Oh girl, I made tha swiftly top my b#*]%.....I'm kidding!!!
Last edited:
Oil Infusion Experiment
- Thread starter DWinMadison
- Start date
Help Support Soapmaking Forum:
Oh girl, I made tha swiftly top my b#*]%.....I'm kidding!!!
What is the advantage of cold I fusion other than producing an abundance dance of patience?
I love natural colorants so look forward to your cut. One benefit of cold infusion would be no chance of overheating the oil or botanicals. I don't know if that's what Dahlia meant.
I've been experimenting with cold-infused parsley, without much luck. So far I prefer adding the dried herb directly to the soap batter as this has produced a much stronger color. Someone here said an infusion would be better so I gave it a try. Maybe they meant a warm infusion instead! :idea:
I've been experimenting with cold-infused parsley, without much luck. So far I prefer adding the dried herb directly to the soap batter as this has produced a much stronger color. Someone here said an infusion would be better so I gave it a try. Maybe they meant a warm infusion instead! :idea:
A "both/and" instead of "either/or" approach is what I ended up with. The oil fusion in water bath and overnight steep brought a ton of color out. I used about a Tbsp of powder for this 3 lb batch. At the last minute, I said "what the heck" and threw in the "pulp" from the soaked powder. I didn't see any green specs when I poured it, but wouldn't be surprised If I find some in the final product.
Dang! Now I'm going to sit in church thinking about that stupid soap instead of focusing on worship.
Just for my edification, oxides are considered "natural colorants," right? They are simply minerals vs. herbals. Is that correct?
KatieShephard
Well-Known Member
Church is over. Time to cut Daryl! 
Quick update. Out of the freezer and into the fridge. Still looking good on top. Color has shifted evenly from a light pea green yesterday at pouring to something between mint and chartreuse today. A few specks of wheatgrass visible but no discoloration around them...probable due to pullong color out of them in the water bath the previous night. Mild ammonia smell...to be expected with a coconut milk soap. Top swirl help up nicely.
Church is over. Time to cut Daryl!
Can't cut until tomorrow. Used the freezer. Sorry.
amazing! i'm always amazed with those who are willing to do oil infusion. not a patient person herethis thread has inspired me to start my own infusion.. i'm thinking parsley...
Definitely not the poster child for patience here. I did mine over night using a water bath method. Honestly, I don't think I could have gotten any more color out if I let it sit for a year. If I wanted more/deeper color I'd have needed more wheatgrass. This was about 1 Tbsp of dry wheatgrass powder. Tricky thng is that it would have taken more oil to accomplish darker color infusion, so you might want to think about formulating your recipe with a little less super fat than you normally do to account for the oil you are infusing.
Dahila
Well-Known Member
Yes exactly, and you must shake it once in every day would be cool. I probably do it every few days. 4 to 6 weeks and I do not put it in sunny place. I have warm infusion plantain (weed) and cold infusion. there is a huge difference in effectiveness of healing and ant itch salve. I finally got the big tea bags, to close the iron is needed and will make some cool oils. My favorite is sunflower calendula, then sunflower lavender, for soaps I infuse pure oil. I am not sure the herbal properties survive the lye.
Any chance you have pics of your parsley soaps ? I'd love to see them.
Here you go. The parsley (brighter) is on the bottom, darker nettle on top
. Both were added directly to the batter (not infused). I have a post with more info but I can't seem to copy the url with my phone.
. Both were added directly to the batter (not infused). I have a post with more info but I can't seem to copy the url with my phone.
I like it, but the green didn't come out very green, did it? How do you get that cool dividing line between the colors?
Well, riddle me THIS Batman! I cut the wheatgrass loaf. Somehow I got this perfect gel circle running throughout every bar. I'm not complaining, just surprised. I poured it then immediately put it in the freezer for 24 hours followed by the fridge for another 24 hours. How in the world did I get gelling???
Wow, that's super cool! I've never seen a gel circle with an outline like that one. Now that's a partial gel worth trying to duplicate! You asked what I used for the pencil line in my soap above: it was a fine dusting of cocoa powder. But if I could get a gel outline like you got, without having to do anything for it, I'd be all over it! Your green is nice, too. Good job Daryl!
Thanks, Cara. Wish I could say I planned it. :/ I'm suspecting aliens and crop circles. I'm also wondering if the organic matter in the wheatgrass in reaction to the coconut milk provided fuel for a "super-gel." So, this is my first lard soap, and as previously noted, I'm going to name it "Praise the Lard." Was going to stamp it with the church's logo, but now I'm thinking of putting two dimples in each circle to create "pig noses." #lemons>lemonade
Last edited:
Pig noses! Do the pig noses! That would be awesome!
Back to the original topic of color, I gotta say, I'm pretty pleased with how the wheatgrass performed. The infused oil left a nice lite green shade and the tiny specks of herb powder provide some visual interest but I don't think they will be felt residually in using the soap. I will definitely use it again although maybe not in a milk-based soap. Goldenseal....not so much. Disappointed. I have several other herbs to play with, but I need to get back to the tried and true oxides to get my Christmas stuff finished up by this weekend. As I count, we are down to about 10 days left to make December 25th Christmas gifts.
Similar threads
