# How much essential oil?



## Piedmont (Aug 3, 2009)

Hi;

I use 4 pounds of fat, 15 oz. of water and  6.33 oz. of lye, each time I make a batch of soap.

Question One: How much essential oil would I add for a subtle scent? 

Question Two: Any suggestion for sources of oil via internet?

regards,
piedmont


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## donniej (Aug 3, 2009)

For the essential oils, use .5 to 1 oz (by weight) per pound.  So you'd want to use at least 2 ounces for 4 pound of oils.  

For essential oils I use New Directions.
For soaping oils I use Soapers Choice.


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## Piedmont (Aug 3, 2009)

*soaping oils?*



			
				donniej said:
			
		

> For the essential oils, use .5 to 1 oz (by weight) per pound.  So you'd want to use at least 2 ounces for 4 pound of oils.
> 
> For essential oils I use New Directions.
> For soaping oils I use Soapers Choice.



I'd not heard about "soaping oils", they are different from essential oil? Perhaps better suited to making soap?


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## dagmar88 (Aug 3, 2009)

Hey Piedmont;
I think Donniej means the oils and butters for making soap.
Don't know if you have anything against fragrance oils? They're synthetic scent oils and there's an amazing lot of choice.


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## wookie130 (Aug 3, 2009)

Piedmont,  a lot of the oils/fats/butters that can be used to make soap are available in your local grocery store, and probably even your nearest Wal-Mart.  My basic recipe includes olive oil, lard, coconut oil, and castor oil, all of which I can get at my store.  I did have to shop around a bit for lye, but found that I could get real caustic soda/sodium hydroxide (aka "lye") through a couple of different farm supply stores in my town.

Some common oils/butters used in soap making that are probably available in your store are:

Coconut oil
Olive oil
Canola oil
Soybean oil (usually under the label of "vegetable oil")
Sunflower oil
Safflower oil
Castor oil
Vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)
Lard

You may need to order online for the following oils, as I personally find them harder to locate in town:

Palm oil
Palm kernel oil (it is different than palm)
Shea butter
Neem oil
Avocado oil (I can get this along with grapeseed oil at a local healthfood store)
Mango butter
Cocoa butter
Rice bran oil

*And this list can go on and on!!!

I like ordering some of those "luxury" oils along with my EO's from www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com , and Brambleberry is also a great company.

Unless you're trying to go all natural, and avoid any synthetics, I wouldn't rule out the use of fragrance oils, either.  I love my EO blends in some of my "earthy" soaps, and then love a good scent from a FO when it's lovely!


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## Woodi (Aug 3, 2009)

I use .5 ounce of essential oils per pound of base oils in the soap. So if I'm usiing 5 pounds of base oils, that's 2.5 ounces eo's. I find this plenty strong, but it depends entirely on your scent tastes, which are a very personal thing. 
Also, some eo's are stronger than others, some very subtle. If I use tea tree, I use much more of another eo with it, like lime or peppermint....cuz I don't really like the smell of tea tree, but it's great in some soaps.


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## Piedmont (Aug 3, 2009)

*fragrances*



			
				wookie130 said:
			
		

> Piedmont,  a lot of the oils/fats/butters that can be used to make soap are available in your local grocery store, and probably even your nearest Wal-Mart.  My basic recipe includes olive oil, lard, coconut oil, and castor oil, all of which I can get at my store.  I did have to shop around a bit for lye, but found that I could get real caustic soda/sodium hydroxide (aka "lye") through a couple of different farm supply stores in my town.
> 
> Some common oils/butters used in soap making that are probably available in your store are:
> 
> ...



Hi
The first part of your message was to do with oils used to make the actual soap. 

My thing right now is fragrances and what can be used and how much to use.

The second part of your message helps abit, I'm not concerned with natural vs synthetic. I did see 'scent oils' at Walmart, Hobby Lobby and Michael's. These it seems are targeted at burning for air fresheners.

I would like to know what is safe to use in my soap so there is no harm done to me when I use my soap.

I mentioned the brand hoping someone would say, oh yes, I use it with no problems or no, that isn't safe to use.

I'm not a chem. Sensitive person nor concerned about using animal fats as my soap is made from lard.

Piedmont


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## Piedmont (Aug 3, 2009)

*soaping oils*



			
				dagmar88 said:
			
		

> Hey Piedmont;
> I think Donniej means the oils and butters for making soap.
> Don't know if you have anything against fragrance oils? They're synthetic scent oils and there's an amazing lot of choice.



Oh, errr, ok, I see what he meant, told ya I was new! Lol
Piedmont


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## dagmar88 (Aug 3, 2009)

The label of the fragrance oils has to state 'skin-safe'. 
There are lot of companies selling them online; you can go to http://www.fragranceoilfinder.com/catalog/index.php to find specific scents and suppliers.


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## wookie130 (Aug 3, 2009)

Piedmont said:
			
		

> Hi;
> 
> I use 4 pounds of fat, 15 oz. of water and  6.33 oz. of lye, each time I make a batch of soap.
> 
> ...



Sorry I confused you.  I guess when I went off rambling about oils in my response, it was because of "Question two", as I sort of thought you were asking about base oils.

And no, do NOT use the fragrances or home fragrance stuff at Wal-Mart.  I was referring to purchasing base oils there, and was not referring to fragrances!

As far as fragrance oils and essential oils, the number of fragrance suppliers online is overwhelming.

As I mentioned before, Wholesale Supplies Plus, and Brambleberry are two I like to use for a lot of scents.  

Check out some of these:

Sweetcakes
Peaks
Bittercreek North/South
Daystar
Just Scent
A Garden Eastward


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