Monday, October 22, 2012

Making soap with tea and wild mint



I had seen somewhere to use tea in place of plain water to make soap. So I brewed some mint tea a few days ago and put it in the fridge so it would be nice and cold. I read that the colder the tea, the lighter the soap will be. And that it's best to use slushy tea for a real light tea. So I stuck it in the freezer and went to gather some wild mint to throw in too.




Darla had to follow me across the pasture on the way to the mint place. The rest were taking their mid-morning siesta under the shed in the shade.

This is a really old house next door across the field where the wild mint is. I love this house. Been abandoned for a LONG time. It's going to just fall in one day. A family dispute, I have heard. So sad. So the mint grows along these flowers in the front and along the fence line.


                           Of course I have to show my most favorite old oak tree behind my house.
 Didn't mean to show it twice, but it's worth a second view. And I can't figure out how to take it off once I've already gotten it on here, without deleting the whole post and starting over. So you'll have to enjoy it twice!


                                      This is the tea in the lye. VERY dark. Like a burnt goat milk.

Here is the mint and some ground up waiting to be added to the soap. It smells amazing! I love mint.

And here is the soap being stick blended. It almost looks like pumpkin puree. I had also read that the more you stir, the lighter it gets. Well, mine did not get lighter. I then added the mint. It looks horrible now!
  I sure hope it lightens up as it dries. It sure did not so far. I will see in a day or so. This is a veggie based soap, with coconut and olive oil and shortening. It is supposed to stay in the mold 48 hours. I can hardly wait that long for most of them. Too suspenseful!

      Ready to be wrapped up now. And still very brown. But I don't mind dark soap. Most people like the white or lighter colored soap though.

2 comments:

Kristin said...

I think the pumpkin color is pretty. I'm sure it smells divine.

We have a house up the road from us that I call "The Sad House". It's a (formerly) white antebellum with two story columns out front. People still live there, but it looks like it's about to fall in on itself. Such a pity.

I bet you could snag some nice heirloom bulbs from around there come spring ;)

It looks like you're having the weather I'd hoped to have when we were in the GA mountains a couple weeks ago. Can't compain too much though, sunny and 80 now in my sliver of paradise.

Kris said...

When I peaked at the soap awhile ago, it was still dark.

That old house next door is the style I love, with the 2 stories in front and the long back end with the porch all the way across the front. Such a shame people would let these old house fall down. But she's still standing.

It was a great day here today too. I'm glad your day was good too.