How much Orange EO to make the scent last?

[G. Man]

I want to make an orange scented CP soap soon, but have been reading about how the citrus scent fades.

If I'm making a three pound batch, how much orange EO would you use?

I might be adding some clove, cinnamon or cassia to it too.

Anybody ever put orange peel into soap?

Should I have posted this in the EO section lol?

Thanks
:wink:

 

[green soap]

I have put orange and lemon peel in soap. Gentle exfoliating action but not much scent.

I am ready to give up on citrus EOs and go for some citrus FOs.

Mixing a little clove EO might help, but the scent will be a blend.

 

[G. Man]

How did you do the peels? Dry them from fresh?

What's the most citrus oils you've added ppo? I have over 4oz of orange to work with on a 3lb batch.

 

[Elly]

Some soapers have reported success with citrus EO by adding corn starch to anchor scent, I haven't tried it myself as yet, I haven't had much luck with orange EO but I have recently purchased the 10fold type which is supposed be stronger and hold better, I will give the corn starch a go, I have noticed when I use additives like dry leaves or clays on the soaps the scents appear to hold a lot better than without any :wink:

 

[dcornett]

Some soapers have reported success with citrus EO by adding corn starch to anchor scent, I haven't tried it myself as yet, I haven't had much luck with orange EO but I have recently purchased the 10fold type which is supposed be stronger and hold better, I will give the corn starch a go, I have noticed when I use additives like dry leaves or clays on the soaps the scents appear to hold a lot better than without any :wink:

I use corn starch and it does seem to help, it's also a very good idea to add other fragrances they seem to help anchor the scent (I haven't used the clays for anchoring scent, but I've heard it helps). I also use orange and lemon peels, I get mine in the spice section now, but I used to dry and grind them myself...it's just so much easier to get them already ground.

 

[Soapy Gurl]

I haven't had good luck with sweet orange, even at 1oz ppo. I just made a batch two weeks ago with 10x orange and vanilla FO. I used the orange at .75oz ppo. I don't ever go over 1oz total ppo. It smells fantastic but the scent combo seized so I had to rebatch and the heat killed about half the fragrance.

 

[fiddletree]

I've never done a straight up orange soap, I always use it (5 fold) in blends, but it never, ever sticks. I've tried anchoring with litsea, but it doesn't seem to help much. The only citrus I have any luck with is lemon.

 

[Elly]

Dcornett & Fiddletree thanks for your input. Fiddletree may I ask how much lemon EO do you use? I wish to try lemon but never tried it as I thought I would be even weaker than orange EO

 

[carolyntn]

The only citrus I use are folded ones. I can find a 5x lemon EO from New Directions Aromatics - this holds its scent in my liquid soaps and seems to hold fairly well in CP soap. I also like the 15x Orange from Wholesale Suppliers Plus. I have yet to find a folded grapefruit or lime.

 

[Dragonkaz]

I make an orange poppy seed soap that smells divine and I have bars that are well over a year of age and they still smell amazing.

To anchor the orange EO I had cornflour (cornstarch) to my oils, with the EO, before adding the lye.

I've also had success using patchouli to anchor orange. Orange is a top note EO, which means it needs a base note EO to anchor it. When using patvhouli I use 3/4 orange and 1/4 patchouli.

I use between 2% and 3% of orange EO.

 

[lsg]

One of my favorite blends include 1 part sweet orange and one part cedarwood. You can use a little cosmetic grade clay to anchor the scent or litsea cubeba essential oil as an anchor scent.

http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.ca/li ... p-291.html

 

[paillo]

i use the 5-fold orange eo, and with cornstarch it does stick. i love to add clove, but it has a big tendency to accelerate trace. i also love orange and cedarwood. the patchouli blend sounds like a winner too!

bear in mind also that clove, cassia and cajeput can be skin irritants -- they're what go into tiger balm, for a reason

 

[G. Man]

Wow, thanks for all the input!

Looks like it's experiment time. I'm liking the orange and cedarwood idea. But I have an excess of patchouli, so I might give that a try also.

How much cornstarch would you add?

Dragonkaz: When you say 1/4 orange 1/4 patchouli, what do you mean? 1/4 and oz of EO PPO?

 

[green soap]

How did you do the peels? Dry them from fresh?

What's the most citrus oils you've added ppo? I have over 4oz of orange to work with on a 3lb batch.

I use my citrus zester and used only the zest. I have even infused the citrus zest in oil, but the first time I added the fine zest at trace.

I have also used corn starch (1 tbs per Kg oils) and also a little patchouli. I have no orange EO but I have used lemon EO. I only use 1/2 oz PPO so after reading the other replies maybe i should use more.

Let us know how your experiments go!

 

[fiddletree]

Dcornett & Fiddletree thanks for your input. Fiddletree may I ask how much lemon EO do you use? I wish to try lemon but never tried it as I thought I would be even weaker than orange EO

I always anchor my lemon with litsea cubeba, so that might be what is helping me. Hmmm... for my last batch I had a 3.5% usage rate and used parts lemon:1 part litsea

 

[paillo]

i use about 1 tablespoon ppo of cornstarch to help make citrus eos stick.

 

[judymoody]

I have no problem getting orange to stick if I use the folded (5x-10x variety). Add a small amount of patch and/or litsea and better still.

However I don't gel my predominantly citrus soaps.

And I use citrus EOs at 1 oz PPO.

 

[G. Man]

Ok, thanks everyone. You've got me on the right track I think.

Going to use 1oz orange ppo w/ a tbsp of cornstarch ppo. And I'm going to look around for some dried orange peel too.

Now one final question though. I smelled a nice body wash at work today that was sweet orange and patchouli scented.

How much patchouli would I add? I'm not a big fan of patchouli, so I would like to keep it on the mild side. It's a stronger oil, so I'm just not sure how much. I don't want to overpower the orange.

Thanks 8)

 

[fiddletree]

since patch is so strong, I'd limit it 10-15% of my blend to let the orange shine through. I find about 10% patch adds a nice depth to blends without making it smell like a Rainbow Gathering.

 

[Dragonkaz]

Dragonkaz: When you say 1/4 orange 1/4 patchouli, what do you mean? 1/4 and oz of EO PPO?

Sorry ... typo! I meant 3/4 orange and 1/4 patchouli. If I'm using 60 gm of EO ... it would be split 45 gm orange and 15 gm patchouli.

I use 1 tbsp cornflour per 500 gm oils. Add the cornflour to a little oil to mix, add the essential oils, then mix into the bulk of oil, before adding the lye.