I have begun trying my hand at bath bombs and bath salts. Lavender is a natural relaxant, so it seemed a natural addition to a luxury in our fast paced society- a soothing bath.
While visiting the Calgary Stampede, I picked up a booklet on “Crafts in the kitchen with kids”, with bath bombs as one of the activities.
I followed the recipe, making the mini bath bombs, and ended up with 3 ping pong sized balls (makes 2-3, the recipe said). After allowing them to dry, I took a bath, dropping in the bath bomb. To say the recipe “bombed”, would be putting it lightly. The ball sank to the bottom of the tub, and sort of melted there. The bath water was okay, but it didn’t react as a bath bomb should. There was nothing explosive about it.
My next attempt, I decided, needed a little more research. So I went to my search engine and did some homework. After discovering other people’s mistakes, I found enough information to make a second attempt. At fizzing lavender bath salts, this time.
The recipe I had discovered suggested putting the salts into organza bags to keep the lavender from plugging up the tub. So after mixing together the fine ingredients, I poured them into an organza sack. The powder sifted right through. I found a tighter weave of organza and tried it. Again, it sifted right through. I found the tightest weave of organza I had. Again, it sifted through. Frustrated, I made a small cotton sachet and filled it.
Success!
The salts stayed in the bag. I sewed up the top. Looking over, I saw my muslin material. I wonder… I thought to myself. I poured in the bath salt mixture. A little leaked through, but mostly it stayed in place. Satisfied, I sewed up the top of the bag.
A couple days later, I decided it was time to test them out. Unable to find someone to watch my little girl so that I could have a long, luxurious bath, it was decided she would join me. She loves baths, and I figured it couldn’t hurt, as all the ingredients are natural and safe.
I noticed the salts had hardened in their sachets, but as I dropped them in, both the cotton and muslin sachets began to bubble and fill with air, floating around the tub. My daughter thought it was great fun to play with the little sacks. They were strangely cool to the touch, and floated on top of the water. Also, as promised, the lavender stayed in the sachets instead of going down my drain.
The cotton sack released the air much more slowly, but both bubbled quite satisfyingly. As for the lavender added to the bath, it was definitely the most relaxing bath I have ever taken with an active 20-month-old.
I tried out another test sample after a day with 2 long bike rides, and the combination of hot water and lavender did wonders for my sore muscles, even relaxing a pulled muscle in my neck better than the lotions and massages had managed to. It’s not completely better, but it’s a lot better.
So it’s still a trial in motion. I am waiting on some specialty salts to try a new recipe, and I’m going to try moulding my fizzing bath salts into bath bombs.
Next week, our blog will feature something special – our new heating pads and an encounter with Mike Holmes!
Saturday 5 September 2009
Monday 24 August 2009
Barley vs. flax heating pads
This week, I decided to do a somewhat more scientific experiment. And every good scientist needs a hot assistant, and I had mine. My husband’s more scientific and unbiased approach to things made him the perfect assistant. I remember doing science experiments in junior high, and used the same approach.
Question: Which filling is better for a heating pad, flax or barley? Which will retain its heat longer and which is more comfortable?
Hypothesis: The barley should retain its heat longer, since each piece of barley is larger than each piece of flax. The flax will be more supple, and therefore more comfortable.
Method: Two identical heating pads were made for this experiment, each filled with exactly 1 ½ cups of filling, and sewn shut.
Variable: 1 heating pad was filled with a lavender/flax mixture (1 part: 3 parts), 1 heating pad was filled with a lavender/barley mixture (1 part: 3 parts).
Test one: Each heating pad was heated for 1 minute in the microwave. This proved to be too long, as each heating pad was too hot to touch. As they cooled slightly, I put each one on the bare skin of my legs and sat to wait for them to cool. I felt them occasionally with my hands as well, and asked my assistant to test them as well. Although the flax heated up more, they lost their heat at about the same rate. There was no noticeable difference in the rate of heat loss.
Test two: I determined to heat each heating pad to approximately the same temperature to test which stayed warm for the longest. I heated the barley heating pad for 45 seconds and the flax heating pad for 30 seconds. I again put each one on the bare skin of my legs and sat to wait for them to cool. My assistant and I both concurred that there was little difference between the two, with the barley staying minutely warmer than the flax.
Test three: The cuddle test. Which one was more comfortable? The feel of the flax was far softer to the feel than the barley. The barley felt a little bit prickly, whereas there were no hard edges to the flax to be prickly or uncomfortable.
Conclusion: Although the barley retained its heat a little bit longer, the difference was not significant enough to switch to barley, as the feel of the flax is so much nicer that the heat retention difference was deemed insignificant by comparison.
Note: Spritzing the heating pads with water, or heating them with a glass of water in the microwave will prolong the life of the heating pad.
Join us next week as we tackle bath bombs and bath salts. A special thank you to my lab assistant!
Question: Which filling is better for a heating pad, flax or barley? Which will retain its heat longer and which is more comfortable?
Hypothesis: The barley should retain its heat longer, since each piece of barley is larger than each piece of flax. The flax will be more supple, and therefore more comfortable.
Method: Two identical heating pads were made for this experiment, each filled with exactly 1 ½ cups of filling, and sewn shut.
Variable: 1 heating pad was filled with a lavender/flax mixture (1 part: 3 parts), 1 heating pad was filled with a lavender/barley mixture (1 part: 3 parts).
Test one: Each heating pad was heated for 1 minute in the microwave. This proved to be too long, as each heating pad was too hot to touch. As they cooled slightly, I put each one on the bare skin of my legs and sat to wait for them to cool. I felt them occasionally with my hands as well, and asked my assistant to test them as well. Although the flax heated up more, they lost their heat at about the same rate. There was no noticeable difference in the rate of heat loss.
Test two: I determined to heat each heating pad to approximately the same temperature to test which stayed warm for the longest. I heated the barley heating pad for 45 seconds and the flax heating pad for 30 seconds. I again put each one on the bare skin of my legs and sat to wait for them to cool. My assistant and I both concurred that there was little difference between the two, with the barley staying minutely warmer than the flax.
Test three: The cuddle test. Which one was more comfortable? The feel of the flax was far softer to the feel than the barley. The barley felt a little bit prickly, whereas there were no hard edges to the flax to be prickly or uncomfortable.
Conclusion: Although the barley retained its heat a little bit longer, the difference was not significant enough to switch to barley, as the feel of the flax is so much nicer that the heat retention difference was deemed insignificant by comparison.
Note: Spritzing the heating pads with water, or heating them with a glass of water in the microwave will prolong the life of the heating pad.
Join us next week as we tackle bath bombs and bath salts. A special thank you to my lab assistant!
Monday 17 August 2009
Lavender Dreams
Lavender has long been used as a sleep aid. Some people claim it works as well as sleeping pills, but without any of the side effects. This week I decided to test this claim on the most restless sleeper in our house - my husband.
My husband, as I may have mentioned before, is something of a skeptic. He's also quite stubborn, and when he makes up his mind about something, there is no changing it. So, I didn't see the need to inform him of my latest experiment I would be testing on him.
I merely took one of my French Organic Lavender Pillow and Drawer Liners and slipped it into his pillowcase while he was at work, landscaping.
"You know," he said, as we climbed into bed for the night, "the whole house is starting to smell like lavender."
I just smiled. "I know," I said. "Isn't it wonderful?"
The next morning, I awoke from a wonderful lavender induced sleep. I felt wonderful. I turned to my husband. "How did you sleep last night?" I asked.
He looked at me slightly confused. "It's weird," he said, "I had one of the best sleeps ever last night." For him, this is rather significant, as he doesn't usually sleep well. He tosses and turns a lot, and wakes up several times a night.
I reached into his pillow, and pulled out the pillow liner. "Think this might have had something to do with it?"
He shrugged. "All I know is I slept really well, and whatever it was, I'd use it again." So the lavender liner has a new home under my husband's pillow. I don't complain, since it helps me sleep as well.
After a couple of night, my husband mentioned that his dreams were especially vivid with the lavender, and I noticed this as well, although I often have vivid dreams, so I cannot necessarily connect that to the lavender.
A friend of mine who has the large satin lavender eye pillow says that she uses that to help her fall back to sleep after nursing at night time, and she finds that helps her to go back to sleep more easily.
It looks like this is another successful experiment! Lavender can help with a good night of sleep, and lavender triumphs over the skeptic again!
Join us next week as we compare flax heating pads to barley heating pads, comparing which is the most comfortable and which one retains heat the best.
My husband, as I may have mentioned before, is something of a skeptic. He's also quite stubborn, and when he makes up his mind about something, there is no changing it. So, I didn't see the need to inform him of my latest experiment I would be testing on him.
I merely took one of my French Organic Lavender Pillow and Drawer Liners and slipped it into his pillowcase while he was at work, landscaping.
"You know," he said, as we climbed into bed for the night, "the whole house is starting to smell like lavender."
I just smiled. "I know," I said. "Isn't it wonderful?"
The next morning, I awoke from a wonderful lavender induced sleep. I felt wonderful. I turned to my husband. "How did you sleep last night?" I asked.
He looked at me slightly confused. "It's weird," he said, "I had one of the best sleeps ever last night." For him, this is rather significant, as he doesn't usually sleep well. He tosses and turns a lot, and wakes up several times a night.
I reached into his pillow, and pulled out the pillow liner. "Think this might have had something to do with it?"
He shrugged. "All I know is I slept really well, and whatever it was, I'd use it again." So the lavender liner has a new home under my husband's pillow. I don't complain, since it helps me sleep as well.
After a couple of night, my husband mentioned that his dreams were especially vivid with the lavender, and I noticed this as well, although I often have vivid dreams, so I cannot necessarily connect that to the lavender.
A friend of mine who has the large satin lavender eye pillow says that she uses that to help her fall back to sleep after nursing at night time, and she finds that helps her to go back to sleep more easily.
It looks like this is another successful experiment! Lavender can help with a good night of sleep, and lavender triumphs over the skeptic again!
Join us next week as we compare flax heating pads to barley heating pads, comparing which is the most comfortable and which one retains heat the best.
Thursday 6 August 2009
Lavender heating pads
My husband has been complaining of knee pains for a long time. X-rays have shown that his problems are a combination of torn ACL and arthritis. This is, of course, problematic for a landscaper, and so I started my experiment.
Lavender is claimed to be an "adaptogen", which means that it adapts to what your body needs and starts the healing process. The lavender added to the heat on soar muscles is wonderful. I love it. It works wonders for menstrual cramps and aching muscles. But would my skeptic husband be convinced?
He has been using a brace on his knee all year, and complaining terribly of the pain. So every night, as he sat on the couch to relax, I heated up one of our lavender heating pads for him, and put it on his knee.
There are a combination of things that he thinks perhaps helped soothe his knee. Putting his knee up to rest probably helped. The heat helped, and he says that, although he wouldn’t say that his knee was healed after using the lavender heating pad, it definitely was very soothing, and helped ease the pain. Of course, few things that severe are cured over a week, so we will keep using it.
So the skeptic, although not completely won over on this subject, is starting to be swayed on the benefits of heat and lavender combined.
Stay tuned next week as we see how our lavender skeptic sleeps when we put lavender under his pillow!
Lavender is claimed to be an "adaptogen", which means that it adapts to what your body needs and starts the healing process. The lavender added to the heat on soar muscles is wonderful. I love it. It works wonders for menstrual cramps and aching muscles. But would my skeptic husband be convinced?
He has been using a brace on his knee all year, and complaining terribly of the pain. So every night, as he sat on the couch to relax, I heated up one of our lavender heating pads for him, and put it on his knee.
There are a combination of things that he thinks perhaps helped soothe his knee. Putting his knee up to rest probably helped. The heat helped, and he says that, although he wouldn’t say that his knee was healed after using the lavender heating pad, it definitely was very soothing, and helped ease the pain. Of course, few things that severe are cured over a week, so we will keep using it.
So the skeptic, although not completely won over on this subject, is starting to be swayed on the benefits of heat and lavender combined.
Stay tuned next week as we see how our lavender skeptic sleeps when we put lavender under his pillow!
Tuesday 28 July 2009
Starting the Experiments - Lavender Dryer Sachets vs Mosquitoes
When someone first suggested that I start a blog, I must admit that the first thing that came to mind was a Corner Gas episode with Hank typing into cyberspace and nobody reading it. Needless to say, I hope more people read this.
My blog is going to document my excursions and experiments with lavender.
When my daughter was first born, I began researching different natural products to replace all of the chemical-filled products in our house. That was how I was introduced to lavender. The more I read, the more intrigued I became. Can one herb really have this many healing properties? I wondered. Can it really do everything that people claim it can do?
I started by sewing lavender sachets out of muslin and using them in the dryer. I was pleased with the results.
My husband,however, wonderful though he is, was skeptical. He's good like that. He's skeptical about a lot of things. It helps keep me grounded. He therefore also makes a wonderful test subject. No placebo for him.
So we start with the dryer sachets. Lavender, many people claim, is a natural mosquito repellent. This summer has not been a bad one for mosquitoes, but my husband does landscaping. Some of his jobs take him to places with many more mosquitoes than in our back yard. After several days of his colleagues mentioning how bad the mosquitoes were, my husband started to clue in that maybe the lavender in the wash was making his clothes mosquito repellent.
This week, he came home one day after work, complaining of his first mosquito bites of the summer. He had been wearing a new shirt that hasn't gone through the laundry yet!
Results? Even when the lavender sachets are used up to 12-16 times each, they appear to have a mosquito repelling effect on clothes. Also, neither myself nor my little girl have gotten any bites this summer. My husband is convinced for this lavender claim!
Check back next week to hear about our next “lavender experiment”!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)