Max usage of fo/eo blend

[rdc1978]

Hi everyone, W
wp
I know there was a similar question asked, but I didn't want to piggyback off that post and my question may be slightly different.

I've ordered a few fragrance oil/essential oil blends from WSP. One of them was machta tea. I normally use fo at about 6% so I hadn't specifically checked before using the machta f/o, e/o blend at 6% in my cold process soap. Everything came out fine and the soap worked well for me.

But the next time I decided to make soap with the machta fo/eo blend I checked the calculator on the wsp website and it said the max should be at 3%. So, I used it at 3% for my cp soap, and the soap was fine, but the fragrance didn't stick at all like it did with the first batch.

Question is, can I use the fo/eo blend at the 6% in cp soap, or is there some danger?

 

[DeeAnna]

I can't speak about WSP's recommendations -- I don't buy from WSP, so I haven't studied how they make their recommendations.

What I pay attention to are the IFRA guidelines. If the IFRA guideline for a particular fragrance is X% as the max dosage for soap, I personally choose to stick with that guideline. IFRA recommendations are based on human health and safety and environmental issues -- they don't just pull numbers out of thin air to annoy people.

If the recommended dosage is too low to be useful (in other words, the scent doesn't stick or isn't strong enough), then I don't arbitrarily increase the dosage; instead I don't use that FO. There are no FO police, however, so I'm sure many soap makers don't know about IFRA or don't bother following the guidelines. I personally do ... I'd rather err on the side of safety because the last thing I need is someone who has an allergic reaction, skin irritation, or whatever in response to my soap.

The other alternative is for you to do the detailed research on the ingredients in the FO (or EO) to determine the usage limitations for that fragrance. If you don't want to do the research (I don't!), you're going to have to relly on other reliable sources of info -- such as IFRA -- to make this call.

 

[Megan]

WSP lists the IFRA levels on their fragrance descriptions. I always follow these guidelines as well. It doesn't seem like it sticks well in CP, so maybe you would be better trying it in MP or HP. Or make another product with this FO.

 

[rdc1978]

I can't speak about WSP's recommendations -- I don't buy from WSP, so I haven't studied how they make their recommendations.

What I pay attention to are the IFRA guidelines. If the IFRA guideline for a particular fragrance is X% as the max dosage for soap, I personally choose to stick with that guideline. IFRA recommendations are based on human health and safety and environmental issues -- they don't just pull numbers out of thin air to annoy people.

If the recommended dosage is too low to be useful (in other words, the scent doesn't stick or isn't strong enough), then I don't arbitrarily increase the dosage; instead I don't use that FO. There are no FO police, however, so I'm sure many soap makers don't know about IFRA or don't bother following the guidelines. I personally do ... I'd rather err on the side of safety because the last thing I need is someone who has an allergic reaction, skin irritation, or whatever in response to my soap.

The other alternative is for you to do the detailed research on the ingredients in the FO (or EO) to determine the usage limitations for that fragrance. If you don't want to do the research (I don't!), you're going to have to relly on other reliable sources of info -- such as IFRA -- to make this call.

Thank you. I think WSP uses the IRFA to calculate their max. Not the answer I want but the answer I need.

Are you sure they don't just pull the number out of thin air to annoy me???? LOL, JK.

@Megan thanks for the idea about hot process. Maybe at the lower rate the fragrance will stick better in HP. Good looking out!

 

[DeeAnna]

I know Nature's Garden better. They recommend 5% for most FOs in soap regardless of what the IFRA guideline is, unless the IFRA guideline is below 5%. Then they recommend the IFRA max.

So NG does take IFRA into account ... kind of. I'm sure they're doing this to avoid having to deal with questions along the lines of, "If the IFRA guideline is 100%, then can I put 100% in my soap?"

Maybe WSP does the same?