Steeping herbs in lye water

[Marissa Uhler]

I have a question about steeping dried herbs in the lye water in soap making...

I been making cold-process soap for several years. In order to infuse herbs into my soap at times when I don't want the ground herb directly in the bar (like a shampoo bar), I would usually make a hot-water infusion (boiling water poured over the herbs), steep until cool, then strain and use it as my lye water.

But recently, I started experimenting with skipping that first step, and instead, simply mixing my lye with plain distilled water, and then immediately after the lye has dissolved (while still hot) adding the dried herbs directly to the lye water, and letting it steep there until cooled.

It seems like this shouldn't be much different than steeping the herbs in plain hot water (without lye) first...

QUESTION: I am wondering if anyone else uses this method? If not, why? Does anyone know if steeping the herbs directly in the lye water would have any negative effects on the extraction of the beneficial constituents (possibly due to the pH level)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Savage Daughter]

I don't know why nobody responded to your post. I wish I would have seen this sooner because this is up my alley

What are you noticing when putting your dried herbs directly into your lye water? And do you then strain your lye water after it cools? Or does the lye break down your plant material sufficiently to leave it all in there? Are you using powdered herbs or the dry, roughly cut plant material? I'd love to hear what your observations & experiences with this have been as I work with a lot of plants in my products, including soaps.

I normally don't steep my herbs in lye water. It never really occurred to me to do this simply because I want as much of the plant's properties to survive the soap making process as possible. Having the lye attack the plant material before it's more diluted by my oils & butters just doesn't sound like the best idea to me. I'm always thinking of how to extract as much as possible from the plants I harvest, and at the same time being mindful of not killing off the good stuff with too much heat or whatever the case may be.

I would normally choose a strong decoction (like simmered on low for at least an hour with a lid on, and then cooled with the lid on before using) over putting my herbs in lye. People can disagree with this all they want. I know the difference my skin feels when I use herbs vs when I don't, wash off product or not.

If I was wanting to see what type of COLOR I'd get from a plant, then putting it in my lye water is something I would try.

It would make sense to me to put things such as plant seeds into my lye water - dandelion seeds / plantain seeds / poppy seeds / watermelon seeds / whatever seeds to more effectively extract their properties as they have a multiple layers which need to be broken through, although I would give them a good smash with a mortar & pestle before putting them in there.

 

[Kcryss]

I infuse water and oils with herbs for balms etc., but have never used the water or oils for soap. When you infuse water or oils with plant material, the compounds extracted will vary depending on the infusion method. Some compounds can only be extracted with water and some with oil. Alcohol (acidic) can extract even more. However, I'm not so sure lye (alkaline) would extract any compounds without damage.

I do put herbs in some of my soaps, but it's more for label appeal and exfoliation.

 

[B00pie]

As a newbie, with a desire to use oil-infused herbs in my soap, I am wondering if HP kills all benefits due to the high heat in cooking the soap.

 

[Savage Daughter]

As a newbie, with a desire to use oil-infused herbs in my soap, I am wondering if HP kills all benefits due to the high heat in cooking the soap.

Make a test batch & find out! Would love to hear what your observations on this are

 

[DeeAnna]

As a newbie, with a desire to use oil-infused herbs in my soap, I am wondering if HP kills all benefits due to the high heat in cooking the soap.

Since small-scale soap makers like us don't have the resources to test for those "benefits", I don't know how any of us will ever know the answer to this often-asked question.

The HP method doesn't necessarily heat the soap any more than the cold process method. At gel, a loaf of CP soap probably reaches 180F or so, especially in the center of the loaf. That's the temp I keep my hot water bath when making HP soap. I know others use higher temps for HP, but it's not necessary.

I'd say it's likely that exposing botanical materials to a strong alkali solution is as (or more) detrimental to any beneficial properties as exposing the botanical material to heat.

My preference is to use beneficial ingredients in salves or lotions where the ingredients aren't exposed to higher temps nor to alkali. Also ingredients in a lotion or salve stay on the skin long enough to be of benefit to the skin.