Saturday 26 September 2015

Nettle Soap Update

You may remember that I made an experimental batch of Nettle Soap a little over a month ago. The six weeks of drying time isn't up as yet but I couldn't resist cutting off a small piece to try it out.
 

Wow, it lathers up beautifully and makes my hands feel like I have just put hand cream on so it was definitely worth the effort. Next time I will add some Rosemary essential oil to it as well. The terrible smell of the interaction between the lye and the nettle juice and tea has dissipated thankfully and I look forward to using this soap...when we get through the Calendula Soap and Violet Soap.


As you can tell from the above photo, the colour has faded to a greeny brown and if you going to trial this and wanted to end up with a green soap you would have to add a colourant I dare say.

So....what is going to be my next experiment? Well as I have mentioned before I would love to make some Violet Salve like Faye from This Blessed Hearth does so I picked some violets the other day to make some but last night when I read the ingredients required I noticed that violet leaves not violet flowers are needed. Duh! So now I have some violet leaves drying in readiness for infusing them in olive oil.



 I am sure I will find something to add these to. ;-)



With rain forecast I headed outside this morning to cut some lavender for drying as Annabel from The Bluebirds are Nesting had a link on her blog the other day to a No Sew Lavender Drawer Sachet  that Jes from Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth  designed. I just had another look at that interesting blog and I will have to spend some time there as I see there is a lot of info about herbs....just up my alley as I try to use the herbs we have growing so that they are not wasted.


I do have the lavender in a large pot but I tried to move it the other day and the roots have gone into the ground. Oops!

There were so  many bees on the plant that I had to be careful where I placed the camera as I didn't have my glasses on...as usual. 



Now the rain has arrived so I am going to use up what I think might be my last cauliflower from the garden and make some cauliflower soup as it has turned cool once again. I plan to make some Slow Cooked Foccacia Bread in the Crockpot to go with it.  




Before then however, I need to sew a couple of rows on this rag quilt that I am making for my little grandson in the fabric that has been used for his room.


He is now trying to walk so I had better finish it before he has grown up and has children of his own. LOL! Nanna really shouldn't procrastinate and spend so much time outside in the garden.

Have a great weekend everyone!

14 comments:

  1. What pretty looking soap. I am currently using goats milk soap ( I didn't make it) I bought it from Niabora farm & had it delivered to my daughter in America while I was visiting!Love the colours of your quilt. Have a blessed weekend x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Goat's milk soap isn't too hard to make. I was very cautious when I made my first batch as I had heard all kind of stories about reactions but it was pretty well plain sailing thankfully. It is certainly a nice soap too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great result. Don't you just love it when you can feel the quality on your skin. keen to know how you are going to process the lavender too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The lavender will be lovely to work with I am sure, Phil...as long as it doesn't make me too sleepy ;-)

      Delete
  4. Love the thistle design on your soap Chel, how do you do that??? PS. Had a lovely day in Toowoomba (see comment on my blog). Thank you so much for your inspirational photos otherwise I might not have stopped off and headed straight home instead. Had a fantastic day looking at all the beautiful flowers, and sipping tea at Laurel Banks Croquet Club.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hutchy, when I first started making soap I bought a couple of moulds from a soap supplies place. They were reasonably expensive compared to the silicone ones. So pleased you enjoyed your day here. It is worth taking a little longer as there is so much to see.

      Delete
  5. Wow Chel, the nettle soap experiment seems to have worked well. It certainly gives a good lather on your hands and the moisturising effect is a great bonus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Sandi, it was worth the effort and I will make it again for sure.

      Delete
  6. Love the soap Nice lather by the looks of it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That soap looks great Chel, glad it turned out. You're a shocker like me with the glasses thing. That little boy is growing so fast, glad you'll be seeing him very soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only 3 weeks today till I fly up there, Barb but who is counting ;-)

      Delete
  8. Nanna Chel, gorgeous photos! That soap looks awesome and I love the moulds you used. They really make them look special. The rag quilt is adorable and so is your darling boy. Lovely work. Love, Mimi xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The moulds are from Aussie Soap Supplies http://www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/moulds/tray-and-slab-moulds. I can't see the thistle ones there at the moment but the gothic ones are still available for $13 plus postage of course.

      Delete

Thanks so much for leaving your comments as I love to hear from my readers. As soon as I check them they will be published. If for some reason you have trouble leaving a comment feel free to email me directly by filling out the 'Contact Me' form on the sidebar at the right.

Printfriendly

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...