Using fresh herbs or flowers in soaps

by Sherri
(Kelly,NC)

I have the most lovely roses as well as fresh herbs and such in my garden. How can I take advantage of these things rather than buy essential oils? or can I?
I do not wish to set up a still (for creating essential oils) in my backyard, the neighbors might have a problem with that.
Could I, for example, warm some of the olive oil I plan to use in a batch of soap and add herbs to it and let that set for a few weeks before straining the oil and using for soap? Add rose petals to the soaps, etc?
Also small amounts of juices, like carrot. How would that work?
Seems like spoilage might be a factor.

Anyway, I have found this website while looking for an alternative to going to a job. I would rather make a living.
This is by far the best website I have ever visited. Ever.
Your soaps and your story are inspiring and I think; I can do that! Not that I think it is easy, but because each batch would be an inspiration to the next, and the next. Also, it just good clean fun! Something the kids can do! My teenage SON is begging me to buy soap supplies! And he wants to spend time with his MOM to do it! That alone is priceless!

Thank for your inspiration and advise!
Sherri in NC

Answer:

Sherri....how lucky you are to actually have someone in your house interested in making soap with you!! I envy you very much.

You can most definitely use herbs and flowers from your garden to make infusions for your soap making. Unfortunately herbs and such don't scent the soaps quite the way essential oils do. In fact, very little of the scent will probably come through. Take rose oil...I've read somewhere that it takes around a ton of rose petals to make one ounce of rose oil. Yikes!

Adding rose petals to soap doesn't have the effect we would like....they turn brown or black when they come in contact with the lye. Even when the soap is cured. I've seen some people make a batch of cold process soap and then add a thin layer of melt and pour on the top to which they sprinkle on the rose petals. This is a very nice effect.

Not all herbs turn colour, some remain the same. Calendula is a great herb to use in soap making. It gives a beautiful yellow colour to the soap.

This page has some ideas for botanicals that can be used in soap making as well as how to make infusions...I hope to expand on this page in the future - Herbal Natural Soap Ingredients

Vegetable juices like carrot or tomato can be used as well. Because it is a juice and not large chunks of vegetable matter, the lye seems to prevent it from going off. Many people use puried vegetables as well. Anne Marie aka "The Soap Queen" has a tutorial on using pumpkin puree in a recipe that looks devine....I can't wait to try it myself.

Thanks soo much for the kind words as well! It makes my day to hear I've inspired others to make soap.

Happy Soaping!
Cathy