The Chamomile Oil Experiment!

[SummerlandSoaps]

Ok, so I want to make a natural fragrance oil for my soaps. I had a whole 4oz bag of dried Chamomile flowers in my supply basket. BTW: 4oz doesn't sound like a lot, that's why I bought it. I was shocked when it came in the mail. I got a zip top freezer bag of Chamomile!! So 4oz is a lot more that I thought. Anyway, A light bulb went off!!! My brain said to me "Infuse this Sh*t in some oil...STAT!".

So I decided that I'd try an experiment and record the results. The goal being a wonderful chamomile scented oil to use in my next batch of soap!

I'm not done with the experiment yet, but here is what I have done so far:

1. At 10:15pm (Once my 5 year old daughter fell into a post Christmas coma with her new Hello Kitty blanket) I put 12oz of Soybean Oil in my crockpot and set it low. (I need 10oz of Soybean oil in my regular recipe, so I'm starting out with 12 in case I loose some to the chamomile absorbing it.)

2. I placed 1oz of dried chamomile in the crock with the oil. I stick blended it for a minute. There are still a few chunks, but it's pretty smooth. I'll be straining it when it's all done so the big pieces wont be in it, just the little tiny "string like" strands of chamomile left in the oil.

3. @10:45 I stirred the mixture, replaced the lid and set my timer for 1 hour. I will stir it and turn it off. Then I will go to bed and proceed in the morning.

I plan to strain it in the morning, and use it in my soap in the afternoon. Unless of course, it doesn't infuse well; but I am sure it will. It smells amazing after just a half hour!!!

I will update you all (with pictures if I can figure out how to post them on here) in the morning after it is done!

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Has anyone done this?
Did it work?
What other things have you infused with oil?

 

[jenrb1982]

wow... i am excited to find out....

how it comes out... please update us!

That sounds like fun!

Merry Christmas!

 

[soapbuddy]

Sounds like an interesting experiment. Please keep us posted.

 

[c.a.p.]

Good luck. I hope it works. It certainly would be a cheaper way to get a chamomile scent so we don't have to resort to eo's (too pricy for me).

 

[SummerlandSoaps]

Ok, so once I was ready to go to bed I switch off the crockpot. I let it sit there overnight.

This morning I went to strain it and it smelled great! I used an old pair of hose to strain it with. Chamomile has very tiny pieces and the hose did the trick.

I was very surprised to see how much the color of the oil had changed. It got pretty dark, and smells very good. One interesting thing to note: I need 10oz in my recipe, so I used 12 just in case it soaked up some oil. After straining/squeezing I have only 9.5oz. I tried so hard to squeeze out another .5oz but it wouldn't give it up!

After we clean up our house (looks like a tornado hit it and threw toys all over the place) I will soap with it. Just a small test batch (2lbs). Chamomile infused oil w/cucumber puree. I'm hoping for a naturally scented bar. We shall see if the scent remains, but I remain hopeful! It seems to have infused well.

 

[soapbuddy]

Sounds like an interesting experiment. The smell of the cucumber won't come through though.

 

[krissy]

i have oil that i have been infusing Chamomile in for a year now. it smells wonderful and is a deep yellow color. however the chamomile scent never has survived the lye process when i have made soap with only the infused oil for the scent. the lye monster eats it. my only suggestion is that you might be able to get the scent to stay some if you use it after the cook in HP.

 

[SummerlandSoaps]

i have oil that i have been infusing Chamomile in for a year now. it smells wonderful and is a deep yellow color. however the chamomile scent never has survived the lye process when i have made soap with only the infused oil for the scent. the lye monster eats it. my only suggestion is that you might be able to get the scent to stay some if you use it after the cook in HP.

Even if the scent doesn't come through, I should be a really nice color. Like I said, it's an experiment and learning experience. Mine oil is a light brown color, not yellow. Perhaps due to heating it?

 

[Lindy]

Looking forward to hearing and seeing the results. A soaping buddy of mine infused lavender and her soap was so pretty and the scent did come through. It seems to me she didn't add any other fragrance to it.

 

[SummerlandSoaps]

Looking forward to hearing and seeing the results. A soaping buddy of mine infused lavender and her soap was so pretty and the scent did come through. It seems to me she didn't add any other fragrance to it.

I just got it poured into the mold, I'll post pics either tonight, or in the morning. It's a really neat green color. I added cucumber juice to my lye/water and the chamomile oil was a light brown color. So it looks neat.

So far I can smell the chamomile and the cucumber fairly well, even with the fresh soap smell in it. Hopefully in the morning it will still smell good, and still be green! lol

 

[Zhuliya]

Can't wait to know whether the chamomile smell stayed in the final soap... I've tried to use infused oils on CP soap, but never succeeded in keeping the mess in the final soap, so added them after the HP cooking part and had a little more luck. If your recipe works I will definitely try it!

Good luck!

 

[SummerlandSoaps]

Well, good news and bad news. The soap is cut, but I think it's a botched batch. When I cut it, the center was still soft. It has since firmed up, but I am worried something will be wrong with it.

The good news is that the scent stayed, and even a faint sniff of cucumber remained. It actually reminds me of a fresh cut lawn. It smells quite good.

I have a batch that I am re-batching today, so if someone can tell me how to post pics here, I'll post some of the chamomile/cucumber while I wait for my re-batch to melt down.

 

[Sunny]

wow! that's really great, thanks for sharing. I hope you can keep us updated over the weeks and let us know how it smells after a full cure. exciting.

 

[Zhuliya]

Yes, that's really exciting.. I love chamomile and since I can't afford chamomile EO I've always wanted to find another way to make my soap smell like chamomile... now you've found one, and I can't wait to read that the smell stayed after the curing time so I can try it myself! Thanks a lot for sharing this.

 

[TheSoapMagician]

I think this is a great subject.

I infuse chamomile flowers along with calendula in olive oil and they (aroma) both stay in the soap. I do a large infusion and whatever I don't include in the recipe, I put in a tightly sealed jar and allow it to continue to infuse. I add a couple of tablespoons of this mixture at the end. So I have little pieces of the flowers in the soap.

This is a pretty popular soap that I sell on-line.

 

[Zhuliya]

I infuse chamomile flowers along with calendula in olive oil and they (aroma) both stay in the soap.

Just one question, do you also heat up the oil as SummerlandSoaps does?