Essential Oils that don't solidify soaps

[DW2088]

Hello all,

I have a question about which scents of essential oils and or brands do not accelerate the solidification of soap in the cold process. I’ve used different scents and brands, but often, my soap reaches a thick trace too quickly, even with minimal blending. Does the specific scent or the brand of essential oil cause this rapid thickening? I want to work on my soap designs, but the quick thickening (trace) is making it difficult to experiment with new ideas. Does anyine have any idea??

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

Where have you purchased essential oils @DW2088?

 

[Nona'sFarm]

Most reputable soap supply vendors will tell you how the essential oils they sell behave in CP soap.
Below is the link to Brambleberry's site, filtered for essential oils that behave well in CP soap.
https://www.brambleberry.com/shop-b...?prefn1=performance_label&prefv1=Behaves Well

 

[akseattle]

@DW2088 , I haven't used essential oils in cold process soap very much. But, if I recall, I think I thought lemon essential oil seemed to slow down trace.
I have been using a lard recipe for my last 10 batches or so. Although I've been thinking of trying other recipes that rely less heavily on lard, I've been doing alot of fragrance testing. If you don't object to lard, I have found lard based recipes to be EXTREMELY slow moving. You can stick blend without fear.

I use the same lard recipe when I am testing a new fragrance so that I can remove one variable and know if it is the fragrance or something else that has caused acceleration. At this time, I would also use my same lard recipe if I want to work on a design since I know I'll have lots of time.

There are probably other oils that also slow trace, but lard happens to be one that I stumbled upon. So, your selection of oils is something you might want to consider if there is an EO that you like but you're avoiding due to acceleration.

 

[DeeAnna]

...I’ve used different scents and brands, but often, my soap reaches a thick trace too quickly, even with minimal blending....

You've decided the problem is the fragrance, but I'm not convinced. This one statement tells me you have had uniformly bad luck choosing fragrances or -- what's more likely based on similar problems reported by other soap makers -- that something about your technique might be the real reason for this issue.

Why not step away from your belief the fragrance is the issue and take a broader look at your general soap making technique. Maybe give some thought about sharing here the way you make your soap and asking readers for a critique.

 

[bookworm42]

Same with @DeeAnna above. Maybe it's your recipe and not the fragrance. What is your recipe and technique and maybe we can help you trouble shoot.

 

[ackosel]

As an example, I formulated a high tallow recipe that traced too fast for me. Turns out it was likely a combination of a problem with that jar of tallow, soaping too cool for tallow and TOO MUCH STICK BLENDING. My choice of essential oils did not factor in.

I have heard from experienced soapers that citrus essential oils tend to slow down trace, though it is a trick to get the scent to stick beyond cure time.

 

[dibbles]

Orange EO will slow trace. I use 10X folded from Bramble Berry, and it sticks around for awhile, but will fade. I usually blend it with patchouli. Peppermint, lavender, patchouli and cedar wood all behave well. I haven’t personally had an acceleration problem with lavender EO that is old, but others have, so consider that when you are choosing the quantity you order. I always buy from a reputable soap supplier.

 

[Becky1024]

Spicy essential oils like clove and some florals like geranium will accentuate trace. Otherwise any good quality brand of essential oils will behave well. What oils have you been buying and from where?

 

[Tammyfarms]

Have you tried your recipe without essential oils or fragrances? That would definitely indicate if it’s the EO or your recipe/technique. Also, if you share your recipe, EO’s you use and suppliers, that would help us troubleshoot.

 

[DW2088]

Where have you purchased essential oils @DW2088?

I got them from Bramble berry. Sometimes my soap gets to trace very quickly, but I am not sure of it is from the recipe itself, the scent or the brand.

Most reputable soap supply vendors will tell you how the essential oils they sell behave in CP soap.
Below is the link to Brambleberry's site, filtered for essential oils that behave well in CP soap.
https://www.brambleberry.com/shop-by-product/scents/essential-oils?prefn1=performance_label&prefv1=Behaves Well

Thank you I will check it out.

@DW2088 , I haven't used essential oils in cold process soap very much. But, if I recall, I think I thought lemon essential oil seemed to slow down trace.
I have been using a lard recipe for my last 10 batches or so. Although I've been thinking of trying other recipes that rely less heavily on lard, I've been doing alot of fragrance testing. If you don't object to lard, I have found lard based recipes to be EXTREMELY slow moving. You can stick blend without fear.

I use the same lard recipe when I am testing a new fragrance so that I can remove one variable and know if it is the fragrance or something else that has caused acceleration. At this time, I would also use my same lard recipe if I want to work on a design since I know I'll have lots of time.

There are probably other oils that also slow trace, but lard happens to be one that I stumbled upon. So, your selection of oils is something you might want to consider if there is an EO that you like but you're avoiding due to acceleration.

That is interesting. I didn't know that lard slows down trace. I use lard in some of my recipe but not much. If you don't mind me asking, what do you use to add scents to your soaps if you don't use EOs?

Thank you for your respond. I may use my lard recipe to check a new EO.

You've decided the problem is the fragrance, but I'm not convinced. This one statement tells me you have had uniformly bad luck choosing fragrances or -- what's more likely based on similar problems reported by other soap makers -- that something about your technique might be the real reason for this issue.

Why not step away from your belief the fragrance is the issue and take a broader look at your general soap making technique. Maybe give some thought about sharing here the way you make your soap and asking readers for a critique.

I assumed so because I have tried different recipes with different ingredients, yet my soap gets to trace so quickly. I try to maintain 60% hard oils with 40% soft oils as recommended.
One of my recipes that had quick trace using wildflower EO

Castor oil 5%
Coconut oil 25%
Olive oil 20%
Shea butter 20%
Sunflower oil 15%
Palm oil 15%
Water 30% of oils

Same with @DeeAnna above. Maybe it's your recipe and not the fragrance. What is your recipe and technique and maybe we can help you trouble shoot.

One of my recipes using wildflower EO

Castor oil 5%
Coconut oil 25%
Olive oil 20%
Shea butter 20%
Sunflower oil 15%
Palm oil 15%
Water 30% of oils

I usually wait for both the oils and the lye water to reach ~95F before pouring. I try not to blind hard just give a few short blends first then add my EO.

As an example, I formulated a high tallow recipe that traced too fast for me. Turns out it was likely a combination of a problem with that jar of tallow, soaping too cool for tallow and TOO MUCH STICK BLENDING. My choice of essential oils did not factor in.

I have heard from experienced soapers that citrus essential oils tend to slow down trace, though it is a trick to get the scent to stick beyond cure time.

I see, it also could be from a combination of oils. I used lemongrass EO once and it worked fine with me. Thanks for sharing your experience with me.

Orange EO will slow trace. I use 10X folded from Bramble Berry, and it sticks around for awhile, but will fade. I usually blend it with patchouli. Peppermint, lavender, patchouli and cedar wood all behave well. I haven’t personally had an acceleration problem with lavender EO that is old, but others have, so consider that when you are choosing the quantity you order. I always buy from a reputable soap supplier.

I also purchased them from Bramble Berry, but it could be from EO or my combination of oils. But like you said I guess citrus EOs are less likely accelerate the tracing process. Thank you!!

Spicy essential oils like clove and some florals like geranium will accentuate trace. Otherwise any good quality brand of essential oils will behave well. What oils have you been buying and from where?

I have been buying from Bramble Berry. I used wildflower honey, and Clover and Aloe Fragrance amd they both accelerated my soap trace.
Thanks for sharing that. It really helped me.

Have you tried your recipe without essential oils or fragrances? That would definitely indicate if it’s the EO or your recipe/technique. Also, if you share your recipe, EO’s you use and suppliers, that would help us troubleshoot.

I have tried some recipes without any scents and they were all fine.

One of my recipes that had quick trace using wildflower honey EO

Castor oil 5%
Coconut oil 25%
Olive oil 20%
Shea butter 20%
Sunflower oil 15%
Palm oil 15%
Water 30% of oils

I always wait till both oils and lye water reach ~95F before pouring and mix first with gentel blend before adding EO following a few blends to avoid tracing so fast.

My EOs were purchased from Bramble Berry.

Thanks for trying to help!

 

[Tammyfarms]

I have tried some recipes without any scents and they were all fine.

One of my recipes that had quick trace using wildflower honey EO

Castor oil 5%
Coconut oil 25%
Olive oil 20%
Shea butter 20%
Sunflower oil 15%
Palm oil 15%
Water 30% of oils

I always wait till both oils and lye water reach ~95F before pouring and mix first with gentel blend before adding EO following a few blends to avoid tracing so fast.

My EOs were purchased from Bramble Berry.

Thanks for trying to help!

I looked up wildflower honey on BB and it’s a fragrance oil, not an EO. Their website says it performs well in cold process soap and the reviews back that up. I typically soap around 80 degrees unless I am making a one color soap and want it to trace quickly. My first recommendation would be to let your oils and lye water cool more. Hope that helps.

 

[akseattle]

That is interesting. I didn't know that lard slows down trace. I use lard in some of my recipe but not much. If you don't mind me asking, what do you use to add scents to your soaps if you don't use EOs?

@DW2088 , I used EO's in my first 8 batches only (well including a coconut fragrance oil sold under the guise of coconut essential oil.) I've made 30 batches to date. I still use essential oils when I make melt & pour bars- M&P requires less EO and sticks a little better as M&P has already saponified.

I've been using at least 44%- 49% lard/ tallow in my last 10 batches (with at least 30% being lard and a couple times 49% lard.) I've only had one acceleration problem- which was literally seizing like a brick in under a minute. But, after inquiring on this forum, I attribute that seizing mainly to the recklessly high amount of ground oatmeal I added, plus to a Fragrance oil that reviewers said accelerated. When I bought the FO, I knew it had acceleration problems, but I didn't make a note. Lesson learned...

 

[melinda48]

Have you tried your recipe without essential oils or fragrances? That would definitely indicate if it’s the EO or your recipe/technique. Also, if you share your recipe, EO’s you use and suppliers, that would help us troubleshoot.

Excellent suggestion!

 

[dibbles]

I have been buying from Bramble Berry. I used wildflower honey, and Clover and Aloe Fragrance amd they both accelerated my soap trace.
Thanks for sharing that. It really helped me.

I have used BB Clover and Aloe many times, and have always found it to be well behaved, so I would say that isn’t the problem. Also, these are fragrance oils, not essential oil.

Have you made a batch of soap without any EO or FO added? From the information provided, my best guess is you are stick blending too much. I mostly use 35-45% lard in my recipe which is very slow to trace. For a 2-3 pound batch, I usually only need a few (4-6) three or four second bursts with my stick blender set on the low setting and hand stirring in between bursts to reach emulsion. Once I have reached a stable emulsion I quit using the stick blender and hand stirring in only. It takes far, far less blending than you would think.

 

[melinda48]

@DW2088 , I used EO's in my first 8 batches only (well including a coconut fragrance oil sold under the guise of coconut essential oil.) I've made 30 batches to date. I still use essential oils when I make melt & pour bars- M&P requires less EO and sticks a little better as M&P has already saponified.

I've been using at least 44%- 49% lard/ tallow in my last 10 batches (with at least 30% being lard and a couple times 49% lard.) I've only had one acceleration problem- which was literally seizing like a brick in under a minute. But, after inquiring on this forum, I attribute that seizing mainly to the recklessly high amount of ground oatmeal I added, plus to a Fragrance oil that reviewers said accelerated. When I bought the FO, I knew it had acceleration problems, but I didn't make a note. Lesson learned...

I use both essential oils and fragrance oils. I buy my essential oils from New Directions Aromatics and find them to be among the very best. I generally anchor the scent with kaolin clay and my results are excellent. I love some fragrance oils as well and they do not seem to pose the same challenges with scent retention as EOs. If I could find a decent Patchouli fragrance oils, I would give it a try but, so far, the samples I have purchased cannot touch the dark Patchouli I get from New Directions Aromatics- it has gotten so expensive!

 

[bookworm42]

@DW2088 it doesn't look like you have any fast movers in your soap recipe. I will say that floral FOs tend to accelerated a little even if it says it plays nice.
Do you use any additives like salt, sugar, or sodium lactate?

Maybe try mixing a batch without fragrance or just hand mixing a batch without a stick blender. It could be you are over blending on accident because you view trace a certain way. Hand mixing provides a great view of trace and it's stages. I know that I found hand mixing a batch, while a pain, did provide great insight into the stages of trace.

If you haven't already seen it here's a video talking about trace.

 

[DW2088]

I looked up wildflower honey on BB and it’s a fragrance oil, not an EO. Their website says it performs well in cold process soap and the reviews back that up. I typically soap around 80 degrees unless I am making a one color soap and want it to trace quickly. My first recommendation would be to let your oils and lye water cool more. Hope that helps.

Thank you for your advice. I may try cooler temp and check with the same ingredients.

 

[DW2088]

@DW2088 , I used EO's in my first 8 batches only (well including a coconut fragrance oil sold under the guise of coconut essential oil.) I've made 30 batches to date. I still use essential oils when I make melt & pour bars- M&P requires less EO and sticks a little better as M&P has already saponified.

I've been using at least 44%- 49% lard/ tallow in my last 10 batches (with at least 30% being lard and a couple times 49% lard.) I've only had one acceleration problem- which was literally seizing like a brick in under a minute. But, after inquiring on this forum, I attribute that seizing mainly to the recklessly high amount of ground oatmeal I added, plus to a Fragrance oil that reviewers said accelerated. When I bought the FO, I knew it had acceleration problems, but I didn't make a note. Lesson learned...

I appreciate you sharing your experience with me. We always learn from our mistakes. Thanks!! I am glad we have this forum, so we can share our ideas and how to improve our work.

 

[DW2088]

I have used BB Clover and Aloe many times, and have always found it to be well behaved, so I would say that isn’t the problem. Also, these are fragrance oils, not essential oil.

Have you made a batch of soap without any EO or FO added? From the information provided, my best guess is you are stick blending too much. I mostly use 35-45% lard in my recipe which is very slow to trace. For a 2-3 pound batch, I usually only need a few (4-6) three or four second bursts with my stick blender set on the low setting and hand stirring in between bursts to reach emulsion. Once I have reached a stable emulsion I quit using the stick blender and hand stirring in only. It takes far, far less blending than you would think.

That is also a good technique to use. I will try it for my next batch. Appreciated!!