A few weeks ago I decided to harvest the lavender in my garden and put it through a still to extract the essential oils. The still in question is essentially just an air cooled condenser.
I collected the first fraction in a clear plastic vial. Within a day the vial had become cloudy looking (like frosted glass - the lavender oil itself was not cloudy - just the container). After a week this had happened:
The whole top of the container has been eaten away and is now flexible where before it was rigid.
What's caused this, is it expected behaviour?
Is there anything I should consider before using the lavender oil in fragrances and soaps?