Making my own scents by infusing in oil - will it work?

[SchenckOrchard]

I accidently posted this on the CP soap making forum first :/

Has anyone ever made their own scents? I have had my lemon rinds infusing in olive oil and now the oil is a nice yellow, as well as has a potent lemon fragrance. Is it possible that the lemon scent will stick when I make soap, or will the lye cancel it out? I'm curious if anyone has every used other fragrant herbs to make their own scents, I'm thinking patchouli would work too. Any thought or suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[judymoody]

Very little, if any scent will survive saponification using this method, unfortunately. Your best bet is to buy essential oils or fragrance oils from a reputable supplier.

 

[Guest]

I have made my own scented oils by infusing herbs and flowers in olive oil, but I add it after trace, and it gives a nice smell. You have to take into account and adjust your superfat%age though - so I start with a lower superfat% (like 3 - 5 %) depending on the amount of oil I am adding after trace. The soap will be a nice semi-translucent hue rather than the thick, hard soaps I have produced when using butters or not adding the scented oils post trace.

 

[Guest]

I would like to add that it is a nice smell though, and not distinguishable as any one "scent" if that makes sense - eg its not strong, but it makes your soap smell good.

 

[SchenckOrchard]

Okay, so I'm going to try adding my scented oil at trace, I have about 8 oz, should I super fat at 10% since the voulmn of oil is so high? Also, can you give me any suggestions on other flowers and herbs you have used? Thank you so much for this response!!

 

[judymoody]

If I'm reading your post right and doing the math right, if you want to use 8 ounces of lemon-rind infused oil as a superfat oil at 10% at trace, then you're talking about 88 ounces of oils?

That's a big batch of soap. If the lemon doesn't come through, then you've got a whole lot of unscented soap. And if only 10% of your oils are scented, that will further decrease the chances of scent survival. Wouldn't it make more sense to try a smaller test batch first with a smaller fraction of your lemon peel oil?

There is also a school of thought that says that superfatting at trace doesn't make a difference because saponification is far from complete at trace and the lye doesn't discriminate among the oils in the pot or the mold. That is, if you're doing CP. If you're doing HP, that might differ. (I don't do HP)

And to answer your other question, try calendula petals. They stay yellow through saponification.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[SchenckOrchard]

I use cold process, I think I may just use the oil as I normally would and try a couple of oz at trace, like I would with my purchased fragrance oils. Thanks for the help, and yes, I will try a smaller batch to see how it goes.