Hubby Wants Menthol Soap

[Susie]

I have never used menthol crystals before. How do I use them properly?

I know they are something I need to watch how much I use, but if anyone has first hand experience, and would like to help save our skin, I would be grateful for any advice you would be so kind as to share with me!

I am trying to replicate the smell and cooling sensation of his shampoo, and have narrowed down the choices to eliminate combinations of tea tree, peppermint, spearmint, and eucalyptus. Bought some soap yesterday from a local farmer's market to save making multiple batches. It was AWESOME soap, but did not give that cooling feeling, so it must be the menthol.

 

[shunt2011]

I've been wanting to make a soap with menthol too so will be following. I too have tried peppermint and other combos with no luck.

 

[xoticsoaps]

I Googled 'menthol crystals in soap' and found some stuff. There's been quite a few threads on the forum:

Click Here

 

[gemsupthepoley]

Watching too. I was advised once that you can disolve some mental crystals in a couple drops of water and add to simple cream. Not sure what happens when in soap though.

 

[Susie]

I did my due diligence in researching on this forum, as well as Google's plethora of choices. I still would prefer to hear from some of the uber smart and experienced folks here(whom I trust) before venturing to make soap with an ingredient that I know is potentially not safe for skin. Thank you for linking those, though.

I am still left wondering if 1% is too high, or if I should stick with more like 0.5%, and if combining it with other "strong" EOs like peppermint, spearmint, and eucalyptus reduces the amount even lower, so that the TOTAL EO % should be in the 2.5% range.

I think the consensus is to dissolve the crystals in the other EOs for CP use.

 

[Obsidian]

I could have sworn that someone on here uses menthol in their shave soap and dissolves the crystals right in the warm oils. I've been meaning to get some to try myself as I would really like a nice cooling soap in the summer. Please keep us updated on the coolness once you've made it

 

[Lynusann]

Following as well. I just ordered 10 lbs of menthol crystals because my local OCR group asked for an athletic soothing cream but never worked with these before.

 

[Susie]

I could have sworn that someone on here uses menthol in their shave soap and dissolves the crystals right in the warm oils. I've been meaning to get some to try myself as I would really like a nice cooling soap in the summer. Please keep us updated on the coolness once you've made it

Will do. Just ordered a small amount for now(better price/shipping combo until I know I want to make more). Then I need to dig out my other EOs to be sure I have the others.

 

[LupitaTX]

Ive tried this, and ive used menthol crystals and chili seed essential oil. The coolness that i got was worth it but only lasted a short while after the soap cured longer the effects were not the same.

 

[Dorymae]

I used menthol in shave soap. I dissolve the crystals in warm oil, but separate from the whole pot so I can be sure it all dissolved. It is hard to say how much but I used about a tsp PPO of the crystals. The reason it is difficult is the crystals are not a powder and therefore they are hard to measure without a weight. I did not weigh since this soap was for my hubby. I also used eucalyptus in the same soap. Dean says the soap is great, leaves that cool feeling which is what he wanted. Menthol crystals can also be easily dissolved in water.

Just edited to say that the soap is now over 7 months old - it still holds that cooling feeling, although I'm wondering if this could be because it is the soft shave soap- from the first shave soap a success thread. I wonder if it would hold up in a bar or puck soap.

 

[cmzaha]

From info I have menthol crystals can be used up to 6% load. We make a balm that uses 5% plus some eo's

 

[julieanne]

Oooh that cooling menthol

Looks like the reason why the amount of menthol and "cooling" essential oils like peppermint is recommended to use at or below ~1-2% per lb is not mentioned. LOL.

My experience with a bar of peppermint soap I made at ~ 2% was exciting since the, ah, um, lesser visible parts of the body had to be fanned because that darned cooling effect felt like burning about 10 seconds after drying off with a towel. I ran around the house hoping & praying the butt on fire feel would soon go away. It did, but it notably took a while. FYI.

Take care with the menthol crystals and test, test, test!!

Julie

 

[Susie]

Looks like the reason why the amount of menthol and "cooling" essential oils like peppermint is recommended to use at or below ~1-2% per lb is not mentioned. LOL.

My experience with a bar of peppermint soap I made at ~ 2% was exciting since the, ah, um, lesser visible parts of the body had to be fanned because that darned cooling effect felt like burning about 10 seconds after drying off with a towel. I ran around the house hoping & praying the butt on fire feel would soon go away. It did, but it notably took a while. FYI.

Take care with the menthol crystals and test, test, test!!

Julie

Sprayed the computer with coffee, best laugh I have had in a while! I had the same experience with cinnamon in soap, so learn from my mistake!

 

[cmzaha]

Looks like the reason why the amount of menthol and "cooling" essential oils like peppermint is recommended to use at or below ~1-2% per lb is not mentioned. LOL.

My experience with a bar of peppermint soap I made at ~ 2% was exciting since the, ah, um, lesser visible parts of the body had to be fanned because that darned cooling effect felt like burning about 10 seconds after drying off with a towel. I ran around the house hoping & praying the butt on fire feel would soon go away. It did, but it notably took a while. FYI.

Take care with the menthol crystals and test, test, test!!

Julie

This is exactly why my minty soaps carry a warning label, I also tell my customers to use digression where they use mint soaps in which I use 5%

 

[nsmar4211]

Bwahahah ok I had to laugh. I love mint scented soap....luckily my soap supplier friend must use a low concentration cause I've never run around the house after using it........

 

[cerelife]

Hi Susie!
I make a couple of soaps using menthol crystals - my "SnoBall" soaps in Spearmint and Bubblegum scents, and I'm still experimenting to get the perfect blend of vanilla and almond FO's for my Nectar (my personal favorite from Hansen's in NOLA) SnoBall soap!
I buy my menthol crystals from WSP and according to them they can be used at up to 5% of your oils for CP soap. I currently use menthol at 1.5% of my oils and it provides a nice, but subtle 'chill' in the shower that doesn't aggravate/burn even on the face or 'ahem' private areas
I may actually increase the amount of menthol since I've given out a bunch of samples of these soaps to customers in the past couple of months at the market with a warning that they DO have menthol in them and to be careful about using them on sensitive areas. But so far all of the feedback has been positive and most people said they would like a little MORE of the 'chilly' factor!
My method: I weigh the menthol crystals out in grams and then pour them into a ziploc bag and double-bag it. Then I use our kitchen mortar and pestle to pound them into powder. I add the powder into my 'soft oils' along with my fragrance oils - works like a dream! And BTW - to avoid causing any added sensitivity - I use NG's Spearmint FO rather than the EO. It smells really good; almost as good as the real thing!
Hope this helps

 

[julieanne]

Y'all, I am very glad I did not swell up, have to phone a friend, 911, or the poison control center. The bag of ice cubes I sat on was almost as unbearable as the burning. Lots of screaming in my house that day. The dogs looked nervously at me but they seemed to snicker as well when they grouped together for a confabulation regarding the moment at hand.

 

[jules92207]

Oh my goodness Julie you crack me up!

 

[not_ally]

I have a big bottle of Dr. Bronner's peppermint liquid soap which is the same way, and I have been unable to finish up (no longer really use Dr. B's but hate to waste) b/c of the burning. Def. cannot use it on the face b/c of the eye burning if the lather gets into them, also painful on the naughty bits

 

[Obsidian]

I had the same thing happen with Dr, B's peppermint, I ended up mixing some of my LS soap with it to tone down the mint.