With CBD oil flooding the world’s supplements market, of course people have begun to wonder about making their own CBD oil at home.
So, can you make your own CBD oil?
Technically, yes, it is possible to make your own CBD oil at home. But it is not necessarily cost effective, and definitely not easy. The oils that you can make at home are hemp essential oils, which do contain CBD, but are not the same as true CBD oil.
In this article we’ll explain how you can make CBD oil at home, and why it might cost you up to ten times as much as buying CBD oil ready-made.
But first let’s look at how high-quality CBD oils are made by CBD companies.
Related: Why Now is the Perfect Time to Invest in CBD Oil.
How is CBD oil made?
High quality, full spectrum CBD oils are made using industry-specific production methods.
Specialist machinery is used to create high percentages of CBD extract from hemp plants.
Hemp plants are harvested and undergo a process called supercritical CO2 extraction. These machines are essential for creating a CBD-rich extract, as they extract high quantities of CBD out from the rest of the plant material.
The result is a thick, dark green CBD paste, that still contains other organic material but is CBD dominant.
These machines cost around £100,000 and require a laboratory environment and so they are not a viable option for home use. And they are the key component that allows us to create CBD-rich extracts, because they allow us to extract mostly CBD and less of the other phytochemicals in the plant.
What is the difference between CBD oil and hemp oil?
A side note but still something important to understand about CBD oil is that although it is made from hemp, it is NOT hemp oil.
Regular hemp oil that you buy in the supermarket is made by cold-pressing hemp seeds, which is why it is often also called hemp seed oil. Hemp seeds contain only trace amounts of CBD, and so hemp seed oil only contains trace amounts of it too.
CBD oil on the other hand is made from hemp flowers mostly, with some of the rest of the plant going in too. That is what makes CBD oil rich in CBD – because most of the cannabinoids in hemp plants, as with marijuana, occur in the buds/flowers.
Related: The Difference Between CBD Oil and Hemp Oil.
Related: Is CBD Oil Made From Indica or Sativa?
Can you make your own CBD oil?
As we’ve already said, yes, you can make a CBD oil of sorts, but only with small amounts of CBD.
While you won’t be able to make a high-percentage CBD oil, for die-hard DIY enthusiasts there are a couple of routes you can go down to make a hemp essential oil that does contain a little CBD. But it’ll cost you some £££s all the same.
So, the main cons of making your own hemp essential oil are the quality of the oil, the amount of yield from the plants needed to produce it and the amount of money it costs.
With that said, here are the best methods for making your own hemp essential oil in case you want to give it a try.
Related: How is CBD oil made?
How to make your own CBD oil
In order to make a high strength CBD oil, you need very expensive specialist equipment.
But you could make some lower strength hemp essential oil that contains a little CBD.
You can adopt that same methods that are used to make essential oils – distillation and using solvents.
The reason why many people do not make their own essential oils is because of the amount of plant matter required to make a very small amount of oil.
To make your own hemp essential oil, you will need to source some hemp flowers.
Hemp flowers with 2-4% CBD cost around £300 per kilo. You would need around a kilo to make 10ml of CBD oil. So that’s basically £300 per one 2-4% CBD bottle. And that’s without any machinery or equipment costs factored in.
When you compare that to the cost of our organic 5% CBD oil at £29.99, you can see why making your own isn’t a cost effective option.
Related: What is Raw CBD Oil and How is it Different?
Distillation
Distillation uses steam to separate the oils from the plant material. There are plenty of DIY essential oils kits available online that use the distillation method. If you’re a DIY wiz, you can also build your own.
These machines aren’t too costly, and a decent quality one will cost around £500. The good thing about a machine like this is that it can be used to make all kinds of essential oils out of lavender, rose, pine, etc.
The resulting oil will be a hemp essential oil, since the distillation does not separate the CBD out from the organic material, it just separated the oils out. The oils in hemp flowers do contain CBD, so there will be CBD in the resulting oil, as well as cannabis terpenes and flavonoids. But it won’t make a CBD oil.
Solvents
Making hemp essential oil with solvents does not necessarily require a machine, but a solvent extraction machine would make the process a lot less labour intensive.
This method involves using a solvent such as ethanol, (or some people have used vodka), to separate the oils out from the plant matter.
Again, the resulting oil will contain CBD, but will not be rich in CBD.
Making your own CBD oil: is it worth it?
While it could be a fun exercise to make your own CBD oil, it is not the most cost effective or time effective exercise and could leave you out of pocket. Making your own hemp essential oil could cost over £300 for an oil worth £20!
Plus, your resulting oil will be more of a hemp essential oil rather than a CBD oil, and will only contain a little CBD – maybe 1-4 %.
We recommend that you try anything you want for the fun of it. But if you’re looking for a genuinely effective food supplement then it would be much better to source organic, full spectrum CBD oil to help you support your wellbeing and longevity.
If you’re looking to start your own CBD oil business, there are other options available. Check out our article: How To Set Up a CBD Oil Business: Our Top Tips.
Related: CBD Oil Wholesale UK: About Working With Us.
Where to buy organic, full spectrum CBD oil in the UK
At Aura CBD Oil UK we provide thousands of people around the world with the highest-grade, organic, full spectrum CBD extracts that nature has to offer.
To learn more about how CBD oil can help you create wellbeing and vitality for you and your family, email us at info@auracbdoil.com or you can send us a message with any questions you might have on Facebook.
If you enjoyed this article be sure to check out our blog where we upload new articles every week to keep you informed about the world of CBD.
