How To Make Rose Water?

Rose water is a natural liquid product with several known benefits, including skin care uses, subtle flavor in recipes, and the ability to potentially treat infections with its antiseptic properties. What’s more, is that you can easily make your own rose water at home. So, what are the steps and materials involved?

Homemade rose water is surprisingly easy to make, as long as you have access to a stove/range where you can boil distilled water, as well as some fresh or dried rose petals.

Published: December 7, 2022.

Allowing this mixture to simmer on the stove for up to 10 minutes produces quality rose water that you can strain and use once cool.

In this guide, we’ll be sharing our best tips on how to successfully make your own rose water at home. Pay attention as we highlight the materials you’ll need to prepare, as well as the instructions for making the rose water.

Overview of Homemade Rose Water Guide

It’s not too difficult to make rose water at home - whether you intend to use it for beauty or skin care purposes, or you just want a mild ingredient to use in your cooking recipes. In this article, we’ll be going through the following topics related to making rose water at home:

• Materials that you’ll need to make rose water at home
• Step by step instructions for making homemade rose water
• How to properly store your homemade rose water for safety
• Special tips for making rose water successfully
• Summary of thoughts
• Frequently asked questions about homemade rose water

Materials Needed for Homemade Rose Water

What’s nice about the recipe for rose water is that it is very basic. You’ll probably only have to buy 1-2 things you don’t already have in your home.

But for some people, the ingredients may already be in your backyard or your cupboards. This means that homemade rose water is also a very affordable option for DIY-ers.

Here’s what you’ll need in terms of ingredients:

• Rose petals (either dried or fresh)
• Distilled water

For these ingredients, you can make as much rose water as you desire, but the ratio should be approximately 1:6, with more water than petals. This means that if you use ¼ cup of rose petals, you should use about 1 ½ cups of distilled water.

You’ll also need a heat source that you can adjust in order to boil and simmer the solution. An electric or gas stove works fine, or you can use a portable/camping stove surface if your kitchen is limited.

You’ll also need a saucepan large enough to fit the ingredients, a sink, and a colander to wash and strain the petals in, measuring cups, straining/cheesecloth, a funnel, and a jar or storage container.

Instructions for Homemade Rose Water

Once you are sure that you have all of the ingredients and cooking materials that you need, you can move on to the recipe. If you’re using dried rose petals that you’ve bought, you can skip this first step.

But if you’re using fresh rose petals from a bouquet or a hand-picked rose from your backyard, you need to start by cleaning the flower petals.

1. Clean Your Roses

You’ll want to start by thoroughly cleaning your rose petals, especially if they are fresh from your garden or a bouquet. Flowers can become home to many pests, bacteria, and other substances that you may not even be able to see with the naked eye.

So it’s important that you rinse the petals in cool or room temperature water or even soak them in water to help the dirt and grime fall off.

This measure will help to ensure that you don’t carry that dirt or bacteria into your rose water final product.

Further, you are protecting yourself from possibly ingesting that dirt or bacteria, which could lead to a foodborne illness or skin irritation if you end up using the rose water topically.

2. Measure Your Rose Water Ingredients

Next, you’ll want to measure your water:rose petal ratio. In this case, let’s use the measurements of ¼ cup of rose petals and 1 ½ cups of distilled water. This will make a decent amount of rose water for one person.

Note that you don’t have to be 100% exact with these measurements, and you may even adjust to have less water if you desire a stronger, more fragrant rose water product.

On the other hand, adjusting to have a more dilute solution will give you weaker rose water, which you may prefer if you have smell sensitivities or are prone to migraines.

3. Set Up Your Pan

The next step is to put your pre-measured distilled water and rose petals in the saucepan you’ve chosen. Place the saucepan on a stove burner. You may opt for a larger burner for this first part of heating in order to bring the solution to a boil faster.

Note that you won’t be needing the saucepan lid for this recipe, and you won’t really need a stirring spoon, either.

4. Boil the Rose Petals and Water

Now, turn on the burner, and set it to high heat. Leave your saucepan with rose water uncovered and heat it until the water comes to a boil.

This should be a full, rolling boil, rather than mere bubbles beginning to pop up. You want the mixture to be hot enough to allow the rose petals to infuse the water with their fragrance.

5. Reduce the Rose Water to a Simmer

As soon as the rose water starts to boil, you need to reduce the heat. If you want to accommodate a simmer, especially on an electric stove that takes longer to cool down, you might move the pan to a new burner.

Set the heat to low-medium - just enough heat to keep the rose water bubbling but not boiling as it was before.

6. Simmer

Set your kitchen timer for roughly 5-10 minutes while the rose water simmers, uncovered. If you desire a stronger, more fragrant rose water product, wait the full 10 minutes. But if you want more mild rose water, you may opt for a 5-7 minute simmer.

Keep in mind: simmering is when you lower the heat just below the boiling point and keep it constant. If your rose water isn’t bubbling in the simmer stage, you probably need to slightly increase the level of heat.

7. Cool and Strain

Once you’ve completed the above steps, remove your saucepan with rose water from its heat source.

For electric stovetops, you’ll want to move the pan to a completely cool burner or a hot pad on your countertop. At room temperature, the rose water may take up to 30-40 minutes to cool.

Before the rose water fully cools off, though, you should set up your open jar or storage container to have your funnel sitting on top. Inside the funnel, place your cheesecloth or straining cloth.

Carefully pour your rose water from your saucepan into the funnel. This allows the rose water to filter through to the storage container, leaving behind the wet rose petals.

You can dispose of your straining cloth and let your rose water continue cooling in its storage container, uncovered.

Storing Your Homemade Rose Water

After letting your rose water cool in its storage container, be sure to properly seal the container.

Move the rose water to your refrigerator to keep it fresh. You can store it for fresh use for up to 6 months, at which point you should dispose of it to avoid contaminants and bacterial growth.

Tips for Making Rose Water

Although rose water is fairly easy to make, and it has only two main ingredients, there are some steps you can take in the process to have more success.

From doubling your recipe to keeping storage containers clean and sterilized, here are some tips we have for you.

Use Distilled Water

This should be obvious if you’re a stickler about following recipes exactly, but distilled water is super important in a beauty product.

Because you’ll potentially apply your rose water to your skin, and face, or even ingest it, the water base should be clean and free of contaminants.

You can easily find distilled water at nearly any grocery store or convenience store.

Use Clean and Sterilized Storage Containers

Next, we can’t stress enough the importance of using a clean and sterile storage jar or other container when you put your rose water in the fridge for later use.

If the storage container is contaminated with bacteria or other substances, the rose water could spoil a lot quicker than you expect.

Use Spray Bottle Containers

Your rose water isn’t going to last quite as long in a spray bottle as it would in a regular storage container, due to the difference in seals.

However, if you plan to use your homemade rose water for beauty or skin care purposes, then spray bottles are very convenient.

For example, if your rose water is going to be used as a facial toner, then strain it into a clean spray bottle before storing it. You’ll be able to simply spritz yourself when you’re ready to use it.

Double Your Recipe

Another way to get the most out of homemade rose water is to double your recipe. So in this case, instead of using ¼ cup of rose petals and 1 ½ cups of distilled water, try using ½ cup of rose petals and 3 cups of distilled water.
Whether you want to make enough to share with friends or simply intend on using it frequently, this ratio will be more time efficient.

Final Thoughts

If you’re fond of rose water and other natural beauty and cooking products, then you may have wondered at some point how you can save money and make this formula at home.

Lucky for you, rose water is fairly simple and affordable to make at home, as long as you have access to a stove, a few basic kitchen tools, dried/fresh rose petals, and distilled water.

All in all, the recipe only takes about 10 minutes to complete, with about 5 minutes of prep time beforehand. When properly stored in a safe, clean container in the refrigerator, homemade rose water will remain fresh and good for use for up to 6 months.

Be sure to try out our tips when you attempt to make your own homemade rose water. Good luck!

Frequently Asked Questions About Making Rose Water

Is homemade rose water safe to eat and cook with?

Because of its organic and natural makeup, homemade rose water is perfectly edible and can be used in various recipes.

That said, to ensure that rose water is safe to ingest, it’s important to thoroughly clean the petals and use pesticide-free roses in the process.

Is homemade rose water safe to use on your skin?

Homemade rose water is also gentle enough to be used as a skin care product or general beauty product due to its organic nature.

In addition to adding a naturally floral fragrance to skin care products, rose water has some anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that are beneficial for your skin.

Is it okay to use rose water every day?

Whether you’re using rose water as an ingredient in cooking recipes or as a part of your skin care routine, it’s safe to use on a daily basis. Because it’s merely a combination of water and rose petals, it’s natural.

That said, rose water can have a strong aroma that may overpower your senses, and you might want to use it in moderation if you have sensitive skin or digestion.

What ingredients should be in rose water?

Rose water should consist of exactly what its name suggests - roses and water. Ideally, the final product should include the distilled water used to make it and what’s extracted from the petals during boiling.

When you’re done, you should remove the actual rose petals and dispose of them so that they don’t rot.