Soap Use Rate: IFRA 48 - 6% | IFRA 50 - 2.66% ??

[NativeSoap]

This is from a FO. Do I pay attention to both IFRA 48 and IFRA 50? Which % should I look at? And is the % shown the max % PPO that I should use? Example FO below:
https://nurturesoap.com/products/awaken-fragrance-oil?variant=31901550805069
Thank you.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Hi. As a general rule. I wouldn’t use more than 3% of total oil weight of any FO, even when the usage rate lists much higher.

 

[dibbles]

I would follow IFRA 50 guidelines. Depending on the FO, I use up to 1 ounce per pound of oils, which is right around 6%. FWIW, the IFRA 48 guidelines for Awaken max usage rate was actually 12%. The highest amount I've ever seen Nurture list for any FO recommended usage rate is 6% PPO. If a fragrance isn't strong enough at that amount, I won't use it as it gets too expensive.

 

[NativeSoap]

I would follow IFRA 50 guidelines. Depending on the FO, I use up to 1 ounce per pound of oils, which is right around 6%. FWIW, the IFRA 48 guidelines for Awaken max usage rate was actually 12%. The highest amount I've ever seen Nurture list for any FO recommended usage rate is 6% PPO. If a fragrance isn't strong enough at that amount, I won't use it as it gets too expensive.

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Thanks @dibbles. Have you noticed one company's FO recommended usage % is typically lower than others? I could go research them all, but if someone has a recommendation that might save me a couple hours.

 

[basti]

Rates of certain fragrances changed with the 49th amendment to IFRA. So IFRA 48 indicates the old amount and IFRA 50 indicates the current "allowed" amount.

You can see a post about this same fragrance here.

I actually used Awaken yesterday at roughly 2% total oil weight because I was using the last dredges of a bottle in a small batch. It's a strong one, in my opinion.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Math challenged here so I use MMS Fragrance Calc to get the recommended use rate for whatever I'm making and for the EO or FO. If it's not on the list, I choose one that's close to the one I'm using from a different supplier. Some suppliers like Bramble Berry and WSP have fragrance calcs as well. Check it out.

 

[gardengeek]

I use the most current IFRA from the place I purchase the FO from. If they don't provide the rates I don't purchase it. I don't use other vendors' IFRA because I don't know if the fragrances are truly identical.

The calculators are helpful to determine how much you can start with based on your FO strength preference, as long as it's still within IFRA limits.

Of course, it's not a law here in the States to use IFRA, but it is my preference.

 

[dibbles]

Thanks @dibbles. Have you noticed one company's FO recommended usage % is typically lower than others? I could go research them all, but if someone has a recommendation that might save me a couple hours.

I can't really say for sure. I really think it is best to reference the individual supplier's IFRA statement. The MMS fragrance calculator only goes up to 3% maximum usage rate and, as far as I can tell, all their fragrance oils comply with that usage rate, and in many cases the IFRA maximum usage rate is higher. Nurture Soap doesn't have a recommended usage rate of more than 6%, even though the IFRA maximum usage rate may be higher.

Using the MMS fragrance calculator as @Zany_in_CO has suggested is fine as long as you are using a fragrance from another supplier that you know is safe for use at 3% or less. But what if you are using a fragrance from a supplier that doesn't provide IFRA information? As an example, let's look at Honeysuckle. MMS has Honeysuckle FO with an IFRA rate of 53.5% (not recommended usage rate - skin safe usage rate). Nurture has Honeysuckle at IFRA rate of 6.78% and recommended usage rate of 6%. Wholesale Supplies Plus has many Honeysuckle fragrances with IFRA rates ranging from 1.2% to 41%. Nature's Garden lists their Honeysuckle usage rate as 1.8%. I could go on, but I think you get the point. For this reason, I don't buy fragrance oils from suppliers that don't show the IFRA rate, with one exception. I started using Sweet Cakes FOs before I knew about IFRA, and have a few favorites that I still occasionally order. I have contacted them and received the IFRA usage rates for those favorites, but I'm not going to spend the time sending an email to a supplier that doesn't have the information on their website.

All this to say, unfortunately you are best off to do the research for the FOs you want to use. Once you have been making soap for awhile and aren't having to research absolutely everything, it really isn't a big deal.

I, too, consider myself to be math challenged. Figuring out the proper weight of fragrance to use isn't difficult. You know the oil weight for your batch. Every cheap calculator (or phone app) has a % key function. All the so@p calculators will show your recipe in ounces and grams. So, using my cheap calculator, if my batch weight is 16 ounces of oils and I want to use 6% fragrance: 16 x 6% (using the % key) = .96 ounces of fragrance. SoapCalc will show on the recipe page: Oils 16 ounces (453 g), Fragrance .96 ounces (27 g). If the FO is safe above 6%, I just enter 1 ounce PPO.