How do you melt your oils?

[rdc1978]

I’ve read that when melting palm oil I should heat the whole container and weigh out what I need. Do I just pour the rest of the oil back into the container and let it cool, then reheat the whole container again next time? Are there other oils that I need to treat the same way? Also, I read that I should melt solid oils before I add liquid oils. Does that mean I can heat multiple solids together like crisco and coconut oil in the same pot? Thanks!

For my palm oil, when I get it in the container, I'll normally heat it up to liquid by placing the container in a saucepan of water and heating it until its liquid. Then Ill transfer the liquidified palm oil into a large mouthed jar with a screw top lid (from the 99 cent store).

When I need to use the palm oil for a recipe, I then just scoop out what I need in its solid form (this takes a little elbow grease) and then I will heat it on the stove with any other solid oil.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

The one I thing I don’t like about it is the smell,

I’ve noticed some tallow bars I’ve bought have a subtle odor. I don’t necessarily find it unpleasant, but it’s distinct.

TIP: Use OAKMOSS TO NEUTRALIZE THE ODOR OF LARD & TALLOW in soap. It works!
It is also an earthy "forest floor" scent when used at normal rates to fragrance a batch.
It's also great at 1% of the blend to anchor EO blends. Plays nicely with others.

 

[FragranceGuy]

TIP: Use OAKMOSS TO NEUTRALIZE THE ODOR OF LARD & TALLOW in soap. It works!
It is also an earthy "forest floor" scent when used at normal rates to fragrance a batch.
It's also great at 1% of the blend to anchor EO blends. Plays nicely with others.

That’s a gem of info! Thanks, I love oakmoss in colognes, but don’t own it in EO... YET!

 

[ibct1969]

@FragranceGuy I'll comment here on soaping with lard. I would have never thought to do it b/c I learned from the Soap Queen and was lured in to buying all of the exotic butters and oils in the recipes in her books. It wasn't until joining this forum and reading about lard soaps that I decided to try it. I will never buy another exotic or expensive oil or butter again. Now, 90% of my soaps are made with lard. Personally, I can't smell it at all in my soaps and I have made 100% lard soap before. I always SF 5-6% depending on summer or winter. I only smell it a bit when I'm melting it in the microwave. It disappears with a six week cure. At least this has been my experience as a hobbyist who has been soaping a few years.

 

[FragranceGuy]

@ibct1969 One more Lardinator getting me excited about pig tallow! Thanks ibct!

TIP: Use OAKMOSS TO NEUTRALIZE THE ODOR OF LARD & TALLOW in soap. It works!
It is also an earthy "forest floor" scent when used at normal rates to fragrance a batch.
It's also great at 1% of the blend to anchor EO blends. Plays nicely with others.

I’m new to soap making, but I’m not new to fragrances (hence my name ) If we couldn’t add fragrances to soap I probably would have a goal to make soap enough times to learn the basics and then move on. But I view it as a medium to carry scent creations. An excuse to mix fragrances. Just like many people here view it as a canvas for visual arts. I used your oakmoss suggestion to develop a frag for the first 100% lard bar I make...

Top note:
3 parts rosemary

Middle notes:
3 parts geranium
2 parts lavender

Base note:
2 parts oakmoss

I haven’t mixed this yet, it’s based on theory in my “minds nose” but I’ll use it as a starting point. If anyone makes this fragrance before I get a chance, please give me feedback and share any adjustments that you make..

 

[Aromasuzie]

I’m new to soap making, but I’m not new to fragrances (hence my name ) If we couldn’t add fragrances to soap I probably would have a goal to make soap enough times to learn the basics and then move on. But I view it as a medium to carry scent creations. An excuse to mix fragrances. Just like many people here view it as a canvas for visual arts. I used your oakmoss suggestion to develop a frag for the first 100% lard bar I make...

Top note:
3 parts rosemary

Middle notes:
3 parts geranium
2 parts lavender

Base note:
2 parts oakmoss

I haven’t mixed this yet, it’s based on theory in my “minds nose” but I’ll use it as a starting point. If anyone makes this fragrance before I get a chance, please give me feedback and share any adjustments that you make..

Just be aware that Geranium may overpower your blend. I would add that oil laser, easier to add more rather than tone down

Just be aware that Geranium may overpower your blend. I would add that oil laser, easier to add more rather than tone down

But then if you’re the fragrance guy, you probably know that

 

[FragranceGuy]

Just be aware that Geranium may overpower your blend. I would add that oil laser, easier to add more rather than tone down

Thanks Aromasuzie! I’ll probably make a small test batch, maybe swap the values of the lavender and geranium. My lavender is very potent so I opted for more geranium. I may be FragranceGuy, but I’m certainty no authority and I know VERY little about how EOs behave in soap so keep the advice coming!! I’m here to learn

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I used your oakmoss suggestion to develop a frag for the first 100% lard bar I make...

Another neat thing about lard is that it tends to help "stick" the scent. As you get further along in your soap-making journey you will experience what many of us have about using EOs (Essential Oils) in soap -- the fragrance dissipates about 6 months later.

I haven’t mixed this yet, it’s based on theory in my “minds nose” but I’ll use it as a starting point.

That's interesting. Quite a "nose" you have there. I "mind smell" every blend I happen to read.

If anyone makes this fragrance before I get a chance, please give me feedback and share any adjustments that you make..

Hey FG, there's a forum here for sharing and getting feedback on essential oils and blends. Best to start a new thread there if you want to reach a larger audience.
AROMATHERAPY HERBS & ESSENTIAL OILS

NOTE: Those of us who use EOs to fragrance soap are few and far between due to the fact mentioned above. I use my EO blends for leave-on products and for room and linen sprays. After 4 years of using EOs to scent soap I switched to FOs (Fragrance Oils) just because, in general, they last longer and are less expensive. As you will discover once you start selling, more than anything else, fragrance is the top reason customers are drawn to buy a soap. Fragrance sells!

 

[FragranceGuy]

@Zany_in_CO I had a feeling I would eventually transition to FO the deeper I dive and more experience I have making soap. I think I’ll slowly start building a collection of FO over the next few months while I use up my EO on my first 10 batches or so. Hopefully I’ll have a firm idea of what I like and how far I’d like to take this craft. Do you have any favorite suppliers for FOs? BTW, when you referenced “when” I begin selling soap rather than “if” I sell soap, it really inspired me, because it implies that you believe I may eventually be a good enough soap maker to successfully sell my soap. That means a lot to me. I haven’t put much stock or thought into selling soap yet, because I don’t want to get ahead of myself or distract myself from getting dirty and learning. I will say that soap making has sparked a very passionate desire in me. It combines so many things I love Working with my hands, combining ingredients, creating recipes, experimentation, measuring, just barely enough danger to require careful concentration, math, chemistry, endless possibilities and... fragrances!!

 

[cmzaha]

I’ve read that when melting palm oil I should heat the whole container and weigh out what I need. Do I just pour the rest of the oil back into the container and let it cool, then reheat the whole container again next time? Are there other oils that I need to treat the same way? Also, I read that I should melt solid oils before I add liquid oils. Does that mean I can heat multiple solids together like crisco and coconut oil in the same pot? Thanks!

I have never melted all my palm oil and repackaged it. I purchase in 35lb pails and just scoop from different areas of the buckets. I use hdpe buckets such as ones you can buy at a paint store, measure my solid oils out in the bucket and melt them in the microwave, I then measure in my liquid oils. I usually fill several of these buckets with batches melt them and put on lids so I have batches ready to go when I want to soap. What size buckets you use will depend on what size batches you make, I use 1-2 gallon buckets but they do come smaller.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Deleted.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Moved to start a new thread.

ETA: EO FO THEORY TO STICK FRAGRANCE

 

[PARTSBILL]

With my GRAND expertise of 1 batch, I added it to the container and zeroed the scale before adding the other. POPPED IT IN THE MICROWAVE FOR @45 seconds . When it came out just a little coconut was left and I stirred it in. Temp was 98 degrees

 

[Tara_H]

All this talk of melting has got me wondering now - I buy my coconut oil in big jars and I always bash my knuckles trying to get it out, so when I'm planning on soaping I just sit the jar on or near the warm stove (we have a wood burning stove to heat the house) and leave it there until it's liquid. Am I hurting the oil with these repeated melt and cool cycles?

 

[amd]

Am I hurting the oil with these repeated melt and cool cycles?

My opinion: no, as long as the oil is not getting heated to a boiling/frying state it should be ok. If the oil starts to change color, I would be cautious of using it. That said... I'm not into the deep science of it, so this is just what makes sense to me.

We have a boiler heat system in our house with a nice platform area, so that's where I keep my masterbatched oil buckets (at least the current one I'm using) to keep the oil nice and liquid.

 

[Tara_H]

My opinion: no, as long as the oil is not getting heated to a boiling/frying state it should be ok. If the oil starts to change color, I would be cautious of using it. That said... I'm not into the deep science of it, so this is just what makes sense to me.

We have a boiler heat system in our house with a nice platform area, so that's where I keep my masterbatched oil buckets (at least the current one I'm using) to keep the oil nice and liquid.

Thanks, yeah that makes sense to me too! I'm not heating the oil to boiling point or anything, only until it melts.

That platform of yours sounds really handy! I'd imagine it might be a good place for proofing bread also

 

[amd]

I'd imagine it might be a good place for proofing bread also

I tried it once, but forgot about it for a couple days... lol. Now I just use my instant pot for dough proofing. For awhile I was brewing kombucha in the utility room - and that is where hubby keeps his beer fermenting.

 

[Zing]

All this talk of melting has got me wondering now - I buy my coconut oil in big jars and I always bash my knuckles trying to get it out, so when I'm planning on soaping I just sit the jar on or near the warm stove (we have a wood burning stove to heat the house) and leave it there until it's liquid. Am I hurting the oil with these repeated melt and cool cycles?

No, coconut oil is coconut oil solid or melted. In the summer, I just pour it out. In the winter, I kill my hands stabbing at the concrete, or put in front of a heating vent.

 

[AliOop]

Heating pads are great for melting jars of coconut oil. For bigger buckets of stuff (lookin' at you, PKO), I will set it on a heater vent or on a heating pad, and also wrap a second heating pad around it like a belt, securing it with a bungee cord.

They actually make bucket melters that look just like this, but I refuse to buy one when the heating pad works so well.