Tricks for getting fragrance out of silicone?

[GuacamoleSalad]

Third post here in a few days, soz, I will calm down soon. The first flush of a new hobby is always like this for me.

Do fragrances stick in silicone molds for everyone? Are there tricks to limiting that? I'm having a dickens of a time with the peppermint smell in my small bar mold and the lavender smell in my loaf mold.

 

[AliensrReal]

Normally the scent will dissipate after a while. I’ve had some strong FO’s in silicone molds and after about a week the scent was gone.

 

[GuacamoleSalad]

So patience is the trick. Thank you.

 

[dmcgee5034]

I can always smell it, even after washing. It does go away and I’ve never noticed it transferring to the next batch. @AliensrReal, exactly!

 

[Ephemerella]

Agreed with @dmcgee5034 and @AliensrReal. I always smell the lingering scent of the past batch in my silicone molds, but so far, the scent hasn't transferred or interfered with the next batch.

 

[GuacamoleSalad]

Thanks to all of you. Additionally, @Ephemerella, your signature line is hilarious.

 

[AliensrReal]

So patience is the trick. Thank you.

Don’t worry about it. I’ll even use the mold that still has FO smell and it hasn’t transferred to the soap at all. I had one silicone mold that smelled strongly like Rosemary lemon and I used a lime citrus blend that was lighter. It didn’t transfer to the soap.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Third post here in a few days, soz, I will calm down soon. The first flush of a new hobby is always like this for me.

When I started on here, I was posting three times per DAY, so you're being very restrained

 

[not_ally]

When I started on here, I was posting three times per DAY, so you're being very restrained

Kiwi, my sister from another mother! I'm sure people were heartily sick of all my newbie questions, but they were - and are - extremely patient.

Also, just wanted to agree with everyone else on the absence of scent transfer with molds. It seems counterintuitive that something which smells so strong and, um, durable would not carry over but it never has in my experience either. And I always scent at between 5-6% ppo which is about strong as most people go.

 

[Cindy D.]

Well, needing to be unscented I'm going to contradict all of you. The scent is transferring, you just can't smell it over the new scent. I have a silicone mold that I bought, it was strongly scented when it arrived. It was washed, had boiling water poured on it, rubbed down with oil and then washed again... then left outside for almost a year. I used it to make soap, did opcp. My oven stunk so bad I couldn't use it. My husband turned the oven up to 500f and opened all the windows while I hid in the bedroom. That got rid of the scent in the oven.
That soap has a scent to it, it's in a bathroom I don't use. I give it away every chance I get.

 

[AliOop]

@Cindy D. I had a similar experience with buying a bunch of molds via FB destash. The package arrived in the mail, and my entire mailbox smelled perfume-y for months afterwards! I tried roasting out the scents in my oven - that worked for the molds but then my oven stank for a looooooong time. Finally I had to run the high-temp self-cleaning cycle and leave the house. I normally don't use the self-cleaning feature because several repair techs have told us that those high temps can and do fry the electronics in your oven. But I was desperate to get rid of that smell.

That being said, I've learned not to use scents that give me a headache when I open the bottle. Some scents hit me immediately, but with others, I have to leave the bottle open for a bit because the problem builds with exposure over time.

It seems like the scents that I can use don't stick around long in my silicone molds; they come out when washing with warm soapy water. That makes me think that the underlying problem may be whatever fixative is used to make some scents so darn persistent - the very thing most normal soapmakers want, hah!

 

[GuacamoleSalad]

Thanks for the nuance added here too!

 

[Cindy D.]

@Cindy D. I had a similar experience with buying a bunch of molds via FB destash. The package arrived in the mail, and my entire mailbox smelled perfume-y for months afterwards! I tried roasting out the scents in my oven - that worked for the molds but then my oven stank for a looooooong time. Finally I had to run the high-temp self-cleaning cycle and leave the house. I normally don't use the self-cleaning feature because several repair techs have told us that those high temps can and do fry the electronics in your oven. But I was desperate to get rid of that smell.

That being said, I've learned not to use scents that give me a headache when I open the bottle. Some scents hit me immediately, but with others, I have to leave the bottle open for a bit because the problem builds with exposure over time.

It seems like the scents that I can use don't stick around long in my silicone molds; they come out when washing with warm soapy water. That makes me think that the underlying problem may be whatever fixative is used to make some scents so darn persistent - the very thing most normal soapmakers want, hah!

I remember you said you don't do OP because you don't want scents in your oven...wow that must have been horrible! .
I tried rosemary eo and maybe lemon grass eo and ended up putting the soaps in plastic containers and giving them away. Lemon seems to be OK, but I've only used it in dish soap. .
I'm to chicken to buy anything second hand now. I have a few old treadle sewing machines, one I haven't used in a few years because it's so strong smelling(scented) ... it's the prettiest one.

 

[dibbles]

Well, needing to be unscented I'm going to contradict all of you. The scent is transferring, you just can't smell it over the new scent.

I think those of us who don’t have such severe sensitivities to fragrance tend to forget that there are some who can’t tolerate any amount of fragrance. Assuming the OP was concerned about the scent from the mold to a new batch of soap (which is a common newbie question), maybe a better answer would be that the scent from the mold isn’t noticeable in a new batch with a different fragrance.

 

[GuacamoleSalad]

I think those of us who don’t have such severe sensitivities to fragrance tend to forget that there are some who can’t tolerate any amount of fragrance. Assuming the OP was concerned about the scent from the mold to a new batch of soap (which is a common newbie question), maybe a better answer would be that the scent from the mold isn’t noticeable in a new batch with a different fragrance.

Appreciate all the input. At this stage I have all the questions, really. Both whether the smell would transfer to another batch of soap, and whether the clean and dry mold sitting on my shelf would still smell like lavender in a week. It sounds like that depends on a few factors including my sensitivity, other people's sensitivity, and what future batches smell like.