Herbal Soap Making Question

While going through feedback for TreeHuggerz, I found an email from S. who is looking for herbal soap information. Her question and my response are below. Since I don't make soap, my answer is more the result of online research than personal experience. If any of you talented readers have recipes or tips to share, please comment on this post.

Question:
"...would love some helpful hints in incorporating herbs into soap making...have a niece with eczema and she desperately wants to find some thing natural that will help...so do I...how can I add and get the full benefit of chickweed/marigold into a soap?"

Answer:
From what I've found online, it pays to add essential oils in addition to finely powdered, dried herbs. If you like a bit of texture and visual interest in your soap, then throw in some dried marigold petals.

Soap Making Resources:

TeachSoap.com - The Soap Making FAQ on this site is fantastic and you can ask the expert, Anne-Marie, your questions if they haven't already been answered.

WaltonFeed.com - These are old-fashioned soap recipes that I thought you might like.

Soap Recipes - Free recipes and directions condensed from Elaine White's book, 'Soap Recipes: Seventy tried-and-true ways to make modern soap with herbs, beeswax and vegetable oils.'

Zenda's Homemade Soap and Beauty Recipes - Lots of helpful tips in addition to recipes.


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