How to Easily Make Homemade Rose Water
Have you ever wondered how easy it is to make homemade rose water? In the past, I’ve purchased rose water but it can be expensive. If you have roses you can make your own rose water, and it’s so easy to do too.
Making homemade rose water at home is pretty simple. I was surprised at how easy it really was and wondered why I ever had purchased it? Since we’ve been growing roses at our current home for about 20 years in the spring and summer I have a nice supply of roses on hand.
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But it never occurred to me to make DIY rose water until I had a bunch of roses that needed to be trimmed before a few days of rain arrived.
I thought it would be best to get the huge blooms off the rose bush before they filled with water and broke the stems or the petals were knocked off all over the ground. I didn’t want to have to clean up a huge rose petal mess.
But I didn’t want to just throw those beautiful roses into the compost. I put some in a vase to enjoy and the rest were used to make this homemade rose water.
How to Make Rose Water
I made a video to show you how easy it is to make your own homemade rose water. View it below or scroll down for the basic written instructions.
Homemade Rose Water, Step by Step
✳︎ Start with organic roses. When making products from flowers it’s important to use organic flowers. You don’t want to have those pesticides or herbicides ending up in your homemade beauty products so be safe and use organically grown flowers.
We grow our own roses organically and treat them with natural pest deterrents. Our roses aren’t perfect but they thrive and look good in general. They aren’t perfect but then again what in nature really is and if everything was perfect how boring would that be?!
✳︎ Remove the rose petals from the stem. You can do this one at a time or you can grab the full head of the rose and twist a little at the base of the bloom and most of the petals will come off. We tried both ways.
Some roses were easy to remove all at once, others it was easier to do it one petal at a time. Use whichever method works best for the roses you have.
✳︎ Wash the Petals. Once the rose petals are removed you want to wash them. We found a few bugs and a little dirt on the rose petals. Put them into a bowl with water or in a colander and rinse them well. Then drain.
✳︎ Simmer the Rose Petals. Once the petals are nice and clean place them in a large pot and cover them with distilled water. You just want enough water to cover the petals. You don’t want too much water as it can dilute your rose water. The petals will float a little that’s ok.
You’ll want to simmer the rose petals on low until the color is gone from the petals. They will look pale and a little droopy. I let mine go about 15 minutes. Then remove them from the burner and let them sit to cool a little.
✳︎ Strain at Rose Petals. Once the rose water has cooled, strain the rose petals out of the water. I like to scoop the rose petals out and then as I’m pouring the rose water into a clean canning jar I strain it through a tight mesh colander.
Storing your Homemade Rose Water
Once your rose water is cool place a lid on your jar and store the rose water in the refrigerator. I place mine in the back of the refrigerator to keep it cold and to help it last longer.
How to Use Rose Water
You can use rose water as a toner. I place a small amount of rose water in a bottle and soak a cotton ball with it. Rub on your face like you would use a toner. You can dilute the rose water 3 parts water and 1 part rose water if the straight rose water is too astringent for your skin.
You can use rose water to set makeup. Place your homemade rose water into a spray bottle and spray a little on your face to set your makeup.
Add it to your bath. Add a cup or two to your bath for a rose scented bath to soak in.
Use Homemade Rose Water to freshen your skin. In the hot days of summer, you can use your rose water to spray on your skin to freshen it. Plus the lovely rose smell is a great bonus.
What do you think? Is making homemade rose water on your list of things to do now that you know how easy it really is to make? I hope so. If you give it a try be sure to leave me a comment and let me know.
When you make your own DIY rose water you can save money and be pampered at the same time!
I don’t fertilize my roses, but they don’t have strong fragrance – would rose water have any fragrance? Does the rose water give you any nutrients?
For stain remover I use Fels Neptha soap – works fantastic – but you have to rub it in and leave for 10 min or so. Laundry detergent I make equal parts of: Fels Naptha soap bar and 1c. Arm and Hammer washing soda and 1 c. of 20 mules borax . I don’t know if it’s natural enough ingredients ?
Barb, Some roses don’t have much or any fragrance. If you used a rose with low to no fragrance your rose water wouldn’t have much fragrance. I try to use roses with the most fragrance to get the most scent out of it. As far as nutrients, I’m not sure I like the feel of the rose water on the skin and the scent.
I love Fels Neptha Soap. I agree it works wonders on stains.
I want to make it!! My roses don’t have much smell. Will it still be effective as a toner?
It should turn out fine Lynda, but may not have much fragrance.
Hi!!! How long would the rose water last or be effective for? Would it even have an expiration date? Thank you.
Stephanie, I keep it in the refrigerator and it kept for a couple of months but it will eventually grow mold, at least mine did. But that wasn’t for about 4 months.
Looks great!
I wonder if you could freeze it for the winter months?
I can’t think of any reason you couldn’t freeze it.
I have already frozen mine
What’s the pedal/water ratio & what size jar?
Lourdes, I put in as many rose petals as I have and then just cover with water. So not really a ratio but just depends on how many roses you have to use. In the video that amount made 2 quarts.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing some info on ratios & how much you got out of this particular batch.
I just by chance found your blog while looking for ingredients for babka bread knots- only needing 2 Tblsps. LOL! (Of course, right?) Anyhow, I don’t trust myself to select the right product (esp w/imitations, watered down, and others ingredients that I don’t want or need). It’s fairly pricey, so I think I’ll make this instead. I also appreciate your info on some of the various ways to use it – I’m going to make this & put together baskets w/ various styles, packaging, and put together a use pamphlet… You have totally INSPIRED me today!
Baskets for my girlfriends for the holidays. (-:
Christy, I’m so glad you found this helpful.
So would fresh roses from valentines day be ok to use or do they need to be grown at home.
Natasha, you could use those if you’d like. I use homegrown roses because that’s what we have.
Have you ever tried other flowers? I have lots of lavender and smells great. I did make cold infused oil. But a water spray would be great.
Debbie, I haven’t tried it with other flowers before. But if you give it a try I’d love to hear how your lavender water turns out.
Thank you sooo much for your direct and easy to use, and read site-on Pinterest. I am always looking to not throw away useful plants. This year I have committed to growing and harvesting as much useful and manicipal plants as possible.
Thank you for your information
Rhonda
I’m glad you found it helpful, Rhonda.
Did you ever add witch hazel to the rose water to preserve it longer ??
Linda, I haven’t tried adding witch hazel.
I made my rose water with dried organic roses that I ordered from amazon
Just make sure they are organic
My rose water smells amazing
GREAT IDEA! How did it hold up? Did you notice any difference to the water made w/fresh roses?
Rose water is amazing for sunburns! Making a batch right now for my daughters sunburn!
I would like my rosewater to have a stronger scent. Will cooking the water down make it stronger or just evaporate away the “rosiness” as well?
Charlee, I’m not sure. To make the scent more concentrated, try adding more petals and a little less water, that should help. I’ve found this works best with really strong scented roses.
Hi I try making it with pink roses my son got me for valentine. But the water is yellow. Lol, I’m not sure what went wrong.
Dee, were the roses organically grown?
What color should the water be??🤔 because mine definitely isn’t pink like the roses I put in the water, it’s really bright yellow and now has me questioning if that color is from a chemical or is it fine. Anyone else have this issue?
Jasmine, I’m not sure why your rose water would be yellow instead of pink. I’ve had my rose water turn out yellow when using light pink or peach roses. But if you used pink roses I would think it would be very light pink and not yellow. Did you use roses you grew yourself? Or store-bought roses?
I’m guessing that the ladies with yellow water didn’t use distilled water, or maybe the type of pot. Aluminum v/s other variables of metal pots may have various properties of color. The water would have mineral properties variations that could affect color.
Marlene, thanks for sharing your ideas. I’ve never had my rose water turn out yellow before and I appreciate your input in helping other readers. Thank you.
can dried rose petals be used?
Jane, I’ve never tried sing dried petals, but they should work. Let me know how it goes if you try it.
I love your post! Thanks for sharing this. I’d like to ask is there any way I could preserve it longer like 6 mos? If yes, what preservatives do you recommend? Many thanks!
I’ve never kept mine for that long Anne. But maybe you could freeze it?
Can rose powder be used in place of rose petals? If so what would the ratio be?
Lynn, I’m sorry I’ve never used rose powder so I’m not sure what the ratio would be or if you could use rose powder.
Works great! I kind of overdid amount though…. So I have frozen some in ice cube form so I can use as needed.
So glad you liked the recipe.
I tried making rose water from several different types of beautiful roses my late parents have in their front yard. I mixed them all together and my water came out yellow, too. The combo was from the beautiful Joseph Coat roses, a lander, plate pink, darker pink, a little red and white colors. I didn’t have enough of one type only to make the rose water. When I saw the ugly yellow color, I threw it away. I’m going to try only roses again from the white bush.
Lynn, I’m sorry your rose water didn’t turn out. I hope it turns out better next time.
My husband says that his grandmother used to make rose water to drink. What do you know about this? I know that rose water is used to make syrup for some Mediterranean desserts….
I’m sorry I don’t know about drinking it. I just use it on my skin. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.
I made my water from the petals that were not visually pleasing for our flower stand business. I noticed after preparing the water that it wasn’t very fragrant. I decided I could add some natural essential oil. It’s not cheating really, it’s a natural addition to make the water a little more appealing to me.
I just wanted to suggest that, here because I definitely work with roses that are strong with scent and others, while still beautiful, have little or none .
Shannon, thanks for sharing your tips about adding essential oil. The roses we grow are really fragrant so I’ve never had to add anything to my rose water. But you are right, many roses have little to no scent at all.
Hello, can you use the rose hips instead of the petals to make rose water?
Jennifer, I’ve never tried it with rose hips so I’m not sure how it would work. Sorry.