Suggestions for Calendula soap

[rjalex]

Could not resist because they are so beautiful and bought dried calendula flowers

I have read about making an olive oil / flowers infusion. Quantities and time to let sit ? What percentage of shredded flowers would you add to the soap at light trace ?

The flowers I have bought are whole with a little of the green "stem" (not sure about the english term). Do I have to separate petals only ?

Any recipe welcome.

TIA

 

[TeriDk]

Not sure if this is technically correct but I infuse the petals for a few weeks, 6 or more, in my case. I strain the petals out and make my soap. At light trace I add a tbs/ppo of the petals I pulled out. I've also have used new, dried petals too. I didn't find any difference. I found that using a mold with dividers works better than cutting bars later. When I cut bars, I found that the ends of the petals were quite scratchy especially after a long cure. Hope this helps. Have fun. They do make beautiful bars.

 

[angemarie]

Could not resist because they are so beautiful and bought dried calendula flowers

I have read about making an olive oil / flowers infusion. Quantities and time to let sit ? What percentage of shredded flowers would you add to the soap at light trace ?

The flowers I have bought are whole with a little of the green "stem" (not sure about the english term). Do I have to separate petals only ?

Any recipe welcome.

TIA

Hi rjalex...I have replied to your post in my thread with my calendula recipe for you! :-D

 

[dixiedragon]

When you make the infusion, simply fill a jar with calendula and then pour in your oil. Don't squish down the petals. Sometimes I infuse the flowers including the stem, and then pour the oil through a strainer to remove the petals and stems. Sometimes I remove the stems before infusing. You don't want the stems in your finished soap - they will be large, scratchy and ugly.

 

[rjalex]

Thanks to all. Being lazy I might infuse the whole flower and also make some petals only to mix with the soap. Ah ! If I only could find molds with dividers here :-(

 

[dixiedragon]

How do you cut your soap? Calendula petals aren't very tough. I think a sharp knife would cut through them cleanly.

 

[TeriDk]

I have a 9 bar mold with dividers from BB. I used a round tube mold for another batch of calendula soap. After cutting it (wire cutter) and letting it cure for 8 weeks, it was scratchy due to the cut petals from the wire cutter which dried out. The regular bars were lovely. My only problem is selling them to the clueless that one finds here. Same with milk soaps. Educating is a slow process.