What do I do with all this rosewater?

Shit if I know. Give it a try and see.

Soak white undies in it and make them pink.

@Adirondackwannabe -Why don’t you know,damnit!?? This thing is fun!
@chyna—That is worth a try! :)

I haven’t tried the distillation thing. I like the pink undies thing though.

@Adirondackwannabe – Try this at home! Your @ss too,can smell like roses! XD

How did it work? What heat did you use and how much stuff came out of the flowers?

I don’t know! I don’t know why I don’t know. I only know that I don’t….know!
Ooh hang on, bottle the stuff & make some delightful perfume, it’ll smell….err, great :¬)

Stove top for the heat source.A coiled copper tube through a coffee can filled with ice.It exits through the bottom and spills out into a container.I had ALOT of rose petals and I got close to a gallon,I’d say.
Today,I will get some honeysuckle.They are starting to bloom and smell great.
I recently bought a jasmine plant.I imagine that will take some time before I get enough blossoms to get anything.
Meanwhile,I am “stalking” it….waiting…...heh heh heeeee….

@ucme You do know.You’re just not telling me :)

I would think that you could adjust this recipe for making glycerin and rosewater hand cream.

Does it smell nice?

@marinelife -Thank you! I like that idea very much:)
@Stinley -Yes,it does.The honeysuckle should be outstanding:)

Two uses:
Facial toner: 1¼ cup rosewater, 8 drops glycerin, ¾ cups witch hazel
Facial cleanser: 1 cup rosewater, 2 teaspoons glycerin, 10 drops essential rose oil.
@lucillelucillelucille Test the last ingredient in the first on on a small area first. The witch part might react.

@Adirondackwannabe -I don’t plan on reacting at all… ;)

I love honeysuckle. Yep, you are going to have to start a wee production line of Lucy’s Aromatics. Soap, candles (soy is good), cleansers, creams, massage oil, shampoo, conditioner, spritzers (not the white wine type), exfoliating scrubs, scented drawers liners and sachets.

@lucillelucillelucille Good. I didn’t want to hear “I’m melting, I’m melting”

@Stinley -I know a woman that does that.The soaps are heavenly!

@Adirondackwannabe – :)

I just thought of another thing – dyed pink sweet smelling handmade paper. You could press some petals into the paper.

@Stinley—I love that idea too! :)) Thank you

I wish I knew.

There are a lot of books out there on natural dyeing (I’d look roses up but all mine are packed away!) From memory, most petal dyes are very delicate and not lightfast. All require a mordant to bind with fabric (and natural fabrics, like cotton or wool, is what you need.) Alum is the least-toxic and easiest to use.

As for the rosewater…if your roses are pesticide-free, it’s great in cooking! I added some to my strawberry jam this year…mmmm.

I’m coming across teas made with the rosewater, all kinds of skin treatments, bottled rosewater, just all kinds of stuff. You’ve struck rose gold!

Next year, @lucillelucillelucille I would love to get some of those German Chamomile seeds. :)

@crisw-They are pesticide free.Strawberry jam…oh man.. :)
@Adirondackwannabe -I think I will put some in a squirt gun and beautify my neighbor! XD
@Jude Sure! I actually had to buy a plant because I killed all the seedlings this year,so I will get you some from my plant.:)

Bathe in it when you run out of ass’s milk.

Use the scented liquid in your washing machine when you do sheets, towels and pillow cases.

I have locally made face-cream that is wonderful. The woman sells it for a small profit at the health food stores and food coop here.

@gailcalled -Hey! I broke up with him! XD
I will try some in my washing machine too:)

That is so cool! You can make turkish delight with it or other dishes. Rose water is digestible. I´m hoping that your roses were organic.

I would put it in a spray bottle and use it as a facial spray. You can also spray laundry with it, bathe in it. You can bottle it and sell it too. I buy the organic type, but I don´t use much of the rose stuff. I use mostly tea tree hyrolate and neroli hydrolate.

Making soap with it isn´t as successful as it sounds. The water is burned when the lye is added to it, so it changes to an odd colour and smell. You can´t do any better than adding an essential oil or absolute at trace to your batch of soap when it comes to giving it a good smell.

I don´t think there is much pigment that would stick to anything if the liquid is a light pink colour. Try it with a plain piece of cotton, like an old hankie. If it doesn´t stick to that, it won´t stick to anything.

@cazzie -Hey! I was hoping you’d share your wisdom :)
After getting the rose water,(I don’t use pesticides on them) I went out and gathered a basket of honeysuckle.
That was not so successful.It has more of a plant matter smell than the honeysuckle fragrance.Compost pile? XD
I will try another method of extraction.Maybe with oil?
As for dying,I made some paper but the rosewater was not strong enough to color it.

Add it to your bathwater.

Slow simmer on the stove top to make a nice smell in the house.

Add a few bags of sugar to it and make jam/glace for deserts and tea- gift jars.

Look up a recipe to make cubes of Turkish Delight candy.

Some hydrolats smell better than others. Lavender hydrolat isn´t that great smelling either. Some oils have to be extracted by drawing out the essences in a fat first, and then distilling the fat. These are called ábsolutes´. It renders less of the fragrant oil and it takes longer, so these are usually more expensive.

I´ve never bought or used honeysuckle so I can´t really help there. Does it render an oil of any type with your still? And the water left behind is the not so nice smelling stuff?

Here is some info for getting a honeysuckle infused oil, which is what you were referring to:

Pick the honeysuckle flowers. If you aren’t able to gather enough at one time, it’s fine to collect them over a 4 to 5 day period. Store them the way florists store cut flowers. Put the stems in a glass or jar of water and refrigerate until you’re ready to use them. Give them a daily spritz of cool water. If you’re having difficulty finding enough honeysuckle flowers to make your essential oil, consider supplementing them with jasmine blooms. The aroma of jasmine blends beautifully with that of honeysuckle, serving to accent and enhance it.

2
Remove all of the greenery from the honeysuckle flowers. Pack them tightly into a measuring cup until you have 1 cupful. Pour them into a plastic bag, squeeze out as much air as you can and seal the bag. Use a wooden mallet to bruise the flowers by gently striking them 10 to 20 times. Don’t squash them into a pulp. Empty the flowers into a wide-mouthed quart jar.

3
Add 1 cup of olive oil to the jar of honeysuckle flowers. Cap it tightly and set it on a sunny windowsill or other warm spot for 48 hours.

4
Strain the mixture through cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Discard the solid material and put the oil back into the jar.

5
Repeat Steps 2 and 3, using the oil in the jar. Repeat Step 4.

6
Repeat the process two more times with the remaining 2 cups of honeysuckle flowers.

7
Pour your finished honeysuckle essential oil (edit: this is NOT an essential oil, but just an infused oil. The original author is mistaken) into dark-colored glass bottles or jars. Seal them tightly and store in a dark, cool place for up to a year.

Read more: How to Extract Essential Oils from Honeysuckle Flowers | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5143465_extract-essential-oils-honeysuckle-flowers.html#ixzz1PKDbGFOj

You´re inspiring me to try this stuff myself, I tell you.

@cazzie -I am going to do exactly that! Thank you very much:)))

@lucillelucillelucille I’m going to have to try it too. Great work!

@Adirondackwannabe -Give it a whirl! I just cooked another batch of rose petals.Honeysuckle,I will start tomorrow
@cazzie -Can one use any kind of oil to do this,or does it have to be olive oil?

Olive oil has a fragrance in itself, so I would use something with no odour at all. You´ll want a good stable oil that won´t go rancid fast so don´t choose grapeseed oil. Fractionated coconut oil is very stable and will last a long time and doesn´t smell of anything. Canola oil would be good too. I´m not sure what you´d do with the oil. Perhaps use it as a massage oil? Almond oil would be good if you´re using it as a massage oil.