Are Herbal Powders Acceptable Substitutes For EOs???

[welder]

Hello again!

In case the thread title wasn't clear, I'm wondering if anyone here knows if herbal powders can be used where essential oils aren't available?

I know they will add unsaponifiables, but since people often add charcoal, clay and pumice to their soap, I gotta figure that herbal powders gotta be okay too. Am I right about that?

This is still more research for the African soapmaking business that I'm starting. I'd like it if my sister-in-law were able to add stuff like powdered neem leaf and/or powdered mint leaves to our soap to add a nice scent.

I'd rather have her add neem oil or mint oil, but doing a tincture of neem leaves or mint leaves requires solvent & I just don't want to add unnecesary cost & complexity if I don't gotta. Keeping it simple is good, but adding a nice natural scent would also be nice.

I don't think anyone in Ghana would mind seeing the DOS in a nice light green bar of soap scented with powdered herbs. My partner could spin that off as a fancy coloring and charge more for it (LOL).

Anyone here with solid knowledge or practical experience on adding powders?

 

[Deda]

In my experience herbal powders provide, texture, visual and/or label appeal only. Some herbal powders are great for coloring and but I doubt that many of the original therapeutic properties survive saponification.

I've never had a batch where the scent from the powder was discernable after the cure.

I love them for texture and some impart the prettiest, most vivid and rich colors. But to replace Essential Oils, no.

 

[surf girl]

I have only infused oil using fresh herbs. I don't know if powdered herbs would give the same sort of result - I suppose you could always test it out? What I did was warm fresh herbs in olive oil (which was the main oil in the soap I was making) for about an hour. I am too impatient to infuse by setting herbs and oil in a jar in the sun (besides, it's winter! There's no sun here!). I made three types this way, using lavender (leaves not buds, because it's winter!), rosemary, and cedar "leaves" (ok, ok, not a herb). I actually made two batches of lavender this way; for the second one, I infused the oil twice, and the end fragrance was much stronger.

I made this soap in mid to late November, and the soap still smells very nice. I don't like a really powerful smell, so it won't knock you over, but everyone I gave soap to commented that it "smells so nice", so it is reasonably smelly! Now, as to whether that fragrance lasts and lasts, it's too early to tell. I will be keeping some small bars back to test it out.

 

[welder]

Maybe I'll try a small batch with adding peppermint powder.

 

[Lindy]

I use herbs, botanicals etc. all the time and although the scent is not as strong as EO or FO there is scent there - just subtle. I will be trying a FO for the first time later today or tomorrow.

Cheers
Lindy

 

[surf girl]

Hey welder, if I may make a suggestion... I suspect you will get a stronger fragrance if you let your peppermint steep in the oil (or make a warm infusion - stronger if you infuse several times) rather than just add powder at the end. Or maybe you could try it both ways and report back? That would be cool.

 

[welder]

Hey welder, if I may make a suggestion... I suspect you will get a stronger fragrance if you let your peppermint steep in the oil (or make a warm infusion - stronger if you infuse several times) rather than just add powder at the end. Or maybe you could try it both ways and report back? That would be cool.

Actually, it occurred to me that perhaps adding the lye to a peppermint tea might be a good ida.

Maybe adding some mint powder to the water & some to the oil would get better results?...

 

[surf girl]

Now there's an idea... Just peppermint everything! I'm very interested to know what ways you end up trying, and how they compare.

I find it interesting that the lye doesn't automatically "kill" the smell of things it's mixed with, at least initially. The cucumber soap I made back in November still smells (not strongly, but distinctly) of cucumber - it was made by substituting cucumber puree for the water. I wasn't particularly careful about temperature, either, so it may have ended up even more "cucumbery" if I'd mixed in an ice bath. Now, maybe in a couple of months it will just fade away, but it was interesting that the smell stayed at all.

 

[mandolyn]

I've used powdered herbs to infuse oils. It's very difficult to filter out the powder, though.

 

[welder]

Now there's an idea... Just peppermint everything! I'm very interested to know what ways you end up trying, and how they compare.

I find it interesting that the lye doesn't automatically "kill" the smell of things it's mixed with, at least initially. The cucumber soap I made back in November still smells (not strongly, but distinctly) of cucumber - it was made by substituting cucumber puree for the water. I wasn't particularly careful about temperature, either, so it may have ended up even more "cucumbery" if I'd mixed in an ice bath. Now, maybe in a couple of months it will just fade away, but it was interesting that the smell stayed at all.

If cucumber can survive lye, peppermint should survive even better.

 

[Jnice999]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but how do you steep the peppermint in oil do you have to warm the oil or do you have to steep for days wks? Thanks

 

[surf girl]

You can do either one. Some people pack a jar full of fresh herbs, fill the jar with olive oil (or whatever oil), and sit it on a sunny windowsill for a few weeks. I am far too impatient for that. I put my chopped herbs and oil in a pot, warm to about 140F, and then let it sit. I might warm it again after a few hours, and I might strain off the herbs and then re-infuse the scented oil with a fresh batch of herbs to get a stronger fragrance.

I've found that the soaps I do this way are quite lightly scented - very pleasant, but the smell is not going to fill up your bathroom.

As an update to the ginger experiment, the ginger soap hardly smells at all like ginger. I used both ginger tea and ginger-infused oil. It smells a little different than unscented soap, but I wouldn't bother doing it again as the faint smell is not worth the effort.

 

[Jnice999]

Thanks for responding. Yeah i don't know if i am patient enough to wait for wks.

 

[mandolyn]

Thanks for responding. Yeah i don't know if i am patient enough to wait for wks.

Me either. I found a jar that fits on my electric candle warmer thingy. I cover the herbs with oil & put the jar on the warmer with a loose lid. I leave it there all day, checking to make sure it's not getting too hot. I usually do a full 8 hours, then strain.