Teach Soap

I have been busy infusing oils with herbs to use in my soaps over the coming winter. My favorite is rosemary. It is a technique that is very simple. I start with a clean jar, add my fresh herbs and then pour in the oil that I have selected, olive, bran.....I then fill it with oil and place in a warm spot for a week. (It is utmost important to label the jar with the date and the type of oil and herb used). I then strain the oil to remove all of the herbs. My goal when making soap is to keep it as natural as possible.
Cheers!
Cody Wellard

Thanks Cody!
I bet that works well for CP soap. I infuse most of my herbs dry as I use them in other things like balms. I don't want any germs, mold or bacteria to get into my balms. For soap, lye would most likely kill any nasties.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I know some people do use fresh herbs to infuse, but it is NOT the safe or recommended way. I don't encourage people to use fresh herbs, rather dry the plants first, then infuse the dried form.
The problem is that water still resides in undried herbs, and wherever there is water, there is a great media for bacterial growth. And even if you change out the herbs every few days, as some say they do to make it healthier, water droplets are still left behind.

While you may see some mold growing, you cannot see all bacteriological growth. So unless you test your infusions (each and every one), you cannot be sure that they are safe to use. This creates a great liability issue for you if you use these infusions in any product you sell. So if you still want to use the fresh, I highly suggest that limit its use to your own personal products, or be prepared to shell out a lot of money for testing.

_________________
Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

I must admit lavenderlady I never gave thought to the bacterial contamination in infusions (not that I have even tried infusions yet LOL) but as microbiologist pose an interesting topic, any natural product fresh usually holds some bacterial growth not all of which is bad. Bacteria in yogurts and milk stabilize our digestive system and we carry both good and bad bacteria on our hands at all times. I think it depends on the individuals environment whether the bacterial yield would be suffiecient enough to raise alarm. Bottled water held in the car after just one sip is literally riddled with bugs by the end of the day. But is she starts with "veggie washed" basically what you do with fresh fruit with her freshed herbs then allow water to dry while laid out not dry the herb itself and put in a sterile container with oil I think the longevity of the oil would be compromised but not harmful but it is always best to be safe. I think I will test it just for fun now to see various yields of fresh vs dry oil infusions. I'll let you know how it turns out in a couple weeks. I agree with soapbuddy though if this infusion is used for cp soap the caustic envirnonment would probably kill off most if not all buggies that grew in infusion. Turbidity i.e cloudiness is very good indicator of bacterial growth and any oil that shows atypical cloudiness could be compromised and shouldn't be used. I'm intrigued now and must experiment. Thanks Lavenderlady for the post.

Kate, I am most interested in the outcome of your study. I just wanted to say thanks for doing this and the willingness to share with us!

_________________
Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

I will be interested to see your experiment also kate! While I am well aware that not all bacteria is bad for us, I liken this recommendation to pumpkin. Back in the day we use to can fresh pumpkin every year, but it is no longer considered acceptable (banned in 1989). We also used to do fresh infusions, but those recommendations have changed as well. I did not come up with this on my own, rather this is what the acceptable practice is, and the reasoning behind it. While the lye in cp soap may take care of bacteria, not all infusions are used for cp soap, so the recommendations are for the industry in general, not just soapers.

_________________
Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy