Favorite Carrier Oils for Infusions?

While not new to soaping, I have not bothered to experiment much with infusions. I watched the videos, read the blogs, and made a few small batches. I know how, but do not have a broad swatch of experimentation for a frame of reference. I tried natural colorants...but preferred micas. Then I bought pretty jars (20oz capacity) and fell a little in love with the vision of pigmented sunlight filtering into the room while the botanical infusions decorated the windowsill. Thus begin a need to fill them.

My plan was simply to grab some olive oil at Costco, because that is typically what is featured in blogs and videos. However, I do not have to use olive. As I needed to run to the store anyway, it occurred to me that I might prefer to utilize some other options. I have a decent arsenal of everything else that you could imagine on hand (coconut, fractionated coconut, grapeseed, high-oleic sunflower, avocado, sweet almond, jojoba, babassu, rice bran, hazelnut, etc).

Three of the jars will be used to infuse natural colorants that will be incorporatated into soap for my "crunchier" friends. I was deliberating between olive or high-oleic sunflower, but am absolutely open to other suggestions. I don't have a great deal of experience as to what quantity of colorant-infused oil is required for soap to be able to make a judgement on better choices.

One will be an assortment of herbs that are beneficial for my hair. I am tempted to mix half my cabinet for this one: fractionated coconut, avocado, macadamia nut, etc.

Another jar will contain botanicals that I would like to incorporate into my body lotion. Meadowfoam seed oil features prominently in my recipe, but I hate the idea of allowing it to languish in sunlight...jojoba, maybe?.

I still have a final jar to fill and was thinking that it might be worthwhile to try a salve. If I was going this route...sweet almond, perhaps?

Feel free to comment on my carrier oil choices or make suggestions regarding favorite infusions. (More jars can be bought). Any feedback is appreciated.

:bunny:

I'd use olive oil if you're using a greater percentage of it. I've only done an infusion once but it was well worth it.

On first reading, I missed that you were doing this for colouring, not for the herbal benefits of the botanicals.

This makes it a LOT simpler!

Colouring the oil won't take very long at all - a few shakes over a few days (or less really, but if you are going for decorative window appeal, a bit longer won't hurt terribly).

Your biggest enemy is going to be the effect of UV on the oil - it will cause it to oxidize over time. With a shorter time-frame for colouring, this shouldn't have as much of an impact, so you could use whatever oils you will be making your soap from.

A tip - to increase your colour, you can strain the oil and replace it into the jar with fresh colourants - this enhances the intensity and can be repeated.

You could also just keep a jar, and top up both the ingredients and the oil (with occasional straining and replacing of the dried ingredients), however this type of infusion would be a more long-term decoration and would be best with a stable oil and even added anti-oxidants.

What fun!

Typically salves use infused herbs in Olive oil because of its shelf life. However I use many different oils depending on the purpose of my recipe. Oils that are heavier such as Olive oil I only use in certain salves. I use grapeseed and Sweet almond oil and apricot kernal oil for lotions and I go with much lighter oils for face creams and moisturizers. Depends on what herbs your infusing, what your making and why. I also make my own tinctures and hydrasols. My soap room looks like a laboratory.

My favorite oil for infusion is high oleic sunflower. I use it for MIY carrot oil. Wonderful for skin, esp. faces. But for your purposes you might want to try Yellow Dock in OO -- mainly cuz I have some yellow dock patiently waiting to be infused... and maybe you could show me how it's done! haha supposedly it makes a raspberry pink soap...

http://sapuhusid.blogspot.com/2010/07/raspberry-pink-soap-yellow-dock.html

I infuse it everything (like ten jars right now) in OO, I use a percentage of my oils in body lotions , for salves, and soaps sometimes. however I do not believe herbs survive lye. I am almost out of my plantain and waiting impatiently for spring

SaltedFig said:

On first reading, I missed that you were doing this for colouring, not for the herbal benefits of the botanicals.

Click to expand...

Only three of the jars are for colorants. The other three are to derive the benefits from the botanicals. I planned one for herbs beneficial to my hair, one for those that I appreciate on my skin, and one for salve or muscle rub.

SaltedFig said:

you could use whatever oils you will be making your soap from.

Click to expand...

I did not have the soaps planned out yet, rather I was just trying to pick a good medium that was easy to incorporate into my recipe. I do not have a frame of reference for how much colorant infused oil I would want to use to factor that into my decision. For example, if I am going to need 20% infused oil to provide color, I would not want to infuse it into castor (not really a contender, simply serves as a hypothetical) because I would never use such a high percentage. That was one of the reasons I was more inclined to use olive oil for the colorants, but open to suggestion.

SaltedFig said:

A tip - to increase your colour, you can strain the oil and replace it into the jar with fresh colourants - this enhances the intensity and can be repeated.

Click to expand...

That is incredibly helpful and solves my percentage issue detailed above! I need to run to the store for olive oil, but have some other options sitting in jugs that could stand to be used up.

SaltedFig said:

You could also just keep a jar, and top up both the ingredients and the oil (with occasional straining and replacing of the dried ingredients), however this type of infusion would be a more long-term decoration and would be best with a stable oil and even added anti-oxidants.

Click to expand...

This is more what I had in mind as I liked the decorative aspect of the infusions and did not have any immediate plans to use them. Thanks!

Dahila said:

I infuse it everything (like ten jars right now) in OO, I use a percentage of my oils in body lotions , for salves, and soaps sometimes. however I do not believe herbs survive lye. I am almost out of my plantain and waiting impatiently for spring

Click to expand...

I am not planning to throw any herbs to the lye monster. Only the colorant infused oils would be used for soap. Two botanical infusions would be incorporated into lotion, massage oil, and salve. The one for my hair would just be used "neat as an oil treatment.

makemineirish said:

I am not planning to throw any herbs to the lye monster. Only the colorant infused oils would be used for soap. Two botanical infusions would be incorporated into lotion, massage oil, and salve. The one for my hair would just be used "neat as an oil treatment.

Click to expand...

Like most of the others here, I infuse almost exclusively into olive oil because of the long shelf life. I then add that to the other recipes - balms, waxes, etc.

If you're looking for a neat hair oil, you might do olive that is then added to a mix of something like avocado, argan, coconut, Jojoba... Or you could infuse herbs directly into a lighter oil like avocado. It depends on how concentrated you're looking for, or whether it is the equivalent of an extract added to carrier oils. If you do pick an oil other than olive, pick one that is shelf stable. You don't want to go through the four to six weeks of infusing, just to have it go rancid soon after.

If the herbs are dried, you're fairly safe in infusing. But if you are doing something like fresh herbs (St. John’s Wort, Calendula, Dandelion), you will need to "wilt" them so that you don't trap moisture in the oil and get rot.

Zany_in_CO said:

But for your purposes you might want to try Yellow Dock in OO -- mainly cuz I have some yellow dock patiently waiting to be infused... and maybe you could show me how it's done! haha supposedly it makes a raspberry pink soap...

Click to expand...

I have some and can certainly share. I was a bit torn on how I wanted to do it as I read a thread on the SMF in which the poster had had better luck using rice bran oil with regard to color. However, there was a thread on BackYardChickens in which she had achieved a beautiful shade with yellow dock infused olive oil at 12% of her recipe.

WeaversPort said:

Like most of the others here, I infuse almost exclusively into olive oil because of the long shelf life. I then add that to the other recipes - balms, waxes, etc.

Click to expand...

Gotcha.

WeaversPort said:

If you're looking for a neat hair oil, you might do olive that is then added to a mix of something like avocado, argan, coconut, Jojoba... Or you could infuse herbs directly into a lighter oil like avocado. ...shelf stable. You don't want to go through the four to six weeks of infusing, just to have it go rancid soon after.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I just find olive oil to be a bit heavy for my hair and was contemplating alternatives. Besides, the ones that I listed are all fairly beneficial for your hair even before any botanical infusions.

WeaversPort said:

If the herbs are dried, you're fairly safe in infusing. But if you are doing something like fresh herbs (St. John’s Wort, Calendula, Dandelion), you will need to "wilt" them so that you don't trap moisture in the oil and get rot.

Click to expand...

Understood. I find it to be this to be enough work without growing, harvesting, and drying my herbs as well. I respect people that do, but I don't even bother to blow-dry my hair. Mine are all purchased, dried options. I pictured using the oils (particularly for my hair and skin) slowly over time, not in one application. If that is not advisable, I may opt to reserve the 20oz jars for colorants only. That would mean that I just heat-infuse the botanical options in smaller containers for 1-3 applications/portions.

makemineirish said:

I pictured using the oils (particularly for my hair and skin) slowly over time, not in one application. If that is not advisable, I may opt to reserve the 20oz jars for colorants only. That would mean that I just heat-infuse the botanical options in smaller containers for 1-3 applications/portions.

Click to expand...

You should be good with one, give it a try! After all, it's kind of like making soap.

I'd suggest starting with avocado, it's high in vitamin E and other great nutrients for hair. Infuse it for 4-6 weeks, shaking daily if you remember. I'd probably add some Rosemary extract and T-50 Vitamin E just to increase shelf stability. Then mix that as needed with the other oils you want in your hair oil.

You can also warm it for a hot oil treatment, or blend it in with a shake of ground cinnamon, yogurt and honey for a great treat for both scalp and hair!

Like Zany I use Sunflower HO, especially for my Carrot Oil. For my Arnica infusion I do use Olive because I wanted a heavier oil