Normally a solid material containing some of the desired compound is placed inside a thimble made from thick filter paper, which is loaded into the main chamber of the Soxhlet extractor. The extraction solvent to be used is taken into a distillation flask and the Soxhlet extractor is now placed onto this flask. The Soxhlet is then equipped with a condenser.
The solvent is heated to reflux. The solvent vapour travels up a distillation arm, and floods into the chamber housing the thimble of solid. The condenser ensures that any solvent vapour cools, and drips back down into the chamber housing the solid material.