# New to Soap Making



## sar1981 (Oct 29, 2012)

Hi Guys,

I'm from Australia and have had some ringworm issues which Tea Tree oil soap has really cleared up however it is quite expensive and I'd like to make my own so I really want to make some anti-bacterial soap using Tea Tree Oil, and from what I can research I need 5% Tea Tree Oil to make it antibacterial (if i'm wrong please correct me)

I want to blend some oils as well though and add Peppermint for the skin-feel and smell, and some bergamot or something else that would complement it.. ive been reading about top/middle/bottom notes and want to try to make some blends.. but still kinda need the 5% tea tree .

for a 1kg block of melt and pour soap like this; http://www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/coconut-like-cp-clear-natural-melt-pour-base.html

I'd have to use 50ml of tea tree oil, but if i want the other oils in as well im concerned it may be too oily... does anyone have any tips as to how im going to achieve this?

Ive never made soap before so any tips would be awesome

Thanks


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## Hazel (Oct 29, 2012)

Hello and welcome!   

I've never used tea tree but if you want to use it at that high of a percentage, I'd be very careful about adding in any other EOs especially peppermint. It might be too irritating to the skin. But I'm not an expert and this is just my opinion.


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## booboo (Oct 29, 2012)

Hi and welcome, I dont think you will get many replys here, this is the introduction forum, you really need to ask these questions in the soapmaking forum 

Moved from the Intro section


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## sar1981 (Oct 29, 2012)

Thanks for that Hazel and Booboo.. wasnt sure which one to post in given that it's technically my first post 

Do you guys have any experience with Essential/Fragrance oil quantities to soap and at what point the soap can become "too oily" ?

Cheers

Scott


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## Hazel (Oct 29, 2012)

Good point, booboo! 

I moved this topic to the CP section. I really wanted to move it the MP section but for some reason it wouldn't let me.

eta: On second thought, I moved it to the Aromatherapy - Essential Oils section.


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## Relle (Oct 30, 2012)

Hazel, I moved this from the Intro to the CP section  :shock: .Seems its going on a journey   .


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## sar1981 (Oct 30, 2012)

lol.. getting shuffled around from department to department


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## Hazel (Oct 30, 2012)

sar1981 - Your post is important to us. Please stay online and the next essential oil expert will assist you. 



I had moved it to the essential oil section because I thought more people who use EOs would see it there. I wish I could help you but I've never used tea tree and I'm always cautious about blending EOs. I do know peppermint can be irritating to people with sensitive skin. I also don't do much with MP bases any longer - mainly Halloween soaps. Please be patient. Someone will see this post and hopefully give you an answer. If not, we'll try to figure it out for you.

Have you seen Brambleberry's Fragrance Calculator? You might find it useful since you're interested in blending EOs. 

http://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragr ... lator.aspx


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## sar1981 (Oct 30, 2012)

I am pretty patient, it was just tongue-in-cheek humour 

Thanks for the calculator.. ill give it a shot.

Cheers

Scott.


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## sar1981 (Oct 31, 2012)

That calc didnt entirely help unfortunately as I'm trying to find information on blending essential oils..

ah well.. hoping someone can help out.

cheers


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## lsg (Oct 31, 2012)

You can also include neem seed oil in your soap.  Neem is used to treat all kinds of skin conditions including ringworm.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/24498-neem-oil/


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## Hazel (Oct 31, 2012)

Scott - 

Here's a link to a discussion that you might find helpful. I had several links to sites which discuss essential oils and blending EOs in one of my posts.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32905&p=295742&hilit=blending#p295742


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## sar1981 (Oct 31, 2012)

Thanks Hazel and lsg..

Not sure about the Neem Seed oil as it smells of Garlic and Peanuts... great for out bush, but not so great for soap i think


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## Grizzly (Nov 1, 2012)

Hi,
I am new to soap making and new to this forum, but as an Aromatherapist I can tell you that it is the anti fungal property of Tea Tree oil that works to cure ringworm, which is actually a form of Tinea and is caused by a fungus.
While I have been told that the maximum amount of essential oils you can put into a soap is about 10% though as I said, I am new to soap making, and this information may be wrong, I can tell you that Peppermint oil also has anti fungal properties as does Lemongrass, Lavender, and Oregano oils but to name a few.
So you should be able to reduce the amount of Tea Tree oil and replace it with one or a blend of either of these.
I noticed that you already add Peppermint oil, so you could increase the amount of that you add to make a much nicer scented soap.
As for how much of each to blend together ... I have found that making something that my client likes the smell of (as long as it has the same therapeutic effect) works best, so I would advise that you mix the oils to make a scent that you like.
Be warned though ... Lemongrass oil can cause skin irritation when used directly on the skin, but I am not sure if it will have the same effect if used in soap.
Anyway, I hope this has given you some ideas on what essential oils you can use to not only fight the ringworm, but also give you a soap that is scented how you like it.


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## Seifenblasen (Nov 1, 2012)

I have never made M&P and have no idea how essential oil behaves.  In CP soap, depends on the temperature, some of the more volatile components of essential oils actually get "burn off" during the saponification process.  I have used as high as 7% (total) essential oils in CP without any adverse side effects.  

Since you are making M&P, why not make a bunch of individual soaps with varying blends and see what works best?  If you put too much in one bar, you can always melt it down and dilute with some base to make it safe.


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## lisamaliga (Nov 1, 2012)

I'd recommend using 1/2 teaspoon per pound of tea tree essential oil and about 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint essential oil. It will really smell nice! 

I see you're in Australia and know that you use the metric system so here's an online conversion link: http://www.onlineconversion.com/volume.htm


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## sar1981 (Nov 3, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the input..

I've been doing a lot of research and am considering going with Hot Process soap since that will not make the essential oils go through saponification.. I'm going to try a blend of oils up to 8% and see how they turn out.

Any issues with that?

Oh.. crazy question too.. It just struck me, with Hot Process, when I'm measuring my essential oil percentages do I make them a percentage of the volume of the total ingredients i.e. Lye water + Plant Oils + essential oils or do i disregard the lye water volume for the essential oil calculation?


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## Seifenblasen (Nov 3, 2012)

Normally we refer to as the percentage of total amount of "fixed oils".  So if you are using 1000g of olive, coconut, etc. oil, you would add 80g of essential oils.

I am not an expert in aromatherapy, but 8%, especially if you include tea tree, seems quite high.  I just made a batch of CP shampoo bars using 3% tea tree (which is the highest percentage suggested using Brambleberry's calculator) and 1% peppermint.  Even after the soap has gone through gel phase, the scent is still strong.

And a very concise, informative article on whether essential oils saponify or not:

http://roberttisserand.com/2011/06/esse ... evin-dunn/


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## sar1981 (Nov 4, 2012)

That link regarding saponification of essential oils was great... but it means I need to try to research the constituents of each oil to see if it reacts with Alkali.

I'm starting to think the best option is Melt and Pour... or Hot Process providing the EO's boiling point is higher than the temperature that  the Hot Process attains.


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## sar1981 (Nov 4, 2012)

This is going to sound really strange... but to preserve the qualities of the Essentials oils that I want to use couldnt I just use Cold or Hot process to make my own soap, then melt it down and add my essential oils at a reasonable temperature?

Or am I better off simply doing hot process if I was going to do that?... I'm wondering whether melting down the soap wouldnt be at a lower temp than the original hot process.


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## Seifenblasen (Nov 4, 2012)

if you make your own CP or HP soap and melt it down, you are essentially doing re-batching.  The temperature to melt the soap may or may not be so low that you can avoid some of the more volatile components of the EOs from evaporating, but you won't have to worry about the interaction with lye since most of the lye will be used up and there should be very little free lye available.

But according to the chart on Robert Tisserand's website, tea tree oil has high flash point (does not evaporate easily at lower temperatures) and does not seem to have a lot of components that interact with lye, so it should be fine to use in MP, HP, or CP and retain its therapeutic qualities.  Not sure what kind of other EO is in your blend, but I have made several batches of CP with peppermint now, one is about 7 months old, soaped at fairly high temperature, and the smell has not altered that much.

Correct me if I misunderstand your original question:  you want to make some antibacterial soap with tea tree because the commercial ones are quite expensive.  And since you have been reading about blending, you want to create a balanced scent blend.  I think you could achieve your desire for antibacterial soap with just 3 - 5% of tea tree oil.  As to other oils used for the blend, they are more for the scent than therapeutic.  If I were you, I would just make small batches of MP, CP/HP with a simple blend (many others have suggested tea tree and peppermint, and I second that) and try them out.  I am a bit hesitant with bergamot because it is a sun sensitizer and you have so much sun in Australia.  If you make CP, you might have to use quite a bit in order for the smell to come through (as it is a lighter note), not to mention because tea tree has such a strong scent, it will overpower the bergamot (therefore the need to use even more).  While most of it will be washed off, whatever little that clings onto the skin may cause photosensitization.  And good quality bergamot can be quite expensive, too.

It is great that you are doing a lot of research and planning before making the soap, but sometimes you just have to do it and try it out yourself!


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## Lindy (Nov 4, 2012)

Okay jumping in here.  As a clinical aromatherapist I can tell you that 8% is crazy high.  You wouldn't use that in a therapeutic blend so why go that high in a soap.  Your absolute maximum in a therapeutic soap and this cannot be for resale is 5%.  That 5% includes all of the essential oils in the blend, not per EO.

Essential oils are over the counter drugs and more is not better.  Please, do your research.

You can overdose with essential oils just like you can with any drug.


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## sar1981 (Nov 4, 2012)

Hi Lindy,

Thanks for the comments.

In reply, I have been doing my research, the problem is that much of the research out there is conflicting or incomplete, hence me coming to this forum. There have been some good research studies done with 5% of Tea Tree oil, but there have also been recommendations for 10% which I found to be quite high.

Seifenblasen - Thanks for your comments, very helpful 

I'm going to keep researching it as best I can before my first batch though.

Cheers.


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## Lindy (Nov 5, 2012)

Here's the challenge with essential oils.  At 3% you are already at therapeutic levels, even in soap - 5% is fully therapeutic.  For some great reference material I would strongly recommend looking at Valerie Ann Worwood aromatherapy books.  The problem, from what I've seen, is there is a lot of bad information on the net and written by people who are not trained so they are posting opinions rather than hard facts.  Aromatherapy is a science and is backed up by scientific proof.  When you are training you are learning anatomy as well as the essential oils, do I know everything there is to know about aromatherapy - hell no, but I have learned enough to keep myself, my family and my customers safe.  When I have a bit more time and money I do plan on taking the next level in aromatherapy.

I'm sorry if you felt I was slamming you, I really wasn't....


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## DragonQueenHHP (Nov 5, 2012)

Here is  my take on this 

In soap I would go with a 3% tea tree oil 
If you have a current patch of ringworm I would blend a 5% (in a carrier like sweet almond) tea tree and apply to the area 3x a day also I would soak the area 2x a day with a towel soaked in apple cider vinegar for 15 minutes each evening


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## sar1981 (Nov 5, 2012)

Thanks again Lindy, not taken as getting slammed and appreciate the advice of more knowledgeable people.

if 5% is the key, I might start as suggested by the next post with 3% tea tree and make up the other 2% with other essentials.

Appreciate it guys. thanks.


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## Lindy (Nov 6, 2012)

DragonQueenHHP said:
			
		

> Here is  my take on this
> 
> In soap I would go with a 3% tea tree oil
> If you have a current patch of ringworm I would blend a 5% (in a carrier like sweet almond) tea tree and apply to the area 3x a day also I would soak the area 2x a day with a towel soaked in apple cider vinegar for 15 minutes each evening



Excellent suggestion....


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## sar1981 (Nov 6, 2012)

I missed that one actually... good stuff.. thanks


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