Calendula Petas

[mandolyn]

I have tons of yellow calendula petals, but doesn't pot marigold come in oranges, too?

Just wondering, & wondering why no one has them. Has anyone tried doing cp with other colors of Calendula? If you have, do they retain their color like the yellow does?

 

[LomondSoap]

Just a guess but maybe the orange ones dry out yellow? I've never seen orange calendula either!

 

[mandolyn]

Just a guess but maybe the orange ones dry out yellow? I've never seen orange calendula either!

You can see it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendula_officinalis

You might be right about them drying to yellow, though.

 

[Lindy]

I've grown one that looks almost red as well - of course I wasn't soaping then.... :cry:

I'm now going to grow some marigolds in a multitude of colours so I can dry them for my soaping. I already have lavender, chamomile, roses, rosemary and jasmine growing which I can harvest for my soaps so I'm going to add a whole bunch more stuff.

 

[Guest]

what are the properties of Calendula petals in soap? I've heard them being used as an exfoliate but are there other uses?

 

[mandolyn]

what are the properties of Calendula petals in soap? I've heard them being used as an exfoliate but are there other uses?

Oil infused with calendula petals is used for it's ability to help heal wounds & burns. It's used in salves a lot.

When I use the petals in soap, I like to use part of my oil infused with them as well.

There's always the question of whether or not the benefits of any herbs or flowers make it through the soaping process, or do those properties get destroyed by the lye & high heat? With calendula, I do it anyway just in case it does. Calendula petals are inexpensive, so I don't feel like I'm wasting them by infusing oils for soapmaking with them.

 

[Guest]

When you say infuse the oils do you mean adding the petals to the base oils?

 

[TheGardener]

Calendula comes in a range of colours from deep orange to pale yellow, double and single petals. I grow and use the whole range in my soaps and healing calendula cream. If you are interested go to this site and click on seeds then calendula. They have three choices there with some information.

www.richters.com

I don't think calendula does a lot of good in soap but it does colour it beautifully. It is very healing for cuts, burns, bruises and rashes in a salve or cream.

 

[Guest]

cool thanks for the link

 

[Lil Outlaws]

what are the properties of Calendula petals in soap? I've heard them being used as an exfoliate but are there other uses?

Oil infused with calendula petals is used for it's ability to help heal wounds & burns. It's used in salves a lot.

Yep I use them to infuse olive oil for my diaper rash salve - it's amazing stuff, heals up bleeding bum rashes almost overnight!
I *heart* Calendula..

 

[Guest]

Calendula infused oil is one of my favorite soaps to use .I have crappy skin..

 

[nettles]

Here is another possible explanation of having a hard time finding orange calendula blossoms. Drying at too high a heat bleaches colors right out. A common problem when buying ANY herbs. The only time my deep orange calendula petals dried yellow was when I used an actual dehydrator, instead of just leaving trays of them all over the kitchen. So I imagine that commercial sources of calendula use commercial methods of drying... and sometimes they are in a hurry and turn the heat up to speed up the process?

 

[Guest]

I might try adding a tsp to the base oils of my next 2 pound batch. Then maybe another tsp to the mix when it's sitting in the mold.

Sound safe?

 

[Ilovesoap]

My experience with infused oils is that he soap ends up with a very rich and luxurious lather also.

 

[AshleyR]

Can anyone recommend how much calendula and oil to use to make a good infusion? I may try this for my next soap!

Will the calendula infused oil turn the soap a little yellow?

 

[mamaT]

Do the calendula petals have to be dried to infuse oil or could they be fresh?

 

[Guest]

The soap is a very pale yellow.I used dried at about a cup and a half to 36 oz of olive oil.I let it steep for about a week.( as long as I could stand waiting for it.)

I don't know about fresh calendula , I am sure someone else will let us know , I am curious about that too.

happy soaping
Kitn

 

[xyxoxy]

I infused OO one time in a crockpot on low for about 6 hours. I did not measure... just added as much oil as would fit in a bottle I planned to store it in... then threw in a BUNCH of calendula and let it cook.

I think next time I will let it infuse more naturally in a window sill and will also replace the used petals with fresh after a week or so. I don't think you can use TOO much and they are very inexpensive.

 

[Guest]

oh right so to infuse them means letting them soak in oil for a week? would a few days be ok?

 

[xyxoxy]

I think traditionally that's the way it is done... just like for cooking some people infuse oils with herbs as well that way.
And I assume the flowers should be dried but I don't know that for a fact. My guess is that the flowers will give up their goodness easier if they are dry.

If you Google and search this and other soap boards you will see some shortcuts for infusing oils like using a crockpot on a low heat for a few hours the way I did.

When using the traditional method, I think obviously the longer you soak the herbs and the more you replace with fresh herbs the stronger your infusion will be. You may also want to use a cheese cloth or screen to strain the flowers as you remove them from the oil.