Making EO Blends; Wholesaler for EO?

[BayBoy]

Hey there.

My essential oil blend contains about 18 drops from 5 oils suspended in 4 oz menstrum.

I want to make 100 units (that's 1800 drops...). I assume the best way to proceed would be to make a batch blend.

Does anyone have any suggestions about how best to go about this? Is there a preferred vial for blending oils? Maybe a dropper that is 2X/drop?

OH! And can someone recommend a quality wholesale source for EO?

Thank you!

 

[kchaystack]

You should not be going by drops, but by weight. Drops are not at all accurate - some are bigger than the other, its easy to accidentally get an extra drop or 2, and as you have discovered - it is very difficult to scale up. So I would calculate the % of each EO in your final blend and then decide how much of your final product you want to make. Then you can take the % and figure out what the weight of each EO is needed.

 

[BayBoy]

Thank you for your suggestion. So what kind of equipment do you use to measure weight?

 

[dixiedragon]

Assuming you are located in the US, some good suppliers of EOs in large quantities are Camden Grey, New Directions Aromatics and Liberty Naturals.

I will disagree with kchaystack a bit here - I don't measure my fragrance (EO or FO) by weight because they are your most expensive ingredient and I don't want it running down the side of the bottle. So I use volume. Get some stainless steel measuring spoons or a small glass measuring cup (about the size of a shotglass, available at Big Lots and Wal-Mart.) There are about 98 drops in a teaspoon (I make it 100 for easy math.) So 1/8 teaspoon is 12.5 drops.

 

[Kamahido]

I am a purveyor of soaps, so they must all look (within reason) and smell the same. Measuring by volume I found it difficult to attain the precise measurements needed. So I fill designated glass cups on my soaping scale and measure in grams. Hasn't failed me yet.
I second using New Direction Aromatics, as long as you can stomach the $100 minimum order. I also suggest Bulk Apothecary if you need less.

 

[kchaystack]

Thank you for your suggestion. So what kind of equipment do you use to measure weight?

Um, a scale?

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It depends on how big of a batch you want to make. Small batches might need a jewelers scale, that weights to the .01 g

I will disagree with kchaystack a bit here - I don't measure my fragrance (EO or FO) by weight because they are your most expensive ingredient and I don't want it running down the side of the bottle. So I use volume. Get some stainless steel measuring spoons or a small glass measuring cup (about the size of a shotglass, available at Big Lots and Wal-Mart.) There are about 98 drops in a teaspoon (I make it 100 for easy math.) So 1/8 teaspoon is 12.5 drops.

That is why you should use a pipette or a pouring rod. But if he is making product to sell, and wants to make sure each batch is identical he needs to go by weight.

 

[BayBoy]

Um, a scale?

There are lot of different scales. I think the smallest batch might involve a measure of oil 10 around grams. That's what I'm looking for in terms of guidance.

How about mixing my blend to assure that the oils are evenly distributed? Is stirring it enough?

 

[kchaystack]

Yes there are. For anything under a 100 grams I would use a jewelers scale with as high of a precision as you can afford.

I don't make stuff like this, but I would just give your eo blend a good mix before portioning out

 

[IrishLass]

I highly recommend kchaystack's and Kamahido's method of going by weights and percentages instead of drops. It makes things so much easier and accurate when scaling your blend up or down. Having said that, though, I always start off with drops when I am coming up with a blend, but once I have my blend where I like it, I switch over to weights and percentages. Here's how:

First, I figure out the % of each EO or FO in my blend by using a small lab beaker or shot glass set on a jeweler's scale to weigh (in gram weight) the drops of each EO or FO in my formula. Once I have the weights of each, I convert them to over to percentages, and that is what becomes my master formula/recipe for that particular blend.

Once they are in percentage form, the blend becomes super quick and easy to make into a large batch blend, which can then be added to whatever medium, be it soap or lotion or aftershave, etc.... according to whatever percent of scent by weight is allowable/safe to use in whatever particular medium.

If you are afraid of wasting any EO or FO due to spilling/dripping when pouring, you can do what I do- use a pipette to extract the EO or FO from the bottle and then weigh the amount needed into your designated mixing vessel that's sitting on (your tared out) scale.


IrishLass

 

[BayBoy]

Thank you!

I've never used a jeweler's scale before. Is it so sensitive that it will pickup the addition of one drop?

 

[Kittish]

Thank you!

I've never used a jeweler's scale before. Is it so sensitive that it will pickup the addition of one drop?

If you get one that weighs down to the milligram (.001), then yes. Look out for the maximum capacity of the scale, you want one that can handle up to a couple of pounds to account for container weights as well as oil weights. If the scale doesn't come with calibration weights (my milligram scale did), then you should get a set of those as well to keep it accurate.

I do my figuring a little differently. I start with drops when putting together a new blend, then convert drops to parts by finding some common divisor. Further conversion is easy. 1 part = 1 weight unit (whatever measure I'm using).

 

[IrishLass]

Thank you!

I've never used a jeweler's scale before. Is it so sensitive that it will pickup the addition of one drop?

Yes, if you get the kind that can weigh as low as Kittish said. For what it's worth, mine weighs only as low as .01 grams and it weighs 1 drop for me quite well.


IrishLass