Essential Oil Scent Fading

[GardenGirl]

Hey all y'all!

I used a bar of soap today that I set to cure on May 4. It was a mini-batch of 454 g (1 pound, right?) of oils. I used 3/4 T of litsea and 1 T Rosemary. It smelled wonderful and I was envisioning my future shower, all surrounded in lemony-rosemary-ness!

Welp, I used it today (I think it's been 7 weeks on the shelf) and it seems to just barely smell! Not like there's NO smell, but it's quite soft. Might be fine for some, but I was wanting a bit more.

So, for my question. As I've made larger batches, it's amazing how much liquid accumulates just in essential oils. Is there an upper limit to how much essential oil you can put in? Not talking so much about the smell as much about the additional liquid. I usually keep my water amounts quite low - is that important since I'm adding so much in essential oils?

So, for the batch I mentioned, I'm considering doubling those amounts - it seems way too strong, but I want more lemon!

Or, is a 7 week bar of soap past it's prime?

Or, should I be storing them with only other soaps of the same scent - in a plastic bin or something - after my 4 week cure? I've read of folks doing this I just don't want to waste time boxing up soap if it doesn't really help. I've just got all my soaps on a shelf in a large closet.

There, I'm certain I've reached my quota of questions. Or your quota of patience!

Thanks for any/all advice.

 

[Jezzy]

I think you could have used more EO. I just weighed out what you put in and its about 20 g most everything I have read says 1 oz (28g) ppo. You might want to weigh out your eo's too.

 

[reallyrita]

GardenGirl: you don't need to include your EO in your oil or your liquid amounts when doing your calculations. It is just extra. You really need to weigh out your EOs or your Fragrance oils on your scale. EOs can have different weights. Some of these oils are really dense, others are lighter. It is best to weigh them out rather than using teaspoons or tablespoons. The usual rule of thumb is to use one ounce of Fragrance per lb of soaping oils. Some fragrances are so strong that you can use alot less. Most EOs benefit from the full ounce as they can fade. I recently came across the suggestion of using a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed into the EO or FO and a bit of the soaping oil, then adding this mixture back into the pot of oils before adding the lye water. This is supposed to help anchor the scent. I have not tried this myself but I plan to try it out soon. Up your amount of EO and weigh it out on the scale and you should have better luck.

 

[Jezzy]

I have tried the cornstarch as an anchor. My soaps are still curing but the still smell wonderfully citrusy!

 

[Angela]

I made a batch 4 weeks ago using cornstarch and only lime eo. Very happy with the fragrance. Took a shower with it yesterday very very pleased.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

It makes my little heart very happy to hear that the corn starch is working out for you ladies

It has never let me down in many, many soaping years

 

[emilaid]

I'd like to try using cornstarch - at what point in the process do you add it? and how much do you use?

Thanks

 

[reallyrita]

Emilaid: see my post above: you add it to the EO with a bit of your soaping oils....mix well, add back to the pot of oils and THEN add your lye water. I have read that one tablespoon is about right for each pound of oils. I realize you may be on metric system....don't know the equivalents...sorry.

 

[FloridaSoaper]

I just have a question - if you add the eo/cornstarch mix to the oils before you mix the lye in, won't this cause more of the scent to be diminished by the harsh chemical reaction with the lye? I always heard you were supposed to add the eo/fo in at trace? Just a question...I could be totally wrong on this.

 

[Sunny]

The chemical reaction is still happening even after trace. IMO it doesn't matter when you add the FO, I still add everything at trace just in case of seizing but I don't think anything is preserved by adding it later.

 

[FloridaSoaper]

Yah, that makes sense! Thanks

 

[dcornett]

I tried the corn starch too, I added it to my batch of lemon lavender a little over 4 weeks ago...and it still smells nice and lemony. Thanks MagiaDellaLuna! It worked great in my tropical breeze to, you can still smell the coconut Mmmm!

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

I tried the corn starch too, I added it to my batch of lemon lavender a little over 4 weeks ago...and it still smells nice and lemony. Thanks MagiaDellaLuna! It worked great in my tropical breeze to, you can still smell the coconut Mmmm!

If you have not added any silk please let us know whether you find that the corn starch has added anything to the "feel" of the soap/lather too. It is supposed to make it feel more silky, but since I always add silk I cannot judge whether this is true ot not.

I'd like to try using cornstarch - at what point in the process do you add it? and how much do you use?

Thanks Smile

Just as reallyrita said. The rough conversion (we are metric too) is 1 TBS per 500 g oils.

 

[carebear]

I've not found cornstarch to help at all with true citrus EOs (orange, for example - litsea isn't a citrus). I spoke with our perfumers and they chuckled and said that it wouldn't protect them from degradation - that citrus EOs are simply not stable at high pH, nor over time anyway.

 

[reallyrita]

Wow, Carebear, I was surprised to hear this about the true citrus EO's. I was planning on using the cornstarch on my next batch of Lavender EO soap but also on some citrus EO's I have stashed away. I have had very good luck with Aromafix from Lotioncrafters' but I have not tried it with any EOs yet, just with FOs.

I always add my fragrance to the oils before adding the lye water. Never had any problem with doing it this way.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

I've not found cornstarch to help at all with true citrus EOs (orange, for example - litsea isn't a citrus). I spoke with our perfumers and they chuckled and said that it wouldn't protect them from degradation - that citrus EOs are simply not stable at high pH, nor over time anyway.

I have several bars of soap made with Sweet Orange EO which are at least 6 months old. The aroma is still as strong as the day they were unmolded. They are whipped soap, so the PH would be as high as the same soap made using CP.

Do you think the fact that I always use "full" water could make a difference ?

 

[dcornett]

I tried the corn starch too, I added it to my batch of lemon lavender a little over 4 weeks ago...and it still smells nice and lemony. Thanks MagiaDellaLuna! It worked great in my tropical breeze to, you can still smell the coconut Mmmm!

If you have not added any silk please let us know whether you find that the corn starch has added anything to the "feel" of the soap/lather too. It is supposed to make it feel more silky, but since I always add silk I cannot judge whether this is true ot not.

I don't add silk, and as far as the lather goes I can't tell much difference in the bars with cornstarch compared to the ones without, but the bar itself does has a nice satiny feel. It's very smooth and silky to the touch.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

I don't add silk, and as far as the lather goes I can't tell much difference in the bars with cornstarch compared to the ones without, but the bar itself does has a nice satiny feel. It's very smooth and silky to the touch.

Thanks for letting us know, dcornett.
Did you CP or HP ? I am going to check the texture of my Orange soap now and compare it to one of the bars without corn starch.

 

[dcornett]

I do cp.

 

[GardenGirl]

Thanks for all the replies, ya'll. I couldn't get back to check till now.

I actually did use arrowroot powder (in the same way you're using cornstarch) in this test batch. I forgot to say that at first.

But, my batch didn't have any citrus, so I wasn't really thinking it ought to have faded so much. My addition of arrowroot wasn't for staying power so much as that I like the way arrowroot feels on my skin and thought it might be nice. Isn't that what test batches are all about?

I think, though, that I just didn't use enough EO to begin with. I was wanting to be careful since Litsea is so amazingly strong, so I went carefully.

What about storage? Should I store each kind separately? Like after the 4 weeks is up, stick all the same scents together in a box or something?

And, I'm still interested in this whole idea of water usage and using LOTS of EO's. Do I need to be careful to keep the water use low if I'm going to be adding bucketloads of EO's?

Seems like so much liquid.