How To Cut, Extract And Preserve Aloe Vera Gel?

Aloe Vera is a miracle plant, which does wonders to your Skin, Hair and Health.

I can swear by the end number of benefits Aloe Vera Gel posses.

I personally trust this healing plant to include in my day-to-day activities.

You can get Aloe Vera Leaves from nearby supermarkets, online sites such as big basket, amazon or you can grow your own Aloe Vera plant at home as it wants the least care and maintenance.

How To Cut And Extract Aloe Vera Gel?

First, thoroughly wash the Aloe Vera Leaf.

Then the most important step is to cut the bottom white coloured part of the leaf which contains plant laxative components called “Aloin”. This is also called aloe vera latex.

Put the leaf 45 degrees or 90 degrees in a plate or a bowl for 15-20 minutes and let the aloin drain. Wash it again under the running tap water to wash out the remaining laxative.

Cut the thorny edges and cut the leaf into small pieces so that it is manageable to extract the gel.

Now carefully peel the top skin and start extracting gel either with a spoon or with a knife.

(When I want to use the fresh gel on my hair or skin I generally extract it with a spoon so that I don’t have to grind the chunks. And when I want to preserve the gel for longer I simply cut the gel into large chunks and grind it).

Once you have extracted the gel by spoon, scape the remaining gel by knife and you can rub it onto your skin or apply on hair or on scalp similar to doing hair oil massage (Applying hair oil).

Benefits Of Applying Aloe Vera Gel

Aloe Vera Gel can get absorbed very quickly into our skin. Also when applied on the scalp, it gets absorbed pretty quickly till the roots and helps in promoting healthy hair growth.

Aloe Vera is also an excellent natural moisturizer for our skin.

No wonder the entire cosmetic industry thrives on this natural boon. You can simply apply it raw on your skin or you can add it into your cosmetic products or add them into the masks.

Aloe Vera moisturizes the dull lifeless hair and also helps to treat dandruff because of its anti-fungal properties.

(I have Curly Hair and it tends to get super dry, lifeless and frizzy most of the times. To manage it I pour the pure aloe vera gel into a spray bottle with water and spray it on my hair. It gives instant bounce and shines to my hair.)

Related Reading: 7 Effective Aloe Vera Gel Uses For Hair, Skin And Overall Health

Video On How To Cut And Extract Aloe Vera Leaf

After extracting the gel you can preserve it for 1-2 days in the refrigerator. If you want to preserve it for longer there are 5 methods you can preserve the Aloe Vera Gel.

Aloe Vera Preservation – 5 Methods To Preserve 

You can preserve the freshly cut leaf in the refrigerator for a week by wrapping it with plastic wrap.

To preserve the Aloe Vera Gel for a longer period of time there are 5 methods:

Video On How To Store Aloe Vera Gel At Home

Method 1 – Freeze the Aloe Vera Gel

In this method, you can preserve the Aloe Vera gel for the longest period of time.

There are two ways you can freeze the gel.

1. You can cut the edges and peel off the top layer of the leaf and cut the entire leaf into small cubes and put them in a plate and freeze it.

Once they are entirely frozen (it takes almost 5-6 hours) you can transfer these cubes in an airtight zipper bag or airtight container.

2. Or you can extract the Gel and grind it and pour it into a silicone ice tray (I suggest silicone ice tray as it is easier to take out the whole aloe vera cubes) and freeze it for 6-7 hours.

You can either keep them in the ice tray only or transfer them into an airtight container or zipper bag. You can preserve this way for almost a year.

Uses of Aloe Vera Ice Cubes: You can simply rub these cubes on the burns or sunburns or on your face. (I rub one aloe vera cube on my face every day.) You can also rub this on your face before applying to make up to minimize the pores.

You can add these cubes into your smoothies or juices too.

Related Reading: How To Make Aloe Vera Ice Cubes –  7 DIY Recipes

Method 2 – Preserving the Aloe Vera Gel with Vitamin C

For this first extract the Aloe gel.

Now grind it until you get a clear gel and no chunks remaining. You can strain the gel if you want smooth consistency and no residue remained.

(I use double layers; strainer and cheesecloth so that there are no particles remained. Once I made my moisturizer with fresh aloe vera gel without straining it and it turned out to be very uneven consistency.

Since then I always strain my Aloe Vera gel so that I get nice and creamy texture)

Now add Vitamin C powder to the gel. (You can either order the Vitamin C powder from supermarket or amazon or You Can get Vitamin C tablets from any medical store and crust it and make a powder).

The ratio is per every 1 litre of Aloe Vera gel you need 8 gms of Vitamin C. (Accurately measure the ratio and never make a mistake of getting confused between mg and ml measuring units. As both are measured in different ways.)

After adding vitamin C powder grind the gel so that it gets mixed into the gel properly.

Now pour it into an airtight container. Don’t forget to put a label on it mentioning the preserving date so that you can calculate the expiry date. Aloe Vera gel preserved by this method can be used almost for 6 to 8 months if kept in the refrigerator.

Uses of Aloe Vera With Vitamin C- You can add this in your homemade cosmetic products or add into the face masks.

Method 3 – Preserving the Aloe Vera Gel with Vitamin E

This method is widely used to preserve aloe vera gel.

In this method, first, extract the gel and put it into a grinder.

Add Vitamin E to it and grind until properly mixed and you get an even consistency.

The ratio of aloe vera gel to Vitamin E is; per every 1 litre of Aloe Vera Gel you need 6000 IU of Vitamin E.

IU stands for International Unit, which is used to measure all the vitamins and medicines.

You can either purchase the vitamin E oil or tablets from the medical store.

The IU contains vitamin E is written on the oil bottle or on the wrapper of the tablet.

You have to calculate the number of tablets or drops you will be requiring according to the measurement of extracted Aloe Vera Gel.

You can either store as it is in an airtight container or strain it and store if you want a smooth consistency.

Don’t forget to Label the manufactured date so that you can figure out when it will expire.

You can store by this method for almost 6 to 8 months if kept in the refrigerator.

Uses of Aloe Vera With Vitamin E: You can use this in your hair care products or hair masks. Or you can apply it in your hair and scalp as you are applying hair oil. You can also add this in your skincare products and face masks.

Method 4 – Preserving the Aloe Vera Gel with Honey

Extract the aloe gel and grind it.

Now add honey and aloe vera gel in equal parts (ratio 1:1).

Grind it again or stir well so that honey can dissolve completely and mix into the gel-forming syrup.

The natural sugar contains Honey acts as a natural preservative here. It is the same method all the fruit juices are preserved with sugar forming syrups. Transfer this mixture into an airtight container and store it into the refrigerator.

You can preserve by this method for 1 to 2 months.

(Don’t forget to mix it well if the honey is not dissolved properly into the aloe vera gel it may get fungus if kept in the open air for some time. It happened with me once and I had to throw my aloe vera gel)

Uses of aloe vera with honey: You can add this mixture in your smoothies or fruit juice or simply add a dash of lemon juice and cold water and consume it in summers. You can also add this into your face packs and hair packs.

Method 5 – Binding the Aloe Vera Gel with Natural Gelatin

By this method, you can get a jelly-like consistency as you can get in the market.

In this method, you have to mix aloe vera gel with natural gelatin.

For this you need:

300 ml – distilled water

200 ml – aloe vera gel (grinded and well strained)

10 gms – natural gelatin/agar agar (you can get it in any supermarket or order it from amazon)

First, boil the water. Add natural gelatin to it and stir well.

Stir until the gelatin is dissolved completely. Now switch off the flame and let it cool until the temperature reaches 50 degree Celsius.

Add aloe vera gel and stir well. (Make sure the aloe vera gel is properly strained otherwise you will get small particles in the gel) Let it cool until room temperature.

And put it into the refrigerator for some time to speed up the binding process.

Once it is cooled down completely you will get a gelly like consistency. Store it into any cosmetic jar or tube. This way you can preserve the aloe vera gel for 6-8 months.

Uses of Aloe Vera With Gelatin – You can use this homemade aloe vera jelly as your face cream or you can apply it on burns/sunburns or in your face/hair masks.

Over to you..

How do you cut, extract and preserve aloe vera gel?

Let’s know in the comments below.

You might also like to read:

• 5 Ways To Extract Aloe Vera Gel At Home
• 7 Aloe Vera Toners | Natural DIY Recipes
• How to Make Aloe Vera Powder at Home (Video Tutorial)