# Essential oils



## Wessam (Jan 11, 2015)

i have a variety of nice essential oils like lemon, mint, orange and lavandre that i would love to use to scent my soap... any special instructions?


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## cmzaha (Jan 11, 2015)

I use lavender at 6% in my soaps. Lavender and Mint at 50/50 make a nice fragrance. Orange and lemon do not stick well on their own. Orange and peppermint or spearmint stick quite well. Lemon, orange & grapefruit makes a nice blend with the highest percentage being grapefruit. Grapefruit is a pretty good anchor. Patchouli and citrus is also nice and the patch anchors the citrus. Lemon with Litsea holds well and is delicious blended with cedarwood. I much prefer Lemongrass and Litsea in place of lemon eo


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## jules92207 (Jan 12, 2015)

Those would actually all work together, but I am a huge fan of citrus with lavender. Its true that lemon has a tendency to fade but mixed with the lavender and orange you might be OK, depending on your orange. An orange 5x will stick better than a sweet orange. I usually add some grapefruit and/or the litsea or lemongrass like above and find it helps the citrus stick. 

I also stay around 6% in my soaps for the lavender and citrus.


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## Wessam (Jan 12, 2015)

Thank you guys for your replies... I do have citrus, sweet orange and lavandre. I wonder in which stage shall i add the EO while making my soap, and in which perentage. I am so scared caus someone told told me essential oils lead to the separation of the soap mix.

Another question... can i add ginger slices or ginger juice to my soap? I am a ginger fanatic


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## shunt2011 (Jan 12, 2015)

You can either add it to your oils before lye/water or when you have a light trace.  Once added you may want to stir it well.  Some EO/FO's will set up quickly.   As for usage rate I would check with your suppliers.   Most will tell or list these.    Adding ginger slices or juice probably wouldn't add anything to your soap.  You would need an EO or FO.  Most liquids (teas, juices etc) don't retain their scent once exposed to the lye monster.  Also, a lot of additives or botanicals will turn brown when added to soap and/or look like mouse turds.


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## Wessam (Jan 12, 2015)

shunt2011 said:


> You can either add it to your oils before lye/water or when you have a light trace.  Once added you may want to stir it well.  Some EO/FO's will set up quickly.   As for usage rate I would check with your suppliers.   Most will tell or list these.    Adding ginger slices or juice probably wouldn't add anything to your soap.  You would need an EO or FO.  Most liquids (teas, juices etc) don't retain their scent once exposed to the lye monster.  Also, a lot of additives or botanicals will turn brown when added to soap and/or look like mouse turds.



Thanx a million


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## Cactuslily (Jan 23, 2015)

I was told to use 1/2 oz of EO for every pound of finished soap unless you want it stronger to go up to 3/4oz per lb. is that standard? I haven't used E O's yet. Also, I was also told if I understood correctly, to use the citrus eo's that have an "x" after it because those will stay I. Your soap. Did I misunderstand? A good tip I was given when mixing your own blends was to use a piece of paper or coffee filter. Place equal amounts of drops of eo's on filter (if you're looking for a 50/50 blend. Place in Baggie overnight, and smell in am. Adjust if needed using same technique. Remember to write down how many drops of each used if it isn't a fifty fifty blend. There's a formula on soap-makers resource (Eric's blog from November of last year) that gives formula to convert drops to oz or grams.


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