Tea Tree Oil, Menthol Crystals, and Strong scents...

[jay29]

I tried some Tea Tree Oil shampoo and loved it. I would like to incorporate tea tree oil into bar soap and get that same feeling all over my body. How much would I need for 4 pounds of soap with the recipe listed below? Us wet shavers use aftershave splash LOADED with menthol such as Osage Rub. It will freeze your face off. Menthol Crystals readily dissolve in alcohol. I wonder how much I will need to get that cooling feeling (great for summer!) in the recipe below? Also, how much fragrance oil do I need for a strong scent of sandalwood-cedar-pine type scents? I might even grind up some frankincense tears and toss them in at trace with the woodsy scents! Uh oh....the addiction.

My base soap recipe:

CREAMY CASTILE SOAP

16 oz water
6 oz lye
16 oz Olive Oil
8 oz coconut oil
17.5 oz Crisco Shortening

 

[Mackie]

Tea Tree Soap

Dear Jay,
I think you should use about 2 1/2 oz of Tea Tree per 4lb batch. It is my advice that instead of crushing up Frankinsence for your soap, that you dissolve it. You can do this only with Stearic Acid - a wax you buy from Soap suppliers. A ratio of 2:1 Frankinsence:Stearic Acid. Stearic has a high melting point, but it will slowly dissolve the Frankinsence Crystals; when this is achieved, add to your warmed oils. Ps. The Stearic will harden the bar. I also use Sandalwood F.O. at a rate of 2 1/2 oz per 4lb batch. Good Luck!

 

[madpiano]

the cooling tingling can be achieved with peppermint EO as well. Not sure if Menthol Crystals are going to work in Soap, you certainly don't want to dissolve them in alcohol and then add them to your oils, as that would be an instant seize the moment lye hits the water, and the heat during soap making will evaporate most of the menthol anyway. I keep my pepermint/spearmint to below 2% of the recipe, otherwise you get the cooling tingling feeling which my customers are not so keen on, especially on the sensitive parts. Try and put 3% of oil weight of either peppermint or spearmint or a mix of both in and see how that goes. Then you can play around with the other EOs to add to that mix. The mints are relatively cheap as EOs, so you can play until you get the right mix, before you add the more expensive ones.