Gardener, heal thyself.

I am here today to promise the Universe (and therefore myself) that this is the last blog post I will write until I have finished and turned in the paper about this blog that I must submit in order to graduate.  Priorities, Maggie, priorities! 



However, with that said...since we can't be out in the garden right now, playing with herbs--do you want to play in the kitchen with herbs instead?  Even better, do you want to play with healing herbs and skip the culinary stuff we already know for now? 



Calendula: still blooming in late December

Yes?  Great!  

As you know, in the middle of my frenzied just-before-Christmas whir of potionmaking, I did make a batch of herbal salve, but I am not entirely sure that I achieved the consistency in the final product that I had envisioned.  To be honest, there were beeswax and olive oil flying hither and yon all over my kitchen in various proportions, and eventually I was just throwing chunks of wax in jars without any coherent attempt at measurement.

I tell you this for two reasons. 

1.  You may have been a recipient of the salve and wonder what the heck I was thinking with the goopy stuff in the jar.  I wasn't thinking; I just owe you another chunk of beeswax.

2.  A salve of olive oil and beeswax is actually whatever you want it to be, and that includes the consistency.  Which means that there is a big range in the ratios of oil to wax that are all appropriate, and as potionmaker, you get to decide which you like best.   There is a simple way to do this, and if I hadn't been in such a flurry of multi-tasking before the holidays, I would have taken the time to do so.  More on that ahead.

[This may be obvious, but just in case you are not accustomed to thinking about recipes in terms of ratios, here is how to measure your ingredients this way:  for a ratio of oil to beeswax that is 3:1 (three-to-one), you want three parts oil to one part beeswax (in the sentence, oil is mentioned first and beeswax second, so oil corresponds to the 3 and beeswax to the 1).  You can decide that any given amount is one "part"--if you decide that 1/4 cup is one "part," you would use 3/4 cup of oil and 1/4 cup of beeswax and end up with a total of one cup in a 3:1 ratio of oil to wax.]
 OK.  Here is the recipe:

Herbal Healing Salve

Ingredients:


Olive oil
Beeswax
Dried herbs
Essential oil for scent (optional)

First, infuse the oil with herbs:


Method #1


The best way to infuse an oil takes time and sunlight: place the herbs in a lidded glass container and cover them with the oil, making sure they are entirely submerged, then cover the jar and put it in a sunny, warm place for 2 weeks. Be smart about this:  make sure everything is scrupulously clean and then dried thoroughly to avoid growing a science experiment along with your infusion.  Strain the herbs from the oil with a piece of cheesecloth, old stockings, coffee filter or similar, according to directions in Method #2 below. Put new herbs in the jar, cover with the infused oil, and repeat the process for another 2 weeks. Strain and store in a cool, dark place.


Method #2

Take a canning jar or other heat-resistant glass container and fill it ¾ full with the healing herbs of your choice. Pour enough olive oil over the herbs to cover them by an inch or so. Put the jar in a pan of water on the stove and heat very slowly over low heat. (Or, heat the oil and herbs in your crockpot, or use a double boiler on the stove.) Stir gently every so often. You want to extract the good stuff from the herbs without browning them or deep-frying them in the oil, or letting the oil boil—lower heat and longer infusing is the goal. Shoot for an hour of infusing, and feel free to go longer.


Strain the oil: take a mesh strainer and line it with cheesecloth or a thin fabric like muslin. Strain the oil. It may take a while to drain through the fabric. Once most of the oil has drained through, gather up the cloth with the herbs inside and wring the last of the herbal oil out.


Making the Ointment/Salve/Balm:


The rest is simple. For every cup of herbal oil, use roughly ¼ cup of beeswax. If you grate or chop the beeswax, it melts more quickly. Add the beeswax to the herbal oil and heat slowly to melt the wax. Stir well, but gently. If you’d like, stir in a few drops of essential oil, avoiding anything that might be too harsh for the skin like peppermint or clove. (Lavender or rose essential oils are always good for skin products. Citrus scents, while yummy, dissipate quickly.)


Here is the time to check the consistency of the salve: dribble a little on a saucer and put it in the freezer for a few minutes. If it cools and is too hard, add more oil to the original and test again. If it is too soft or goopy, melt more beeswax into it. The ratio of oil to beeswax can range from 3:1 to 8:1 depending on your preference.


Once you have the desired consistency, pour the warm salve into the containers in which you wish to keep it. Stored in a cool, dark place, the salve can last for up to a year. If you use any fresh herbs when infusing the oil, wilt them to remove as much moisture as possible before adding them to the oil.


Note on ingredients:


Olive oil is a good oil to use for cosmetic and healing purposes. You can use either regular or extra-virgin olive oil (I buy the regular stuff in bulk at Costco, since the regular oil is preferred for making soap). You can also use oils such as apricot, almond, avocado, and jojoba which are great for the skin. Grapeseed oil is good for really oily skin. The less processed, the better—“cold-pressed” is good to see on the label.


Beeswax is cheaper when you can buy larger quantities. Also, keep in mind that a big hunk of it will last quite a while. I get it at a health food store or from a farmers market, but you could also see if you can find a local beekeepers association or club and see what they say. I’ve picked it up at the big beekeeping area at the State Fair before and that was cheaper than my normal store.


The herbs I used in the salve for Christmas were: comfrey, plantain, calendula, rosebuds, rosemary, peppermint, lemon balm, lavender, red clover (listed in roughly descending order of amounts used—again, I don’t measure). The finished balm has a mild, earthy, green smell that I like, without any essential oils added. Sandalwood or rose essential oils (or a few drops of both) would be delicious too.


Other good skin-healing herbs are chickweed and chamomile. If I had to pick just a few to use, I would choose comfrey, plantain, and calendula. Calendula and comfrey should be fairly easy to find; you want calendula flowers and comfrey leaves or roots. Comfrey roots are more potent and should possibly be limited to external use only (so avoid in lip balm, for example), although in that debate, I am firmly aligned on the pro-comfrey side. Plantain is probably more difficult to buy, because it is an extremely common weed. Use the leaves--we are talking about Plantego major, not those strange green bananas at the grocery.


Important enough to mention twice: if you re-use glass jars and containers (jelly jars are nice, or small mustard jars, baby food jars, etc.) make sure to remove any paper or cardboard liners in the lids. If you leave those in place, bacteria will get between the lid and the liner, and you’ll end up with mold. Similarly, make sure the jars are entirely clean and DRY before you fill them with salve—moisture will cause problems.

Bonus: save a bit of your infused oil for a wonderful, healing lip balm.
This is by far my new favorite creation at the ol’ Hanna-Goeglein camp. We have one small container in our house, and so far, I am hording it for myself.


Peppermint-Honey Healing Lip Balm:
Take two tablespoons of oil in a heat-proof glass container, set the jar in a saucepan with a few inches of water in it. Add two teaspoons of beeswax. (If you preferred to weigh your ingredients, use 30 grams of oil and 7.5 grams of beeswax or a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1.) Heat slowly on low heat until the beeswax is melted. Remove from heat. Add a dollop of raw honey if desired and stir well. Stir in a few drops of peppermint essential oil (or other varieties, but be careful not to use too much). Pour into small tubs, let cool, and blissfully slather on your lips, cuticles, cuts, scratches, etc. You can try to re-use old lip balm tube containers that have been cleaned very gently (wipe out and then disinfect with vinegar; dishwasher and even hot soapy water may damage them).

Clean livin' and the lord

Guess what?

Soap's ready to use!  

It's been curing for a month in the spare bedroom.  I've visited it often.

And use it we have been--now that those long four weeks are finally over!  It is really nice stuff...very gentle and more slippery than lathery, which is what we are used to anyway since we've been using health-food-store soaps for the last few years.  It cleans well and hasn't disintegrated in our shower (but isn't kept in the trajectory of the showerhead, either, let's be honest.)  It is mild, and I like using it for my face;  I hope that it will prove helpful for Jason's eczema with continued use.

OK, here's the deal:  do you know how satisfying it is to have made something entirely new--to have the chemical reaction work correctly the first time?  I think household alchemy is pretty dang fun, personally.  I will be making soap again...soon.  I keep giving it away, and that month-long waiting period is a bummer.

I am sad to say that the essential-oil fragrance has apparently been sacrificed to the curing period in the open air.  I would like to test the pH of the bars next time to see how long it actually takes them to cure, rather than just going with the average time, which might help.  I would also like to try again with essential oils, but use strong scents like rosemary and mint.  Oh, or clove and cinnamon.  Mmm.  


I was thinking the other day that if there is one area of this homesteading experiment that I feel I have truly explored, it is the home- and human-cleaning product realms.  For most of the last year I have made, rather than bought, the following:

• shampoo
• conditioner 
• hair gel
• body lotion
• herbal salve for wounds
• face lotion
• bathroom spray cleaner
• soft scrub
• toilet cleaner
• kitchen spray/general cleaner
• floor cleaner    

More recently, I've been trying my hand at making
-soap
-laundry detergent
-bug spray
-and bay rum.  

This is such a fun genre to dabble in, and I wish that I could be privately funded to focus on and play with herbs and potion-making all the day long.  I have books on herbs that I bought while in high school, so this is no passing fancy.  [Oh, and I would go to herbalist school in a heartbeat.  I love the rich history that women have with herbs and healing--just as I love the anarchy inherent to the fact that some of the most useful herbs are what we now call weeds.]  

Ultimately, the colors and scents and gathering out in the fresh air and sunshine are a blissful way to spend your day.  I have the most wonderful mason jar full of sun-dried calendula flowers that represents hours of picking, preparing, and drying beautiful flower-heads on sunny days throughout the summer.  How can they be anything but a force for health and happiness?


I also should point out that our house and persons are as clean as they were when we were buying all of the commercial cleaning stuff.   (Notice how cleverly I worded that.  Ha!  Some of you uber-housekeepers would faint, but I think we do OK.)  If anything, I feel like my hair and skin have benefited from this simplistic routine.  I absolutely love not having a label to bother reading--and if you are concerned about the chemical soup we live in like I am, then you are probably inclined to squint at label gobble-de-gook as well.  It is very freeing to have made what you are using and know the ingredients and their quality inherently.  It is a bit of a challenge to try to recreate for myself all that we would otherwise buy, and I am sure that I will eventually need to start weighing what is worth the time-invested and what would better to buy ready-made.  For right now, though, I am having fun.


If you are interested in trying some or any of these cleanliness-creations yourself, there are  many great resources out there with recipes, tips, and suggestions.  My favorites include:

• Rosemary Gladstar's Recipes for Vibrant Health:  175 Teas, Tonics, Oils, Salves, Tinctures, and Other Natural Remedies for the Entire Family
• Better Basics for the Home:  Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living, by Annie Berthold-Bond
• The Wild and Weedy Apothecary:  an A to Z Book of Herbal Concoctions, Recipes, Remedies, Practical Know-How & Food for the Soul, by Doreen Shababy
• The Naturally Clean Home:  150 Super-Easy Herbal Formulas for Green Cleaning, by Karyn Siegel-Maier

  In general, let me say that I use a lot of the following, some of which is available at any grocery or drugstore  (but may be better sourced at a health food store):  

distilled white vinegar, organic apple cider vinegar, olive oil, extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, pure aloe vera, witch hazel, vegetable glycerin, beeswax, baking soda, washing soda, castile soap, borax, lye, fresh or dried herbs and essential oils. 

--and that just about wraps up my shopping list.  From hence, all cleanliness cometh.

Well, with the exception of dishwashing liquid, which continues to elude me.  Tricky liquid soap.   Ah, well. 

Queen of the Suds (oh dear)

"It is said that Roman women 'discovered' soap some 3000 years ago by accident when they were washing sacred stones after an animal sacrifice.  The combination of fat, water, and ashes from the sacrificial fire created a crude soapy substance."

-Folk Wisdom for a Natural Home, Beverly Pagram, 1997, Trafalgar Square Publishing, North Pomfret, VT.

The first time I read the above passage, it didn't seem terribly illuminating...or even rather likely.  As if such a precise chemical process as saponification could happen--ooops, how handy!--while scrubbing off some dirty stones.  Those of you who have never been mildly obsessed with the idea of making soap may not know the term saponification, and I didn't either until recently.  I knew that soap-making entailed the use of lye, that lye was a nasty, dangerous substance, and that there was heat involved.  In short, I had this vision of me cackling over a cauldron of poisonous fumes shortly before I burned the crap out of myself.

Back over here in reality, saponification is as follows:  it is a chemical reaction that occurs when fat (which is acidic) reacts with a strong alkali--in particular, sodium hydroxide which, when mixed with water, is called lye.  The reaction is a chemical transformation; you are left with neither lye nor fat nor any of their characteristics, but instead an entirely new product called soap.  The tricky part is that the whole shebang is caustic as hell--and requires proper levels of heat for each ingredient while mixing, not to mention the fact that sodium hydroxide, upon mixing with water, gets very hot and can make like a volcano all over the place--a lot of possible operator error for a newbie.

My opening quote continues:  "Traditional soap-making, utilizing as it does spluttering fat (many folk recipes from Europe, America, and Australia incorporate tallow, suet, and 'breakfast grease') plus caustic lye--an alkaline solution made by water dripping through wood ash, is a dangerous operation."

If I didn't want to make soap so badly, I'd want nothing to do with it.

However, the more I read about soap making--and in particular, the more I review the chapter on making a batch of blender soap (!) in my new favorite DIY book Making It:  Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World--the more I am convinced that the Roman tale is probably correct.  Just the right combination, in fact, of heat, fat, lye, water, and agitation.  Fortunately, in Making It, I have a more detailed recipe, one that doesn't involve "spluttering fat" glopping all over.

Not much you can do about the lye, though.

SO!  Ready for soap-making 101?  I am!  

OK.  First:  we are not going to be using animal fat this time around (but I do not deny that I have several cans of old bacon grease tucked away for a rainy day.  I know, ew, right?)  Instead, we are making bars of castile soap, which has come to mean any soap made with vegetable oils.  In this case, we are making the original, Spanish version of castile soap, using only olive oil.  But leave your extra virgin stuff for eating, and use just regular ol' olive oil which will work better in soap-making.


If you want to have fragrance to your soaps, use essential oils.  They are expensive, and you may decide that unscented soap is just fine, since this recipe takes an entire teaspoon if you want to have a discernible fragrance in the finished product.  This first time, I am going to try adding scent to see how long it lasts and decide whether I think it is worth it for future batches.  I am using about 1/2 tsp of lavender, and then the remaining 1/2 tsp a mixture of sweet orange and a few drops of cedarwood.  Yum.

Finally, lye.  You can find it at a hardware store under chemical drain cleaners.  The only ingredient should be sodium hydroxide--if the ingredients aren't listed, beware.  You do not want to grab a can of Mr Plumber and start a science experiment.  The one I found said "100% lye" on it, which simplified matters--look for that, or "100% sodium hydroxide."  If you cannot find any locally, there are soap-making sites online where you can purchase it.



Now, hear ye for the disclaimer real quick like:  I don't think you would really want to just jump full-length into soap-making immediately after reading this post--I'm entirely new to the process myself and learning as I go.  I recommend getting a good handbook on soap-making from the library (or getting Making It) and using far more experienced folks as your guides.  However, this is how it worked for me....

Equipment & general prep

First, make sure you have a good kitchen scale (one that has the "tare" function where you can zero-out the weight of a container.)  You will want to measure the ingredients by weight, not volume, for better precision.   Second, you need a heat-proof container in which to mix the lye crystals and water; I used a mason canning jar.  You will need gloves and protective goggles with an elastic strap (think high school chemistry class).  Wrap-around glasses are not enough--they need to be splash-proof, and held tightly against your face like a snorkeling mask.  Wear old clothes with long sleeves and pants, closed-toe shoes...better safe than sorry.  Tie your hair back.  Sequester children and pets in another location.  Have access to great ventilation for the lye-mixing part--or better yet, do that outside.

And, of course you need a blender, which can be your regular kitchen blender (everything cleans up nicely) or one dedicated to soap-making.  A long-handled spoon--not aluminum.  Finally, you need a mold for your soap.  While there are all sorts of fancy ones to buy, the easiest & cheapest is to save a paper milk carton--either half-gallon size or quart size.  Open the top of the carton fully, wash thoroughly, and let dry.

Ingredients


2 oz. lye
6 oz. filtered water
16 oz. olive oil
1 tsp. essential oil (optional)

Method

Put on gloves and goggles.  Put a small bowl on the scale, press the tare button and wait for the scale to read "zero."  Slowly and carefully measure 2 oz of the sodium hydroxide (lye) into the bowl.  Set aside.  Put the empty mason jar (or other heat-proof container) on the scale and zero out the weight.  Pour in 6 oz of filtered water.  Take the water, bowl of lye crystals, and the long handled spoon outside or to an area with an exhaust fan/open window.  Very carefully, pour the lye into the water and stir to dissolve the crystals--DO NOT pour the water onto the lye, which can cause a volcano of burning, caustic lye all over the place.  The mixture will look cloudy and immediately heat up to 180 degrees, so use extreme caution.  Once the crystals are dissolved, let the lye cool and settle for 5-10 minutes (making sure curious pets and children can't access it).

In the meantime, place a larger container on the scale, zero the weight, and measure 16 oz of olive oil (not extra virgin).  If you are using essential oils, measure out the teaspoon of oil into a small container.  Check to make sure that your blender is put together correctly--rubber gasket in place, everything screwed together firmly.  Pour the olive oil into the blender & plug it in.  Have the essential oil next to the blender, ready, along with the long handled spoon, something to rest the spoon on in between uses, and an old kitchen towel.

Once the lye has started to cool and look less cloudy, make sure you are wearing your gloves and goggles.  Do the next fews steps in calm, smooth succession:  first, slowly and carefully pour the lye mixture into the blender.  Put on the blender lid, then put the kitchen towel on top of the lid for good measure.  Hold down the towel/lid with one hand.  With the other, turn the blender on to its lowest speed for ten seconds, then stop the blender.  Wait for the contents to settle, then remove the towel & lid and dip in the spoon.  The mixture should be very liquid and runny.  Replace the lid & towel and continue to process at the lowest speed for 30 seconds at a time, checking the consistency of the mixture in between.

You are looking for a consistency called "trace"--which means that when you dip in the spoon and dribble some back on the surface, it doesn't immediately disappear back into the mixture, but starts to leave a "trace" behind on the surface.  In other words, you find the mixture starting to change from very liquid toward a more pudding-like consistency.  When this change starts to happen, you have very little time before the mixture will become too thick to pour, so as soon as you notice a thickening, pour in your essential oil (if using) and pulse a few more times to mix--then immediately remove the blender carafe from the base and pour the mixture into your mold.  If it is already too thick to pour, scoop it out of the blender with a spatula and smooth it into the mold as best you can.  This mixture will still be caustic--use care.  The entire blending process will be done within a five-minute time period.

Fold up the top flaps of the milk carton and clip or tape it shut.  The mixture will still be hot, so carefully put the mold somewhere that it can rest for a day or so without being bothered.

To clean up your blender and other equipment, run a sink of hot, soapy water.  Keep your gloves and goggles on, and use the spoon or a spatula to remove and throw away as much of the mixture from the items to be washed as you can.  Wash everything in the soapy water and rinse thoroughly.  If you will be using these items for regular cooking, it might be smart to wash them a second time.  Let dry.

Check your soap after 24 hours to see if it has become solid.  Open the lid and reach in with a finger to see if the surface is still sticky--if it is, let the soap cool and solidify for another day and recheck.  Soaps made of different types of fats and oils will harden with greater or lesser speed, and castile soap can take several days.  Once it is as solid as chilled butter, peel away the carton carefully.  Slice your soap with a sharp knife into the size bars you prefer.

You can use a vegetable peeler to bevel the edges if you like.  The soap will have a consistency similar to American cheese at this point.  Let the soap continue to dry and harden for four weeks--resting somewhere out of the way with plenty of air flow, and covered lightly with a cloth.  The longer you let the soap cure, the harder it will become and the longer the bar will last once you begin to use it.

TA DA!  I just made soap!  How fun is this?  While I can see that there are many opportunities for spills and burns, I think that as long as you do not rush and pay very close attention to what you are doing, there is no reason for a catastrophe to happen.  Reading through the instructions in whatever guide you choose is also important--in fact, I would read them through from start to finish multiple times so that you are very familiar with how the process moves from one step to the next.  Do not underestimate the heat and nasty fumes of the lye--I would really try to mix the lye outside if possible and make sure to stand up-wind of the container while you are mixing it.

Other than that, the biggest challenge is now waiting a month to use this gorgeous, creamy looking soap!  If I like this as well as I think that I will, I know what I'm doing for Christmas presents this year....

One last tidbit:  while perusing soap-making manuals after finishing this blender batch, I keep reading passages that refer to genuine castile soap (100% olive oil soap, which is what this recipe creates) as very tricky to make.   Well, la dee dah!   Apparently the blender method takes a difficult but desirable soap and renders it simple.  How cool is that?  Pure olive oil soap is extremely mild and rich, with less lather than modern commercial soap, but suitable for body and hair and anyone with sensitive skin.