Using Herbal Infused Oils for Soap and Shampoo

[Frigga]

I've been experimenting with herbal infused oils, and was wondering as to whether the good qualities of the botanicals that get transferred to the oil during the infusion stay in the oil after being made into soap? I've been making my own herbal shampoos, and would like to have more cleansing action from the product, but still have the good qualities from my herbal blends. I've been making an herbal infusion with water, and then mixing it with castile soap, but it doesn't clean my hair super thoroughly, and my friends and family hate my herbal shampoos as they feel their hair is nasty afterwards...

Any ideas...? Thanks.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

I've been making an herbal infusion with water, and then mixing it with castile soap, but it doesn't clean my hair super thoroughly, and my friends and family hate my herbal shampoos as they feel their hair is nasty afterwards...

When you say "infusing" in water, do you mean making a tea or decoction from the herb, and then mixing that tea/decoction with liquid castile soap? At what rate? You would just be diluting the soap base, which is already diluted...which may or may not be why you're not getting a good "cleansing" from it. You'd be better off using your herbal tea/decoction as a rinse after shampooing.

I've been experimenting with herbal infused oils, and was wondering as to whether the good qualities of the botanicals that get transferred to the oil during the infusion stay in the oil after being made into soap?

The jury is still out on that one...do the qualities of the herb survive the infusing? Yes, if done properly. Do they survive saponification? You would have to have some kind of scientific testing to have an accurate answer. I'm sure some more volatile constituents don't, but I believe others do.

I've been making my own herbal shampoos, and would like to have more cleansing action from the product, but still have the good qualities from my herbal blends.

Are you making a CP or HP shampoo bar? Or making liquid or cream soap and diluting it to the consistency of shampoo? Or are you just mixing your infusions with liquid castille? That information will help trouble shoot your problem :wink:

 

[Frigga]

Holy cow! I'm in the right place!

When you say "infusing" in water, do you mean making a tea or decoction from the herb, and then mixing that tea/decoction with liquid castile soap? At what rate? You would just be diluting the soap base, which is already diluted...which may or may not be why you're not getting a good "cleansing" from it. You'd be better off using your herbal tea/decoction as a rinse after shampooing.

Not 100% certain on rates, I'll post what quantities I've been using:

The last herbal infusion I made, I poured boiling water over my herbs and let them steep all night, and then strain them in the morning. I got 17 ounces of liquid, and I used almost half of it in a 11 ounce shampoo bottle, and then poured in around 5 1/2 ounces of castile soap, and then 1/2 tsp of rose infused oil, and then 30 drops of lavender essential oil. I froze the reminder of the herbal infusion with the intention of reducing the liquid by half to make it stronger so that I can have a greater soap to infusion ratio.

The jury is still out on that one...do the qualities of the herb survive the infusing? Yes, if done properly. Do they survive saponification? You would have to have some kind of scientific testing to have an accurate answer. I'm sure some more volatile constituents don't, but I believe others do.

I wasn't certain if they did or not. I was trying to figure out if it worth the effort to infuse oils with my shampoo herbs, and then going through the process of making shampoo from those oils, instead of making a water herbal infusion and then mixing it with castile soap.

Are you making a CP or HP shampoo bar? Or making liquid or cream soap and diluting it to the consistency of shampoo? Or are you just mixing your infusions with liquid castille? That information will help trouble shoot your problem :wink:

Thank you kindly.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Well, I think that your dilution is a little high (8.5 oz Infusion to 5.5oz Liquid Soap), but also, Castille soap isn't a highly cleansing soap (hence the advocated use for sensitive skin) so any dilution is going to kill what little lather you get and not feel as "clean" afterwards.

You could try a decoction of your herbs (a stronger brew, usually heating or boiling depending on your herb, then cooked down to a concentrate) with a higher soap to decoction ratio. I would do no more than 2 parts Soap to 1 part Herbal Infusion/Decoction.

You could also use essential oils instead your herbal infusion...what herbs are you using?

Or, if you want to actually make CP or HP soap, there's oils you could use to make it more cleansing (like Coconut and whatever oil you choose, plus 20% Castor and a higher superfat) and still use your herbs. I would infuse one of my soap making oils with the herbs I want to use. If I was concerned that the herb wouldn't make it through the whole saponification process, I would HP and add the infusion at the end of the cook.

 

[Frigga]

Well, I think that your dilution is a little high (8.5 oz Infusion to 5.5oz Liquid Soap), but also, Castille soap isn't a highly cleansing soap (hence the advocated use for sensitive skin) so any dilution is going to kill what little lather you get and not feel as "clean" afterwards.

You could try a decoction of your herbs (a stronger brew, usually heating or boiling depending on your herb, then cooked down to a concentrate) with a higher soap to decoction ratio. I would do no more than 2 parts Soap to 1 part Herbal Infusion/Decoction.

You could also use essential oils instead your herbal infusion...what herbs are you using?

Or, if you want to actually make CP or HP soap, there's oils you could use to make it more cleansing (like Coconut and whatever oil you choose, plus 20% Castor and a higher superfat) and still use your herbs. I would infuse one of my soap making oils with the herbs I want to use. If I was concerned that the herb wouldn't make it through the whole saponification process, I would HP and add the infusion at the end of the cook.

What's funny is that my ratio is greater towards the soap than my natural body care recipes have recommended to me. I have added more soap to the recipe, and have had varying degrees of success, but I'm stubborn, and want to figure this out!

My herbal recipe is quite diverse, as I used the recipe that Stephanie Tourles came up with for her book Natural Body Care, and then I just increased the quantities of herbs, and then started adding herbs that I have around that I had wanted to use up that seemed like they would work well in the recipe. Here's my recipe, the herbs are all dried:

3 Tablespoons Calendula blossoms
3 Tablespoons Chamomile flowers
1 1/2 Tablespoons Comfrey root
1 1/2 Tablespoons Orange peel
2 Tablespoons Nettle leaf
1 teaspoon Hibiscus flowers (as an experiment)
1 teaspoon Lavender flowers
! tablespoon Rosemary
1 tablespoon Comfrey leaf
1 1/2 tablespoons Rose petals

I boiled 2 cups of water and poured that over the herbs, and stirred. Then I realized that my free handedness in trying to make the infusion as strong as possible backfired on me, as I had to boil more water to get the herbs sufficiently submerged to be able to steep properly. I think I added another cup of liquid. I then left it overnight, covered, and strained the next morning. I froze the excess, and plan on boiling it down in a covered pot to try and preserve as much of the essential oils as possible, once I'm out of the current batch.

I still haven't made any soap yet, the thought of using lye when my baby is awake is a little nerve wracking to me. But I've been reading up on it for a couple of years, and wondered about making homemade shampoos with herbal infused oils. But I had wanted to find out before I experiment whether my idea would even work.

Cheers!

 

[judymoody]

Are you using a preservative of any kind? I would, given the organic matter in your infusion and the ratio of infusion to liquid soap. I may be wrong, but I don't think the pH would be high enough to inhibit bacterial contamination or mold.

By the way, for your friends and family who think your shampoo leaves their hair nasty, you might suggest a mildly acidic rinse made with vinegar or lemon juice, perhaps based in your herbal infusions. The pH of conventional soap is too high for hair and can roughen the hair cuticle if not followed by a rinse.

 

[Frigga]

No, I haven't been using a preservative. The recipe books have been saying to refrigerate it, or use it within a month.

I was wondering, do you think borax would work as a preservative? How much would you think I should use for 8 ounces?

 

[judymoody]

Borax is not an effective preservative. There are many available on the market but some are better for oil based products, other for water-based, and some are temperature sensitive or don't play nicely with certain additives. You would have to do research to see what is best for your purposes.

Here is a site with a lot of good information:

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/p ... tives.html

You can get some of the "greener" options at Ingredients to Die For or the Herbarie.