Oil Infusion Experiment

[DWinMadison]

I decided to document my attempt/experiment in infusing color into oil from goldenseal and wheatgrass. Hope you find it helpful. I tried using empty tea bags, about a tbsp of herb powder and 1oz of peanut I to each of 2 glass jars and placed them in a warm, not simmering, water bath. Photos to follow

 

[DWinMadison]

Water bath

 

[DWinMadison]

1 hour in.

 

[DWinMadison]

I'm SO sorry these photos are not oriented correctly. I'll take future of ones in landscape.

 

[toyah999]

Thanks, very useful. Was that peanut oil you used? The wheatgrass worked nice, I like the colour. I have super greens in my cupboard and have wondered if that would still turn a pretty green. If you were making a 2 pound recipe would you use all that oil to colour, does it still colour well in a larger amount of oil. I haven't infused oil yet but I have the tea bags to give it a go. Thanks.

 

[DWinMadison]

It was peanut oil because I had a little left over and it's almost completely clear. I don't know how it will work yet. That's tomorrow, but I plan to let it continue infusing all night. Don't know how dark it will get. I guess "GOLDENseal" should have been a dead give-away, but the powder was a beautiful chartreuse. It's infused much more yellow.

 

[toyah999]

Yeah the goldenseal looks brownish in the pic and not too pleasant but pics can be deceiving and it will probably get nicer as it sits. It sounds like a nice colour I've never heard of it. You'll have to up more pics when you're finished, it'd be nice to see the end result.

 

[DWinMadison]

2.5 hours in. Goldenseal leaves no color on white paper. Wheatgrass is really a beautiful green.

 

[DWinMadison]

Not much change overnight. I'm thinking goldenseal migh be ok infused directly, but I'm a bit disappointed. It basically made my peanut oil look like OO. Of course, that might change in soap...for good or bad. The wheat grass is a different story. It's a very rich green sort of like sage. Again, only time will tell about how it survive the lye. Hope you found this useful.

 

[Dahila]

I do it with stinging nettle, dandelion, and other herbs. Some are in powdered form and it is the only way to infuse them. I cold infuse them)

 

[DWinMadison]

I do it with stinging nettle, dandelion, and other herbs. Some are in powdered form and it is the only way to infuse them. I cold infuse them)

What exactly is "cold infusion?" I'm thinking incorporating the powder, now it tea bags directly into the soap and hoping it won't make the soap grainy.

 

[soapfanbaby]

DWinMadison,

I like the idea. Does your soap retain those colors? Could you please post picture of your soap, if possible?

 

[DWinMadison]

DWinMadison,

I like the idea. Does your soap retain those colors? Could you please post picture of your soap, if possible?

I honestly have no idea, but we'll know about this timid tomorrow. I'm about to teach some friends how to soap, and this is the batch we are making. Coconut milk w/ lard, co, palm, oo, sunflower and castor. Subbing lard doe GV shortening too. Fragrance will be basil, sage and mint from WSP...and I may add some lime or orange EO if I'm likening the way it looks. Will post pics.

 

[goji_fries]

I do it with stinging nettle, dandelion, and other herbs. Some are in powdered form and it is the only way to infuse them. I cold infuse them)

I do both cold and crockpot. Right now I have a lavender, calendula, chamomile cold infusion that has been sitting for 7 months. Smells great.

Also, I make my own powdered and fresh plants as well. Depending on the properties and amount of light oils in some plant material, some methods are better than others. For resins, the hotbath is good but it can also be done cold style... if you have six months to a year to wait.

That is how they make castoreum nuggets into an oil....over a long time.:wave:

 

[DWinMadison]

So here's the freshly molded soap. I colored it with the wheatgrass...really a pretty green. Also added some of the goldenseal since I had gone to the trouble to infuse it, but it was basically the color of olive oil...couldn't possibly impart much color. It's a coconut milk soap, so I'm freezing it to prevent gelling. Probably won't cut it until Monday evening due to the freezing process. Note fancy swirls thanks to advice from the other thread on "Peak Envy."

 

[SplendorSoaps]

Thanks for sharing the experiment! I love the color that the wheatgrass turned out.

 

[DWinMadison]

Thanks for sharing the experiment! I love the color that the wheatgrass turned out.

You are welcome. Thanks for following my post. I am VERY interested to see how well the color survives the next couple of days. I didn't try swirling colors as I intend to stamp these bars.

 

[shunt2011]

That turned out really pretty. Like your swirly top too. Looking forward to pictures of it cut. Nice job!

 

[DWinMadison]

Oh, btw, infusing the wheatgrass powder into the oil via the teabag worked pretty well, but ultimately I went ahead and added the powder as well. Once it had sat in the oil it seemed fine enough that I don't believe it will add discernible grit to the soap. Again, time will tell.

 

[goji_fries]

What exactly is "cold infusion?" I'm thinking incorporating the powder, now it tea bags directly into the soap and hoping it won't make the soap grainy.

Cold infusions can be done a few ways. Two of them are to get your oil (or alchol) place plant material in and wait a few months. Another is to fill your jar about halfway with material and then oil on top to the max. Let it sit in the sun for a few weeks to a few months.