Seifenblasen
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2012
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if you make your own CP or HP soap and melt it down, you are essentially doing re-batching. The temperature to melt the soap may or may not be so low that you can avoid some of the more volatile components of the EOs from evaporating, but you won't have to worry about the interaction with lye since most of the lye will be used up and there should be very little free lye available.
But according to the chart on Robert Tisserand's website, tea tree oil has high flash point (does not evaporate easily at lower temperatures) and does not seem to have a lot of components that interact with lye, so it should be fine to use in MP, HP, or CP and retain its therapeutic qualities. Not sure what kind of other EO is in your blend, but I have made several batches of CP with peppermint now, one is about 7 months old, soaped at fairly high temperature, and the smell has not altered that much.
Correct me if I misunderstand your original question: you want to make some antibacterial soap with tea tree because the commercial ones are quite expensive. And since you have been reading about blending, you want to create a balanced scent blend. I think you could achieve your desire for antibacterial soap with just 3 - 5% of tea tree oil. As to other oils used for the blend, they are more for the scent than therapeutic. If I were you, I would just make small batches of MP, CP/HP with a simple blend (many others have suggested tea tree and peppermint, and I second that) and try them out. I am a bit hesitant with bergamot because it is a sun sensitizer and you have so much sun in Australia. If you make CP, you might have to use quite a bit in order for the smell to come through (as it is a lighter note), not to mention because tea tree has such a strong scent, it will overpower the bergamot (therefore the need to use even more). While most of it will be washed off, whatever little that clings onto the skin may cause photosensitization. And good quality bergamot can be quite expensive, too.
It is great that you are doing a lot of research and planning before making the soap, but sometimes you just have to do it and try it out yourself!
But according to the chart on Robert Tisserand's website, tea tree oil has high flash point (does not evaporate easily at lower temperatures) and does not seem to have a lot of components that interact with lye, so it should be fine to use in MP, HP, or CP and retain its therapeutic qualities. Not sure what kind of other EO is in your blend, but I have made several batches of CP with peppermint now, one is about 7 months old, soaped at fairly high temperature, and the smell has not altered that much.
Correct me if I misunderstand your original question: you want to make some antibacterial soap with tea tree because the commercial ones are quite expensive. And since you have been reading about blending, you want to create a balanced scent blend. I think you could achieve your desire for antibacterial soap with just 3 - 5% of tea tree oil. As to other oils used for the blend, they are more for the scent than therapeutic. If I were you, I would just make small batches of MP, CP/HP with a simple blend (many others have suggested tea tree and peppermint, and I second that) and try them out. I am a bit hesitant with bergamot because it is a sun sensitizer and you have so much sun in Australia. If you make CP, you might have to use quite a bit in order for the smell to come through (as it is a lighter note), not to mention because tea tree has such a strong scent, it will overpower the bergamot (therefore the need to use even more). While most of it will be washed off, whatever little that clings onto the skin may cause photosensitization. And good quality bergamot can be quite expensive, too.
It is great that you are doing a lot of research and planning before making the soap, but sometimes you just have to do it and try it out yourself!
