will apply a discount when you come in to fill your bottle. Please let me know not to pre-fill a bottle in the Comments with your order.

Sweetgrass can be a smokeless spray providing uplifting effects and powerful space and emotional clearing.

Sweetgrass Hydrosol is one of the most powerful hydrosols to clear energetic space. The burning of Sweetgrass for ceremonial purposes has been part of the native culture in North America. Sweetgrass was once used in Europe as a strewing herb where it was laid at the entrance to churches - especially on saints’ days. It is believed that the practice of using the grass in European churches gave rise to the botanical name Hierochloe or Holy grass. Sweetgrass is distilled purely for the hydrosol, as no essential oil is produced from the distillation.

Sweetgrass hydrosol is used for:

~ Cleansing a space
~ Clearing the energy of a room
~ Emotional protection
~ Balancing oneself on all levels.

Therapeutic and Energetic Uses of Sweetgrass Hydrosol:
~ Uplifting and extremely energetically protective
~ Powerful for space clearing and smudging
~ Excellent for removing old energetic debris and energies on all levels
~ Use as an invocation spray to "set and call in new energies"
~ Beautiful deodorizer for rooms and cars alone or blended with essential oils
~ May be helpful for sore throats
~ Can be used for scrapes and cuts
~ May be helpful to stop bleeding due to the coumarins

I love to use it as a room freshener. You can use it without blending any essential oils into it as its aroma is fresh and lovely. However, you can add any essential oils into it to enhance the grounding and cleansing effects.

True Hydrosols:

Hydrosols are floral waters, hydroflorates… flower waters or distillates are products from steam distilling plant materials. Hydrosols are like essential oils but in far less of a concentration. Hydrosols are the pure natural water that is produced during the distillation process.

The plant material is placed into the retort (still) or distillation tank. The steam hits the plant, softening the scent or secretory cells releasing the essential oil that is contained within as a vapour. This essential oil vapour mixes with the steam and is separated again as the steam cools in the condensing tank. As the steam cools, the essential oil molecules separate from the steam (now as cooled water) and float on the water (except for the very few of them which sink) and the water, now is called the hydrosol, or sometimes, the hydrolat is syphoned off.

The highest quality hydrosols come from the devoted artisan distillers who, with artist like precision steam the floral and plant material strictly to produce a hydrosol. Hydrosols contain all of the essences of the plant in every drop, just like essential oils but in a milder form; making them suitable for all manner of applications where essential oils would be too strong. They are wonderful to use with children and pets!

The distiller explains:

I grow the Sweetgrass from seed each year. It is started in the winter and transplanted out into a plot in the spring. The grass takes a full year to fill in before there is enough volume to harvest for distilling. I can harvest the plot in years two and three but the grass starts getting thin and weedy by the third year. So I harvest the patch after the third year and have a new plot ready for harvest. I'm very fussy about keeping the grass weed-free so it does not contain other species that can impart an unwanted scent/odour to the hydrosol. The grass is not treated with any chemicals or pesticides. The only input is labour to keep the plot weed-free.

It would be very difficult if not impossible to wildcraft the grass and get enough volume for distilling as Sweetgrass grows mixed with other grasses and species.

I normally cut the grass in early July with a sickle mower and distil it the same day. I can get a second cut in August or September for a late summer or fall distillation.

The distillation takes a full day. The grass is loaded into the retort (kettle) on the distiller and is steam passed through. The resulting hydrosol is collected directly from the condenser into pre-sterilized pails.

Stable shelf life of approximately 12-14 months

PH: 6.1