Make Your Own Oil Infusion - Part 1

 Many herbs have skin loving qualities, and that’s why as soap makers we add them to our soap. They also give a lovely touch to the overall look and feel of the soap when we add them to our soap tops. They automatically tell everyone that this is a natural bar of soap.

In today’s blog post you’ll learn how you can get the most out of your herbs and the benefits they hold by doing one more thing that commercial soap makers don’t do. You’ll learn how to infuse your oils with herbs and flowers.

1. The first thing you need to do is make sure your herbs and flowers are completely dry.  You don’t want to introduce any water to your oil because that will cause bacteria to form. Purchase dried herbs and flowers or make your own by drying them out in the sun or in a baking sheet in the oven. They should be so dry they would crumble if you rubbed them between your hands..

2. Pick an oil that you use often in your soap recipes, or one that you want to use for a specific recipe on hand. In today’s article I’ll be using olive oil. I use olive oil a lot in my soap recipes because it’s affordable, it’s easy to come by, and it’s wonderful ingredient in soap bars.

3. Take a clean, dry, glass jar that has a lid, add about 1 cup of your dried herbs or flowers, then fill it with the oil you want to infuse.  My Jar has about 2 cups of dried flowers and 7 cups of olive oil.

4. Put the lid on.

5. Shake well.

6. Keep your jar on the shelf or in a dark cupboard for at least 2 months. Shake your jar every now and then.

What will happen is that the oil will get infused with the natural oils in your herbs and flowers. You might even start to notice that your oil smells like the herb or flower you infused it with. Also check your oil for mold on the surface.

7. When you’re ready to use your oil, you’re going to have remove the herbs and flowers from your oil before you make soap.  To do this, pour the oil into a bowl through a strainer or cheese cloth.

8. When the oil is strained, squeeze the herbs and flowers with your hands to bring out the oil that they absorbed. You don’t want to waste a single drop of your precious infusion.

9. You can discard the herbs and petals and use the infused oil in your soap recipe.  It will now carry all the skin loving benefits of those herbs and flowers.

I hope you found this article useful. Have you ever used infused oils in your soap?