Wintergreen is 'seizing' the soap

[Catmehndi]

I'm not usually in this section of the forum but one of my CP customers asked a question to which I don't have the answer - I sure hope some of you can help!
He's having trouble using wintergreen in his soap - he says it's seizing.
Since I know nothing about cp, I don't know what to tell him...

help! :shock:

 

[judymoody]

How much is he using? I'm sure you know this but wintergreen is potentially toxic in high concentrations. I have never gotten a satisfactory answer about what the cut off is and whether or not this applies in CP soap which is not a leave on product.

But that doesn't answer your question. I have heard of wintergreen and sweet birch (which chemically are very similar) seizing. You might try the usual recommendations for finicky fragrances - full water, low temps, whisk not stick blender.

Good luck!

 

[Catmehndi]

Thank you Judymoody! I'll pass that along and hope it helps.

 

[Lindy]

Actually Wintergreen is extremely toxic in small doses if taken internally. I actually had a cousin die when she was a toddler from getting into wintergreen....

 

[judymoody]

Actually Wintergreen is extremely toxic in small doses if taken internally. I actually had a cousin die when she was a toddler from getting into wintergreen....

How sad! Yes, internally, a teaspoon could be deadly.

There have been stories of people overdosing from leave-on arthritis/sore muscle creams that have wintergreen or sweet birch as active ingredients. It's like ODing on aspirin.

 

[Lindy]

Exactly, even just a few drops eucalyptus taken internally can be fatal.... we just need to remember to treat EO's as what they are, over the counter drugs. Safe to use with knowledge and respect....

 

[foresthome]

I had gotten a bottle of wintergreen EO on sale at Botanie soap. So I used it today and made a pink soap scented with the wintergreen. I took the precaution of putting the 1.5 ounces of wintergreen in the oil before the lye. I soaped at 110. I barely had the lye mixed into the soap and it started siezing. I got the color in quickly, and mixed as well as I could, but ended up spooning very thick pink soap into the molds. It hardened very quickly and was very difficult to do anything with. I ended up with a few very small lye burns on my wrist in the process. I was going to put it in the freezer to prevent gel, but I could see it starting to gel almost immediately after getting it in the molds. So I went for the warm oven instead. It looks completely gelled and is in the ice chest now. I will never use wintergreen again. So believe your customer when he says his soap is siezing. Does peppermint work ok?

 

[Lindy]

I've never had a problem with Peppermint or Spearmint EO's in soap - no acceleration at all.