Teach Soap

I asked about spinach powder (because I was looking for a reliable, natural green colorant), a few weeks ago, and Lavender Lady politely reminded me about nettle. I had some in my soap cabinet, so I ran it through the food mill, sifted it, and made nettle powder. I had never used it as a powder for natural coloring, but I knew it had been done. Well, I promised to post pictures of the finished soap, and here they are!

(Sorry, I took these with my iPhone, so the resolution isn't very good).

Spearmint & Goat's Milk




I also used it to color my "My Husband Is A Redneck!" soap (Hunter's Soap), with anise star and cedarwood EO's. Here is a picture of that soap, colored with nettle powder and cocoa powder:




The soaps are a week old. Assuming they maintain their beautiful green colors, this soap colorant is an outrageous success.

Sarah

Those are beautiful! I hope that green holds.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

What a pretty color! How much nettle did you use per lb. of sop?

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

1/2 to 1 tsp. of nettle powder per lb. of soap, for the spearmint and goats milk batch. Double that for the dark green color in the hunters soap. The hunters soap is actually bleeding ever so slightly, so I'll probably reduce the amount for the next batch.

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

Very pretty! I love that name for a hunters soap! Lol I am surprised by your darkness in color only using that amount. You can use up to 1 Tbs. ppo, either infused in the oil or at trace, but I get a nice, almost limey green when I use a lower amount. That could be my recipe though. It will be interesting to see how yours turns out Irena. I can't wait!
Oh, and my nettle colored soap holds pretty true for just shy of a year.

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

Tammy

I did a nettle-infused batch two months ago, but I also infused annatto root as a colorant, so the whole thing came out a beautiful orange. I didn't know nettle would hold its color in an infusion! I actually grabbed one of those bars yesterday to test in the shower - and dang! - that is some awesome soap.

I'm undecided on whether or not the nettle infusion had anything to do with the quality of the soap, however. Do you guys think that herbal infusions carry any benefits to the soap? Yes, I know it's a rinse off product, so I'm not talking about magical medical cures for cancer, but rather the quality of the soap as you use it.

I infuse one herb for a soap a week to learn more about the herbs for use in non-soap products, but hey, it's where I can use them now to learn more about them.

I find this interesting. I'm not entirely sure what nettle is except to say that it is a stinging plant and can be bought in capsules in the herbal supplement section of the health food store. So, did you empty out capsules, have it in some other dried powder or tea form or have this plant out in your yard?

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Michelle

Reminder to Self: "Cut No Soap Before It's Time!"

Michelle; If you do not grow and dry your own, or have local access to such products, you can buy herbs in dried or powdered form from either herbal suppliers (like Mountain Rose Herbs), soap suppliers (like Brambleberry), some specialty markets, or some whole foods stores. There are even some spice companies (monteray bay) that sell on line. You would need too much and the cost would be high to open capsules for soaping.

Robert, I have never mixed annato and nettle, I never even considered it because the annato makes a lovely orange without anything else. So your color sounded rather interesting, I may need to try it.
As for the issue of the herbal properties coming through in cp soap, I believe some properties do. But you will find people who land on both side of the issue, even the "experts", so in the end, you just need to keep experimenting and decide for yourself!

Enjoy the journey~

ETA: Robert, I should have told you that my nettle was used at trace, the powder, not an infused oil. I very often use nettle at trace that way, as I save my infusions for the herbs that have to be infused and those that have properties I want to impart. You certainly can do nettle either way, I just wanted to be clear that the year old bar I was speaking of was made from powder. I haven't infused it in so long, I couldn't tell you how long that lasted if I tried!

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

Tammy