# Orange and clove EO blend



## Dr.J (Oct 31, 2015)

Mom requested an orange and clove soap for Christmas.  I have several orange EOs and clove bud EO - what ratio would you recommend for CP soap?

I know clove can be irritating and is rather strong - but should it be 2, 5, 10% of the EO blend to make a good scent (any of these will keep it below the "0.5% of oils" limit I've read about here)?

Thanks!


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## snappyllama (Nov 1, 2015)

I've done one a 90% 10X Orange with around 10% Clove, and it smelled really good to me (still sticking a year later with some clay added to anchor it).  Since oranges vary in intensity, you might want to do a few testers... use toothpicks for various ratios and put in a labeled baggies. Come back after an hour or so and see which ones you like best. 

I don't use EOs or blends very often so hopefully someone with more experience will drop by to give you their go-to percentages.


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## houseofwool (Nov 1, 2015)

I would definitely use a 10 or 15x orange. And, the 90:10 ratio is about right. I don't gel my orange soaps because it tends to fade more quickly that way. 

Soap cool and pop it in the freezer. Clove is a known accelerant and heater.


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## Dr.J (Nov 6, 2015)

Thank you both for the advice.

I didn't have any folded orange EOs on hand, only "normal" orange EOs.  So I took a guess and reduced your recommendation of 10% clove to 6% to account for the weaker citrus scent.  I added a little litsea cubeba and clay in an effort to anchor - I hope it smells good after cure.  Will let you know.  I did soap cool and it went ok - did trace quickly but certainly manageable.

Appreciatively,
Kurt


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## Dr.J (Dec 26, 2015)

After 6 week cure, the clove scent was plenty strong at 6% clove bud EO along with the ("unfolded") sweet orange EO.  Gave them all away for Christmas - Mom was especially grateful.

Thanks again for the advice that led to a successful batch!


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## CaraBou (Dec 27, 2015)

I've never soaped with clove but just ordered some.  What percentage of your soap oils did your blend constitute?


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## Dr.J (Dec 27, 2015)

CaraBou said:


> What percentage of your soap oils did your blend constitute?



Relative to just the oils, I used:
4.00 wt.% sweet orange EO
0.41% litsea cubeba EO
0.28% clove bud EO


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## CaraBou (Dec 27, 2015)

Thanks Dr.J!  

I really liked your yellow warbler avatar. I thought maybe you were a fellow birder. Who is the pooch you replaced it with?


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## Dr.J (Dec 27, 2015)

That's my boy, Shepherd.  Well, he's "my boy" when he's good, and he's "my wife's boy" when he's bad. 

I got tired of looking at the poor image quality of my old avatar.  It was a pine warbler I photographed a couple years ago on my back porch here in TX, but you could hardly tell from the crappy little pic!

I'm an amateur birder for sure.  In a couple weeks I'm headed to FL for vacation... looking forward to spending lots of time in the Everglades spying wildlife.

Is there good birding where you live?


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## CaraBou (Dec 28, 2015)

Oh, pine warbler; I knew I wasn't quite right.  No streaks on the sides and who knows what else I missed. I don't know eastern birds very well. I am not a fanatic birder but when I lived in Arizona (>15 years ago), I was pretty in to it.  We recently moved from Alaska to the northern US Rockies, so it's been great to see species I haven't seen in a while. I wouldn't say birding is great here (compared to southern AZ or FL) but it is fun no matter where you are because there are always birds, and they're always a challenge. 

Have fun in the Everglades -- it's an amazing place for birds and other wildlife in general.  It's my kind of Disneyworld!


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