How to Get the Gel Out of an Aloe Vera Plant

Overview

Aloe vera can successfully be grown in almost any home. The plant itself is beautiful, and it has medicinal uses such as burn relief and scraped skin relief and can even be used as a skin moisturizer. In order to reap these benefits, you must first harvest the gel from inside the leaves. The gel can be extracted by simply snapping the end of the leaf off, but if you want to get the most out if your plant, you need to put in a little more work.

Step 1

Choose a large leaf on the outer edge of the plant. These leaves are the oldest and generally contain the most gel.

Step 2

Cut the leaf off as close as possible to the soil. Stand the leaf upright against the rest of the plant for 10 minutes. During this time, unusable sap will drain out of the leaf.

Step 3

Lay the leaf down on a cutting board. Cut the tip of the leaf off with a sharp knife. Cut off the spiny edges of the leaf as well.

Step 4

Cut the leaf in half lengthwise from top to bottom.

Step 5

Scrape all the way down the surface if one of the leaf sections to squeeze the gel out. Do not apply too much force, as this will cause sap to seep out. If a light brown sap comes out, you need to apply less pressure. Repeat the same for the other half of the leaf.