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Infused Oils
- Thread starter Nehlena
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tbeck3579
Well-Known Member
Thank you for the links! Great information.
So far, have only used infused oils for colorants - for which they can be great - assuming that the other properties will probably not survive the lye, especially fragrance. Nehlena, thanks for the link about Kevin Dunn, I found the table in that article (about the volatility of eo's) very interesting.
ngian
Well-Known Member
Hello SeaWolf
Can you explain me the above remark, or give me a link to understand that? Is it about the percentage of unsaponifiables that the oils have? Does SAP has anything to do with that?
I feel the need to fill in this gap...
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Oh nothing so complicated. Go look at any soap recipe, the oils or butters make up around 60% of the entire recipe by weight. For instance on my last 3 lb batch of soap, the oils made up 2 lbs of it. Ok so thats 66.66666% but you get the picture
ngian
Well-Known Member
Meaning that the rest is water and lye?
kchaystack
Supporting Member
Yeap that is right.
ngian
Well-Known Member
Well my thinking was that for example if we infuse Olive oil, the herbs maybe will stick in all its components, and when the lye grab the oil , very few components don't turn into soap (unsaponifiables), in which maybe the herbs stays intact. If we infuse Avocado that has more unsaponifiables then maybe more herbs stay intact.
Or maybe lye attacks the herbs wherever they are...
Anyway that is a nice experiment for Dunn if it is not already done.
Or maybe lye attacks the herbs wherever they are...
Anyway that is a nice experiment for Dunn if it is not already done.
"...Or maybe lye attacks the herbs wherever they are..."
I think that's much more likely, Nikos. Lye is a highly reactive chemical. Just because some of it turns fats into soap doesn't mean the lye isn't interested in reacting with other chemicals in your soap batter, including at least some of the chemicals from your herbs. It's wishful thinking to expect otherwise.
I think that's much more likely, Nikos. Lye is a highly reactive chemical. Just because some of it turns fats into soap doesn't mean the lye isn't interested in reacting with other chemicals in your soap batter, including at least some of the chemicals from your herbs. It's wishful thinking to expect otherwise.
I agree. There's no need for rudeness or dogmatism about this. I don't understand why it causes such anxiety.
We can debate whether herbal infusions have beneficial properties. It's not something I'm into myself. We can debate whether they could have any therapeutic effects in a wash-off product. Personally, I doubt it.
However, I respect that everyone has their own particular curiosity and interests. I particularly respect that you approach these interests with intelligence and seek out credible sources. Your links were rather good and were of direct value to me, so thank you.
Presumably I don't need to point out that "lye monster" is not a scientific term. The idea that lye reacts with everything is wrong, period, not debatable. You may be rightfully impressed with sodium hydroxide, but there are plenty of substances that don't give a flying frack about it.
