How much is a drop?

In professional aromatherapy circles, more and more people are discussing the inaccuracies of measuring by drops. Not only is it not an accurate measurement, but there are many variables within that too. You’ll see shared on many sites how to dilute your oils using drops as a measure.

Many of us were taught that there are approximately 20 drops to a ml. Back in 2018, The Tisserand Institute published a blog that stated there was between 20 to 40 drops per ml, so the average became 30 drops.

https://tisserandinstitute.org/learn-more/drop-size/

Some charts still say 20.

Some say 30.

When I studied, one of the suppliers shared that there was 32 drops per ml for their oils, so we needed to use that calculation when using that company.

Neither of these take into consideration the viscosity of the oil. Some oils are thicker than others. Like Vetiver. And Sandalwood. Some are quite thin and watery, like citrus oils.

My friend and colleague, Wendy from Essence of Wellbeing wrote a good blog about this topic too

https://essenceofwellbeing.com.au/Whats-in-a-Drop

But, to get an accurate measurement, weighing your oils is the only way.

And when making preparations, one also needs to account for the dermal limits of the oils being used, particularly for body applications.

For the at home user, charts are great. They simplify the process. But, before you start following a chart, make sure you know how many drops you get per ml from your preferred oil supplier.

This is yet another example of how aromatherapists have simplified topics for consumers which are actually more in depth than most people realise.