Sachets
Sachets and Pastilles add fresh scent from herbs like lemon balm, sweet woodruff, pennyroyal, allspice, sassafras root, and bay leaves. Adding aromatherapy oils like citronella oil, lemon oil, pine oil, and cedar wood may contribute other benefits as well. Fill Aromatherapy Sachets with a fixative like benzoin, angelica root, calamus root, orris root, or myrrh and an assortment of powdered herbs like lemon verbena, rosemary herb, patchouli plant, and/or eucalyptus leaves using teaspoons and funnels. A neutral substance like arrowroot may be included. Floral scents from lavender flowers, rose buds, and red clover are especially nice for lingerie. Other great scents include cedar shavings, sage herb, thyme herb, peppermint leaf, vanilla powder, sachet recipe, cloves, and cardamom.
To add fresh scent to clothes and linens and repel insects at the same time, try making sachets and pastilles to place in drawers and linen closets. Sachets are small sacks of fragrant powdered potpourri without the need for color and texture ingredients since they stored hidden away out of sight. Sachet blends should be aged for two weeks, ground in a blender or coffee mill, and put into sachet bags. It is easier to tell what the end product scent will be like if the starting ingredients are already powdered.
Easy Sachet Blend
An easy sachet recipe is to mix equal amounts of powdered fixatives such as orris root powder and neutral materials like arrowroot or sawdust. Next, add aromatherapy oils in any combination desired and blend. Using a funnel, put the blend in a sachet case.
Base Blend System
Try the base blend system to make a sachet, varying ingredients in each recipe. This is one example:
For variations of this sweet, neutral blend, add:
Experimenting
When experimenting, use small amounts to avoid wasting materials on unsuccessful blends. Use teaspoons for recipes with no more than eight materials in a blend. Start with equal portions of each ingredient and adjust amounts as needed. In order to help retain the scent, the sachet should contain 50% fixative.
Experiment with sachets using these combinations:
| • |
allspice, calamus root, carnation oil, ground cinnamon, vanilla powder |
| • |
angelica root, bay leaves, lavender flowers, rosemary herb, sage herb |
| • |
balm of Gilead, floral oils, oak moss, orris root, sandalwood, tonka |
| • |
benzoin, cedar shaving, green cedar tips or oil, oak moss, patchouli |
•
|
benzoin, musk oil, myrrh, sandalwood, tonka |
| • |
cedar wood, cloves, lavender flowers, oak moss, patchouli plant, pennyroyal,
|
| |
southernwood, vetiver, wormwood |
| • |
red clover, deer's tongue leaves, oak moss, rose, tonka, violet leaves, sweet |
| |
woodruff |
| • |
cloves, peppermint leaf, rosemary herb, southernwood, thyme, vetiver |
| • |
lavender flowers, orange blossoms, orris root, rose buds, sandalwood, tonka, |
| |
sweet woodruff |
•
|
lemon oil and other citrus oils, lemon balm, lemon peel, lemon verbena, orris root |
•
|
orange blossoms, orris root, sandalwood, vanilla powder, violet oil |
| |
| His and Her Blends |
| Try making a "his and her" blend by mixing a quantity of base with ingredients liked by both individuals. Individualize the base by dividing it and adding preferred essential oils to each separated part. |
Specific Uses
Try making sachet bases with subtle differences for each type of clothing. For instance, because musk and jasmine are sensual, they are appropriate to be added to sachet blends for lingerie. Use ingredients that repel insects in sachets used in storage closets. Sweetly scented oak moss is great for repelling moths. Chamomile, rue, savory, and particularly pennyroyal repel fleas. Keep flies away by using bay leaves, red clover, cloves, eucalyptus leaves, sassafras root, and tansy. Mosquitoes do not like citronella oil and citrus oils at all. Discourage insects with other ingredients as well. Try using bergamot oil, calamus root, cedar wood, feverfew, lavender flowers, mints, patchouli plant, pine oil, sandalwood, southernwood, tonka, vetiver, sweet woodruff, and wormwood to repel insects. There are some oils that should be avoided. Oils from mignonette, phlox, primrose, or other night-blooming flowers attract moths, so avoid using these in sachets. |
Tips
Sachets used for the purpose of both scent or repelling moths should be put into a small bag or case. They may be decorated elaborately or simple and plain. Use cases made from finely woven silk for best results to keep contents from escaping. Loosely woven fabric or needlework may be used successfully if an inner liner is also used.
Be creative by making sachets out of different shapes such as circles, diamonds, hearts, ovals, squares, and triangles. Use assorted fabric and trim like quilted red satin, lace, ribbon, and sequins. The completed case could have a ribbon loop to hang from a door knob or clothes hanger. Make large flat sachets to scent blankets and sheets stored in closets. |
The Easiest Sachets
Non-sewers can create the easiest sachet ever by sealing a sachet blend in an envelope to put in a in drawer. Be creative by decorating the envelopes or by using wrapping paper or origami paper, which is paper used in the Japanese art of folding paper into shapes such as flowers or birds. Another easy way to make a sachet is the "ball of sachet" method. Fabric can be cut with pinking shears into circles or squares. Place a small heap of sachet powder in the middle of the fabric, gather the edges of the fabric, and secure with a rubber band. Cover the rubber band by tying a ribbon around the band and making a bow. Embroidered and appliquéd handkerchiefs with finished edges make attractive sachets that easy to produce.
The easiest way to add fragrance to drawers and shelves is with pastilles, small tablets made from ground up ingredients, oils, and a binding agent. Pastilles may be produced in a number of ways. Make several dozen pastilles in only an hour using any of the following methods.
|
|
| Wax Pastilles - Making wax pastilles is similar to making candles. |
| Materials needed: |
| • |
paraffin or beeswax |
| • |
candy molds or miniature cupcake tins |
| • |
recycled tin can to use as a double boiler |
| • |
if needed, use an oiled aluminum foil-lined shoebox as a mold |
| |
Cool & cut into small pieces with a sharp knife. |
| |
|
| 1. |
To prevent wax from igniting, always melt wax in a can placed in boiling water,
|
| |
NOT directly on a flame. |
| 2. |
After the wax has melted, small shavings of candle color may be added. |
| 3. |
Stir with a dowel until thoroughly dissolved. |
| 4. |
Add essential oils drop by drop, until the desired scent is attained. |
| 5. |
Stir well, remove the pan from the stove top, and pour into vegetable shortening- |
| |
greased molds. |
| 6. |
After cooling, pastilles may be removed from the molds. |
| |
Dried Play Dough Pastilles
Make homemade play dough using aromatherapy oils. Children can enjoy playing with the play dough and some can be held aside for pastilles or after the children have played with it, use for pastilles.
Recipe 1
2 1/4 cups white flour (not self-rising) 4 Tbs essential oils
1 cup salt 1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 Tbs alum food coloring (optional)
|
| |
|
To make homemade play dough, mix the first three ingredients. Next, add the essential oil to the dry mix and stir in the water using a mixer. Add food coloring if desired. Place in molds and air dry.
Recipe 2
1 cup of gum tragacanth 1 cup of lukewarm water
1 cup powdered fixative
|
| |
|
Mix the first two ingredients. Add desired essential oils and water. Mix well adding additional water if needed, but not exceeding two cups. Knead the dough by hand until it has the consistency of dough. Use a cookie press or hand shape into pastilles. Air dry before using.
back to top
|
