Making yarrow oil at home is a simple process of steeping dried yarrow flowers and leaves in a carrier oil over days or hours, allowing the plant’s beneficial compounds to transfer into the oil. The result is a versatile infused oil you can use directly on skin or as a base for salves and balms. There are two main approaches: a slow, passive method and a faster heated method.
Infused Oil vs. Essential Oil
Before you start, it helps to know which type of yarrow oil you’re actually making. A home-infused oil steeps plant material in a carrier oil like olive or jojoba, pulling out a broad spectrum of the plant’s compounds. This is what most people mean when they search for how to make yarrow oil, and it’s entirely doable in a kitchen.
Yarrow essential oil is a different product entirely. It’s made through steam distillation, requires roughly 25 pounds of plant material to yield a single ounce of oil, and extracts only the volatile aromatic compounds. The result is an intensely concentrated liquid (sometimes with a striking blue color from a compound called chamazulene) that must be diluted before skin contact. Home-infused yarrow oil is gentler, uses the whole plant, and captures a wider range of beneficial constituents beyond just the volatile oils.
What You Need
- Dried yarrow: About 1 cup of flowers, leaves, or both. The plant must be thoroughly dried. Fresh yarrow introduces moisture that can cause mold and spoil your oil within days.
- Carrier oil: Enough to fill your jar, typically 1 to 1.5 cups depending on jar size. Olive oil, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, and coconut oil all work well. Jojoba and olive oil are popular for skin care because of their stability and absorption. You can also blend oils; one common combination is equal parts olive oil, coconut oil, and sweet almond oil.
- A clean glass jar with a lid (mason jars work perfectly).
- Cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer for filtering.
Drying Yarrow Properly
If you’re starting with fresh-picked yarrow, you need to dry it first. Bundle small bunches and hang them upside down in a warm, well-ventilated area out of direct sunlight. This typically takes one to two weeks. You can also spread stems on a drying rack or use a food dehydrator on a low setting.
Yarrow is ready when stems snap cleanly instead of bending, and the flowers crumble easily between your fingers. Any remaining moisture is the biggest threat to your finished oil. Even a small amount of water trapped in the jar creates conditions for bacteria and mold growth. Yarrow is naturally a drier herb compared to something like basil or comfrey, which gives it a slight advantage in shelf stability, but thorough drying still matters.
Cold Infusion Method (Solar or Shelf)
This is the traditional, hands-off approach favored by many herbalists. Fill your jar halfway to two-thirds full with dried yarrow. Pour carrier oil over the herbs until they’re covered by an inch or two. The herbs will try to float, so press them down gently with a clean utensil. Cap the jar tightly.
Place the jar in a sunny windowsill (the “solar infusion” method) or simply on a shelf at room temperature. Let it steep for 4 to 6 weeks, shaking the jar every day or two to redistribute the plant material. Some herbalists prefer the windowsill for the gentle warmth, which can help draw out more compounds. Others keep it in a dark cabinet, arguing that light degrades certain beneficial constituents. Either approach produces a usable oil.
After the steeping period, strain the oil through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer into a clean jar, squeezing out as much oil as possible. Discard the spent plant material.
Quick Heat Infusion Method
If you don’t want to wait a month, heat speeds up the extraction significantly. You can use a slow cooker or a double boiler on the stovetop.
Place dried yarrow in your slow cooker or the top pot of a double boiler. Cover the herbs with carrier oil by an inch or two. Heat gently for anywhere from 30 minutes to 12 hours. The critical rule: keep the temperature below 110°F. Higher heat damages the oil and can destroy delicate plant compounds. Leave the lid off so any trace moisture can evaporate rather than drip back into the oil.
A slow cooker on its “warm” or lowest setting works well, but check the temperature with a kitchen thermometer, especially in the first hour. Some slow cookers run hotter than you’d expect. A double boiler gives you more control since you’re managing the heat directly. Once you’ve infused for your desired time, let the oil cool, then strain it the same way as the cold method.
Why Yarrow Oil Is Worth Making
Yarrow has a long history of traditional use for skin complaints and wound care, and modern research supports some of those claims. A double-blind randomized study found that yarrow oil extracts applied to irritated skin restored normal pH, hydration, and redness levels within three to seven days of use. The oil showed clear anti-inflammatory effects on artificially irritated skin, bringing measured skin parameters back to their baseline values.
The plant contains a complex mix of active compounds. Its essential oil profile includes camphor, thujone, cineole, and sabinene, among others. Research suggests the anti-inflammatory effects on immune cells come primarily from minor compounds like borneol, bornyl acetate, and germacrene D rather than the dominant aromatic chemicals. This is part of why a whole-plant infusion, which captures a broader range of these minor constituents, can be more useful for skin applications than isolated compounds.
People commonly use yarrow-infused oil for minor cuts and scrapes, irritated or inflamed skin, bruises, and as a massage oil for sore muscles. It also serves as the starting point for making yarrow salves by melting in beeswax.
Storage and Shelf Life
Pour your finished oil into a clean, dark glass bottle. Amber or cobalt blue bottles are ideal because they block light, which accelerates rancidity. Store the oil in a cool, dark place with the lid tightly closed. Avoid dipping fingers directly into the bottle; pour what you need instead.
Yarrow oil made from properly dried plant material typically lasts about 2 years when stored well. Oils made from fresh or insufficiently dried herbs have a much shorter window, often under a year. Your nose is a reliable guide: rancid oil smells sharp, stale, or “off” compared to the pleasant herbal scent of fresh infused oil. If it smells wrong, discard it.
The carrier oil you choose also affects longevity. Jojoba oil is exceptionally stable because it’s technically a liquid wax. Olive oil lasts well too. Sweet almond oil is slightly more prone to going rancid, so blending it with a more stable oil can help extend the life of your finished product.
Safety Considerations
Yarrow belongs to the Asteraceae (daisy) family, which includes ragweed, chamomile, and chrysanthemums. If you have known allergies to plants in this family, yarrow oil can trigger contact dermatitis or allergic skin reactions. Test a small amount on your inner forearm and wait 24 hours before using it more broadly.
Yarrow oil is not recommended during pregnancy. The plant contains thujone and other compounds that have traditionally been considered unsafe for pregnant women. People with kidney or liver conditions should also use caution with Asteraceae-derived products.