Menthol Crystals Use

[Richard Perrine]

Hi all! New to soap making and having a blast! I use 3% menthol and my children, brother and I love the cooling, tingling sensation you get from it. I also melt it, after breaking the crystals down to the smallest possible size, in my hot oils w/o problems. I do get some ashy-looking precipitation after cooling, but that is a minor issue and easily 'polished' away. Menthol is naturally derived from mint, so if you add mint or peppermint to your soap, you are adding menthol. I like to create my own 'mentholated' soaps and not always mint/peppermint or eucalyptus, etc.

 

[TeresaT]

I have some menthol I bought to make shower steamers with, never thought to put it in soap. However, since Ben Alternative Livestyle is my go-to “perfume” I did throw some of the crystals in a pot of water on the stovetop. It didn’t take them long to melt and my whole house smelled like a Ben Alternative Lifestyle factory. My sinuses haven’t been that clear since I left Philadelphia in 1992. I really need to break out the crystals and funk up the house again!!

 

[Obsidian]

Love it in soap. I make a peppermint and pine mentholated soap for DH, the bathroom smells great after he gets out of the shower. Like a frosty alpine forest. Its one of my must have soaps.

 

[beckster51]

Love it in soap. I make a peppermint and pine mentholated soap for DH, the bathroom smells great after he gets out of the shower. Like a frosty alpine forest. Its one of my must have soaps.

Oh, Obsidian, will you share how you make this soap? My husband has lung disease and sinus problems, and I think this might be really enjoyable for him. It's terrible to be short of breath _and_ be unable to breathe through your nose!

 

[Obsidian]

Oh, Obsidian, will you share how you make this soap? My husband has lung disease and sinus problems, and I think this might be really enjoyable for him. It's terrible to be short of breath _and_ be unable to breathe through your nose!

Sure, its nothing more than menthol and a nice FO blend. You might try shower steamers too, they could be beneficial for your hubby.

Start with your favorite soap recipe, add to that your prefered amount of menthol crystals. I like using a lot, 5%-6% but you might want to start with less, say 3%. Add the crystals to your warmed oils, I think it should be around 110 F to properly melt the menthol.
Make sure all the crystals are fully dissolved, there will be fumes so make sure to have good ventilation. Finish the soap as usual. I scent with a 50/50 mix of peppermint FO and balsam pine FO, both from natures garden. For your purpose you might want to use EO but you'll probably need to adjust the ratios, I think pine EO will be really strong.

 

[beckster51]

Thanks so much for this. With fall coming on soon, this will be perfect for my next batch. I anticipate that he will love it. He loves my soap, and this will be an improvement for him, I am sure.

 

[TeresaT]

Oh, Obsidian, will you share how you make this soap? My husband has lung disease and sinus problems, and I think this might be really enjoyable for him. It's terrible to be short of breath _and_ be unable to breathe through your nose!

SERIOUSLY!! I left Philadelphia in 1992. I had hay fever every October for about 2 weeks. I've had "hay fever" since October 1992. My nose is just a decoration on my face!! Multiple allergy tests later and the doctors could only come up with "non-allergic rhinitis" or "vasomotor rhinitis." On the positive side, I am very allergic to red cedar, MAJOR hives, itching, and grab-the-ice-pack-do-we-need-the-epipen-call-an-ambulance type reaction. I don't think that nurse will EVER leave a patient alone in a room while testing for allergies again. (Injection of Benadryl cured what ailed me.) It was fun watching the crap hit the fan that day. It was not fun walking around with a hive the size of a basketball on my arm for a week. That allergist didn't do the back scratches. He injected minute quantities of the allergen under your skin on the insides of your arms and checked the reactions. They checked the initial reactions, after three minutes, after five minutes and after 10 minutes. My initial reaction was fine. By three minutes I was screaming, "UH, hello? Can somebody help me!!" She had gone to get me a can of soda. I think she took a lot longer than "three minutes."

ANYWAY. I would suggest you make sure with his doctor before you try the menthol to ensure it's not going to irritate his lungs. Also, if the doctor says OK, maybe try the pan of water with the menthol crystals? The nice thing about that is it releases the smell into the house and the benefits last longer than "just" a shower. So, he's not confined to one room. Also, I am able to re-use the crystals several times before they run out of power. Then again, if no one else in the house wants to smell the menthol, I can understand why you'd not want to do the hot water thing. But, putting some crushed crystals into a heat-save bowl and pouring boiling water on top of them would give the same effect in a smaller area.

 

[beckster51]

SERIOUSLY!! I left Philadelphia in 1992. I had hay fever every October for about 2 weeks. I've had "hay fever" since October 1992. My nose is just a decoration on my face!! Multiple allergy tests later and the doctors could only come up with "non-allergic rhinitis" or "vasomotor rhinitis." On the positive side, I am very allergic to red cedar, MAJOR hives, itching, and grab-the-ice-pack-do-we-need-the-epipen-call-an-ambulance type reaction. I don't think that nurse will EVER leave a patient alone in a room while testing for allergies again. (Injection of Benadryl cured what ailed me.) It was fun watching the crap hit the fan that day. It was not fun walking around with a hive the size of a basketball on my arm for a week. That allergist didn't do the back scratches. He injected minute quantities of the allergen under your skin on the insides of your arms and checked the reactions. They checked the initial reactions, after three minutes, after five minutes and after 10 minutes. My initial reaction was fine. By three minutes I was screaming, "UH, hello? Can somebody help me!!" She had gone to get me a can of soda. I think she took a lot longer than "three minutes."

ANYWAY. I would suggest you make sure with his doctor before you try the menthol to ensure it's not going to irritate his lungs. Also, if the doctor says OK, maybe try the pan of water with the menthol crystals? The nice thing about that is it releases the smell into the house and the benefits last longer than "just" a shower. So, he's not confined to one room. Also, I am able to re-use the crystals several times before they run out of power. Then again, if no one else in the house wants to smell the menthol, I can understand why you'd not want to do the hot water thing. But, putting some crushed crystals into a heat-save bowl and pouring boiling water on top of them would give the same effect in a smaller area.

Thanks, Teresa, I have been thinking about this off and on all day. I thought about how I could do a test run with the menthol crystals, and you have given me the answer. I will try that first. I have lots of allergic reactions as well, so I know exactly what you are talking about. I had a TB skin test once that nearly rotted my forearm off. They had to inject the site with lots of steroids for it to be tolerable until it healed. And I am horribly allergic to wasps, yellow jackets and bees. I have several epi pens around. Thanks again for this suggestion!

 

[LadyV]

Everyone thank you for sharing your thoughts. This thread was very educational.

 

[cmzaha]

I will add that I also use menthol at 6% with peppermint and it is not strong, in fact it actually faded to nothing around 7 months. Minty soaps are not a good seller for me.

 

[Richard Perrine]

I will add that I also use menthol at 6% with peppermint and it is not strong, in fact it actually faded to nothing around 7 months. Minty soaps are not a good seller for me.

Yeah. I noticed the fading as well. My first menthol soaps were not bad as I used them within a month after making them, so still had that cool, tingly feeling. If you use them within a certain period of time...whoop whoop! :-D

 

[JustPassing]

Just visiting. Pure menthol is regarded as safe to use on skin. There is a headache remedy in the UK, 4Head, that is a stick of menthol you apply directly on your forehead. It has a very strong sensation (though not much good at relieving headaches IMO!). I've applied this to eczema-skin to cool the itching and it's quite effective. The cooling/burning feeling isn't painful and overpowers the itching feeling making something readily more ignorable and protecting the skin from fingernails! From that, I'm moving on to make my own remedy which is how I come to Google here.