Do I need to dilute essential oils when I add them in cold process soap.

[KimT2au]

Hi all

I was following a recipe today that called for 14 g of lavender essential oil for 1,300 gm oil. When I ran the recipe through soapcalc to check the figures I had been given their recommendation was the same. When I came to add the oil I only had about 5 g so I used it all. I only made the soap this afternoon and this is the first time I have used a scent so I am unsure what to expect but at the moment it smells so darned strong, far stronger than I was expecting seeing as I had really only used 1/3 of the amount called for. Would I be right in thinking the strength of the aroma will fade over the next 4-6 weeks?

My other question is when I see people soaping on YouTube and they add their fragrance they seem to add an awful lot, would they have mixed their fragrance oil/s with some other sort of oil or when you use a fragrance oil do you have to use a lot more than you do with essential oils? I find the quantity I see being poured into each batch of soap quite confusing as essential oils come in such tiny bottles.

 

[Obsidian]

Actually, that seems low to me. I would have used closer to 40 grams of EO for a batch of soap that big. The scent will fade with cure. Of course, some people have more sensitive noses and can smell just a tiny amount of scent. At 5 grams, I doubt I'd even be able to smell any lavender after it cured.

No, fragrance is not diluted before adding to soap. You can buy essential oils in large bottles from soap supply companies. Those little bottles you find in local stores are way overpriced.

 

[Alfa_Lazcares]

Yeah, when you watch people on youtube it looks like they use HUGE amount of FO but consider that they also make huge batches. Itd hard to get a sense of how big they really are when watching but I just recently saw someone saying “i am making a mini batch today” and it was 600 g or so. And that is a MINI batch. Just imagine how big a normal one is for them.


I am one of those that uses drops of lavander EO. Mi container is like 15 ml or something and I still have quite a bit of it. Yes, it does fade a lot, but i still can smell it in some bars, so for me its fine.

 

[amd]

Fragrances sold for soapmaking will have an IFRA - or recommended % usage depending on application. Essential oils have an IFRA as well, but not all companies provide that information, so sometimes you have to search for it on Google (or whatever your favorite search engine is). Typically fragrance oils will be in a 5-6% range, so one can safely use 1 oz per pound of oil (PPO) - which is why in some soapmaker videos it looks like a lot of fragrance. If a soapmaker is making 5lb batches (typically the lb referred to in batch sizes is the oil weight, not the whole) they will add 5 oz of oil.

Side note: one of my favorite soapmakers, MoRiver Soaps, was making test batches in one of her videos. I had a good chuckle because her "test batch" size is still bigger than my biggest batch...

 

[Alfa_Lazcares]

Side note: one of my favorite soapmakers, MoRiver Soaps, was making test batches in one of her videos. I had a good chuckle because her "test batch" size is still bigger than my biggest batch...

I watched that one too. Thats when I noticed how big her batches really are, and thats the coment I left her “your mini batch looks bigger than my usual batches”

 

[KimT2au]

@amd and @Alfa_Lazcares , as a quick aside, how big are your normal batches of soap? I did wonder about the amount of soaps people make on YouTube.

 

[SaltedFig]

Do I need to dilute essential oils when I add them in cold process soap

While not absolutely necessary, diluting the Essential Oil first can help ensure that the EO's are thoroughly incorporated without too much extra agitation,which is especially useful for known accelerator/heating EO's.

One easy way to do this is to blend the EO's into the superfat oils separately, and mix that blend into the soap batter later.

 

[Alfa_Lazcares]

@amd and @Alfa_Lazcares , as a quick aside, how big are your normal batches of soap? I did wonder about the amount of soaps people make on YouTube.

I started with 500 gr, then moved up to 700 Gr and now I am gonna settle on 800 gr because that is what fits on my mold (this is only the oil weight, not the water or additives). I also make mini 300 gr batches of salt bars because i dont have more individual molds and I rather do them on my small heart molds that trying to figure the exact moment where i can cut them without them crumbling.

 

[KimT2au]

Thanks everyone. All the info is super helpful.

 

[amd]

@amd and @Alfa_Lazcares , as a quick aside, how big are your normal batches of soap? I did wonder about the amount of soaps people make on YouTube.

I make anywhere from 16oz to 78oz oils. (I know I should switch to grams, but I can't seem to pull the trigger on that. 2019 goals...)

 

[dixiedragon]

Can you post a link, or a pic of the bottle? My guess is that for a bottle that tiny, you are buying something like doTerra or YoungLiving? Or perhaps just some tiny aroma therapy bottles.

I usually use in the range of at least 1 teaspoon (5 grams) per pound of oils (450 grams). So I probably would have used AT LEAST 3 times the amount of fragrance that you did.

Check online to find better prices for EOs.

 

[shunt2011]

My regular batches are 1645 grams (58 oz) oils. I generally use 1 oz PPO of FO in my batch 3.5 oz. I add my FO to my oils before my lye mixture. That way I know it's mixed in well. I don't leave SF oils separate as the lye takes what it wants so why bother. The only time I don't add them to the oils is if I know they are speedy then I will add at emulsion and stir in.

 

[KimT2au]

Can you post a link, or a pic of the bottle? My guess is that for a bottle that tiny, you are buying something like doTerra or YoungLiving? Or perhaps just some tiny aroma therapy bottles.

Hi @dixiedragon , I only added the amount I did as that was all I had left in the bottom of my oil. It was a small bottle (15ml) but not one of the expensive big name brands. It was one I usually used to scent my laundry liquid and the 5ml was what was left in the bottle. Getting either essential oils or fragrance oils here in Australia at anything like a reasonable price is just a nightmare.