Made Cedarwood Pachouli Soap-No Scent

[SusanFrank]

Hi Everyone,

I just made a combination of Cedarwood, Pachouli, Speamint soap with a 1:1:1 ratio. I heard Cedarwood, Patchouli are quite strong smelling so I only put about .5 oz of essential oils in my pound of soap (I put 1 tsp spearmint, 1tsp cedarwood,1 tsp patchouli) I just cut the soap and there was no scent at all, I have realized now that I might have not put enough essential oils but I was still expecting maybe a faint scent.

Should I maybe try 1 oz of essential oils(Cedarwood, Patchouli, Spearmint 1:1:1) per pound of oil. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Francis]

I generally use 0.7-1 oz of EO PPO. So it's rather odd that you don't smell it at all. AT 0.5 oz PPO, you would smell it at least a little bit. Maybe someone else with more experience could shed some insight.

 

[semplice]

The flash point of the oils might have been lower than the temp at which you soaped. Just a theory!

 

[judymoody]

I have found spearmint to be very strong, patch medium strong, and cedar less strong. At the amount you used, you should be able to smell something. Did you soap really hot?

 

[SusanFrank]

Thank you for the replies. In relation to my temperatures,my lye/water solution was about 120 °C and my oils about 100 °C when I mixed them together. I am very new to soap making but I have made some soap at similar temps and it was fine.

I recently tried a new supplier(WFMED) and I just checked their website for the flash point of the essential oils.It says the following

Spearmint Flash Point: 61 °C
Cedarwood Flash Point: > 66 °C closed cup
Patchouli Flash Point: 118 °C

I am just wondering the significance of the flash points are in relation to soap making. Also does the flash point for spearmint and cedarwood seem low or is it normal?

Thank you

 

[kharmon320]

Do you mean lye water was 120 F? and oils 100 F?

 

[BettyF]

I keep my lye and oil temps withing 10 degrees of each other and I mix the the EO's at around 105-110 degrees. It always seems the slightly lower temps can help to hold the scent a bit better until everything is incorporated. Not sure if that is the reason you are not smelling anything of your EO's. I find cedarwood and patchouli to hold up well around .7-1 oz. ppo.

 

[judymoody]

Those temperatures should not have been problematic.

The flashpoints indicated by the supplier are in celsius not fahrenheit. If you gelled your soap, its temperature might have exceeded those flashpoints briefly but it should not have burned them off. I have soaped with these EOs many times at the rate you indicate and have gotten a good scent after cutting and curing.

I checked out the website; it was new to me. The prices seem consistent with other reputable suppliers like NDA, EOU, Liberty Natural, etc. They offer MSDS and C of A. I'm assuming their oils are good quality and uncut in the absence of other information.

The scent in your soap may begin to emerge in a day or two. Sometimes fragrance can seem to fade in the short term and then bounce back.

Or you may simply prefer a stronger smelling soap. Not all noses are the same. 1 ounce PPO for those oils would not be excessive. I generally soap EOs at .7 or .8 unless I'm using citrus and then I go higher.

I have found that spearmint can overtake a blend for what it's worth. And cedar (depending on variety) can be a bit muted. If you want equal balance among the three, you might consider a ratio of 2 cedar, 1 patch, .5 spearmint. Just a thought.

Good luck with your next batch.

 

[SusanFrank]

Thank you for the reply everyone.I must admit I was a bit discouraged at first due to the lack of smell of the soap.But due to everyone helpful advice, I will try it again, applying the recommendations given.Hopefully then will get a better result.