justusnak
Almost Self-Reliant
Since several of us are getting sheep this year, I was interested in learning how to extract the lanilon from the wool. Unfortunatedly my wool had already been washed...so I will have to waite untill next spring when I shear. So...here it is...in short.
To extract the lanolin from unwashed wool you boil the wool in water for a few hours, adding salt to improve the yield of lanolin. Next, you reduce the solution by boiling off most of the water. After you filter any undissolved solid material from the hot solution and let it cool, you should be left with a pale-yellow waxy solid floating on the surface of the water. This is impure lanolin. You can purify it, as we did on the show, by taking the crude lanolin and shaking it with a mixture of olive oil and water. The impurities will dissolve into the water and the oil, leaving you with a solid layer of off-white, waxy 'purified' lanolin suspended between the oil and water.
Here they explain how to make a hand cream, from your extracted Lanolin!
How to make your own lanolin hand cream
Here's a recipe for lanolin hand cream you may want to try at home.
3 Tbsp. lanolin
3 Tbsp. distilled water
3 Tbsp. grated beeswax
1/2 cup almond oil
3 Tbsp. witch hazel
1/8 tsp. borax powder
Mix the beeswax, lanolin and almond oil in an oven-safe dish and set the dish in a pan containing about an inch and a half of water. Place them in the oven and heat until the beeswax and lanolin have melted.
Mix the witch hazel, borax powder and distilled water in a saucepan. Heat the solution until just boiling and then slowly pour it into the melted beeswax/lanolin/almond oil mixture. Stir thoroughly and leave to cool.
When the mixture is completely cooled, you'll have a thick white cream to soften your skin.
How about making a scented hand cream? You could add almost any essential (aromatherapy) oil to it (but be careful to check your sensitivity to each oil beforehand, and follow any warnings on the labels). 5 to 10 drops of essential oil should be adequate for 3 ounces of cream. You could also add very finely chopped flower petals or herbs to the cream, to give it a different texture and aroma.
We scented our lanolin hand cream with tee tree oil (sometimes referred to as 'tea tree oil'), not only because of its delicate nutmeg smell, but because it has a wide range of medicinal properties.
Tee tree oil is produced and contained in small sacs on the leaves of the tee tree plant. The sacs will rupture when heated and release their oil, which is how we obtained ours. It's been estimated that 2 tons of leaves will provide about 5 gallons of tee tree oil.
I cant waite to try this!!
To extract the lanolin from unwashed wool you boil the wool in water for a few hours, adding salt to improve the yield of lanolin. Next, you reduce the solution by boiling off most of the water. After you filter any undissolved solid material from the hot solution and let it cool, you should be left with a pale-yellow waxy solid floating on the surface of the water. This is impure lanolin. You can purify it, as we did on the show, by taking the crude lanolin and shaking it with a mixture of olive oil and water. The impurities will dissolve into the water and the oil, leaving you with a solid layer of off-white, waxy 'purified' lanolin suspended between the oil and water.
Here they explain how to make a hand cream, from your extracted Lanolin!
How to make your own lanolin hand cream
Here's a recipe for lanolin hand cream you may want to try at home.
3 Tbsp. lanolin
3 Tbsp. distilled water
3 Tbsp. grated beeswax
1/2 cup almond oil
3 Tbsp. witch hazel
1/8 tsp. borax powder
Mix the beeswax, lanolin and almond oil in an oven-safe dish and set the dish in a pan containing about an inch and a half of water. Place them in the oven and heat until the beeswax and lanolin have melted.
Mix the witch hazel, borax powder and distilled water in a saucepan. Heat the solution until just boiling and then slowly pour it into the melted beeswax/lanolin/almond oil mixture. Stir thoroughly and leave to cool.
When the mixture is completely cooled, you'll have a thick white cream to soften your skin.
How about making a scented hand cream? You could add almost any essential (aromatherapy) oil to it (but be careful to check your sensitivity to each oil beforehand, and follow any warnings on the labels). 5 to 10 drops of essential oil should be adequate for 3 ounces of cream. You could also add very finely chopped flower petals or herbs to the cream, to give it a different texture and aroma.
We scented our lanolin hand cream with tee tree oil (sometimes referred to as 'tea tree oil'), not only because of its delicate nutmeg smell, but because it has a wide range of medicinal properties.
Tee tree oil is produced and contained in small sacs on the leaves of the tee tree plant. The sacs will rupture when heated and release their oil, which is how we obtained ours. It's been estimated that 2 tons of leaves will provide about 5 gallons of tee tree oil.
I cant waite to try this!!
I am sooo glad you did this!!!! Oh, we are going to have us some fun aren't we?! 
I'd say Boob Goo and he'd be back with it in 2 minutes wanting to "watch". 
MEN!! 
