Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Dandelion flower infused oil and salve

Finally, my big day has arrived! Over Easter I was left home alone so I could concentrate in doing a large spell of writing... It meant my head raced around how I could put my new plans to practice. I wanted to infuse oils...

I had some olive oil in my kitchen cupboard (I always have several bottles). But I didn't have anything to infuse it with. I went outside and my garden held a little treasure. I had never thought of them as a treasure... but all of a sudden their beautiful yellow petals made me think about their ability to survive even the most unfavourable conditions. Whilst last Spring I thought of them as a weed... this time around they were the answer to my experimenting urge. I picked every dandelion flower I could find in my garden. I ensured they were no insects (which there were at first, quite a few!) and then I placed the flowers in an empty jam jar and covered them with extra virgin olive oil.



I placed the pot in my kitchen window. I thought I would leave them there for around two weeks, where they get the afternoon sun. However, I started reading about maceration (another word for infusing oils, I think) and some people advocate to leave them for 6 weeks, so that they are infused with sun light as well as the full cycle of the moon. I don't know how effective that may be for the maceration process, but the idea sounded appealing.


So, 6 weeks have passed!! I was so excited, I filtered the oil twice through muslin cloth, the deep yellow colour (see picture) was like a full sun, so beautiful! I decided to make my first ever batch of dandelion salve. I added some beeswax (which turned out to be too much, so I had to re-do the process by adding more infusedoil) to the oil in my pirex glass jug placed over a pan of boiling water (my rudimentary bain marie). Once the beeswax had melted in the oil I poured it into small amber jars, adding 15 drops of lavender essential oil for each 60 mls of dandelion flower salve.



Reading about it on the internet, it apears that Dandelion Flower Salve can be very good as a breast salve as well as suitable for muscular pain and even as a hand moisturiser and a cure for eczema. I tried it last night and it was so luxurious!!! Particularly relaxing as the combination of lavender with the sweet smell of the dandelion flower oil makes the experience very pleasurable.


However, the process can often have challenges. In some forums, there are comments regarding how prone dandelion flowers are to maintain humidity and therefore create mould in the oil. Therefore, they advise that dandelion flower infused oil may only be infused for about two weeks. I guess I was lucky. I picked my dandelion flowers after several days without rain and in a sunny afternoon. I managed to keep them in the oil for 6 weeks without any signs of mould.

2 comments:

  1. Hello Calendula,

    you were really lucky, because dandelion can be tricky and it can smell like... Salami?... after that long time.
    I was lucky too with my 6 weeks, but I guess it is because we both used a small quantity.
    Isn't this oil wonderful? It smells like a fresh picked dandelion. What was quite interesting for me is, that you used the whole flower. Normally herbalists use only the yellow petals. Wonder how this effects the medical properties...
    Now, welcome on a beautiful herbal path!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Brigitte,

    Thank you for your comment (the first in my blog!)

    I didn't realise that herbalists only use the petals... I should try and find out a little bit more. At least I have to say, that the smell of it has impressed everyone I've shown it to, and I've found it very relaxing. I'm actually using it as a moisturiser for my body before going to sleep, and it has been helping me relax.

    I'm just visiting your blog :-)

    Thanks again for your comment

    ReplyDelete

My Favourite Books