Best way to mix essential oils with water?

I am using alcohol as an emulsifier. Of course, I can use a lot of alcohol to mix the oil and water but I do not like the color and the % of alcohol in the mix. The best mix I made was 10ml water, 0.5ml (10 drops) essential oil, 5ml alcohol because the mix looks super milky and when left alone the oil does no lt deposit. I repeated this formula again but the result is different (maybe the temperature was different, or the stirring, etc). My question is: what is the best way to stir the essential oil with the alcohol? Should I heat it? Should I stir it with an instrument other than just stirring in a beaker? All emulsifying tips are welcome!




A solution would be the best for spraying, and it would require dissolving the essential oil in an appropriate organic solvent. However, if you are concerned about the flammability, then a dispersion in water would be your best option. Basically, all you need is a stabilizing agent and a proper procedure. I am sure that you will find all the necessary information on [this site](http://pharmlabs.unc.edu/labs/emulsions/intro.htm). It has all the basics about emulsions, it lists various emulsifiers (stabilizing agents) and procedures. For your purpose, I think the best option would be the [Bottle Method](http://pharmlabs.unc.edu/labs/emulsions/bottle.htm).


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To make an emulsion, a stable milky mixture of oil and water, you need an emulsifier. Alcohol is not an emulsifier, so the mixture will separate at some point. 
The most common emulsifiers used in cosmetics can be found [here](https://knowledge.ulprospector.com/5528/pcc-personal-care-emulsifiers-primer/%22here%22). 


If you are making this at home and do not have access to these kind of products, you can try with organic soap. This is normally oil hydrolyzed with caustic soda (NaOH) and is in essence what is listed as neutralized fatty acid soap. 


Normal stirring is also many times not enough and a high shear mixer is generally used. So mix it as hard as you can. 


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You can use ultrasonication and no solvent (water + oil + sonicating = emulsion). The sonicator degasses the water which allows the oil to disperse homogeneously throughout the water. 


I hope you can access a sonicator if not there are freezing techniques which also degas water. 


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By alcohol, I assume you mean ethanol. A better choice might be isopropanol (rubbing alcohol). If either ethanol or isopropanol can be mixed with your essential oil in a 10:1 ratio to give a clear solution, then the alcohol is a solvent. The water is not a solvent for the essential oil, but the alcohol might be able to dissolve some water without expelling the oil.


I suggest you make a triaxial graph to plot the concentration ratios of ingredients that are clear (solution) or milky (stable (?) emulsion) or quickly separating (unstable emulsion). The advantage of a triaxial graph is that you can find a location on the equilateral triangle for any combination of three ingredients - and do some interpolations to find where you can be. This is a picture of a triaxial graph:


[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/buw5h.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/buw5h.png)


It might be possible to use another solvent, e.g., acetone, in whole or in part. One way to stabilize an emulsion is with surfactants; high shear is best for reducing the size of the micelles. Another way to stabilize an emulsion is to use a thickener that prevents the oil micelles from settling or creaming. 


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