Rancid Smell

Seawolfe said:

Is your added fragrance a proper, reliably sourced soap-safe essential or fragrance oil? I had one early batch smell really bad because I used what I thought was tea tree essential oil, but it was just "tea tree oil" which absolutely did not work.

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That caught my attention!

Do you mean "tea tree" versus "tea tree oil"?

I thought the two "tea tree oil" and "tea tree essential oil" were the same thing and Wiki would agree.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_tree_oil

Tea tree oil (TTO), also known as melaleuca oil or ti tree oil, is an essential oil with a fresh camphoraceous odor

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Is Wiki wrong? Am I wrong?

It will all depend on the supplier. Some will sell essential oils that are cut with various carrier oils that do not play well in soap. That is why you have to be really thorough in researching the company you buy from

I'm not sure as well what could have caused rancidity in your soap, are you using "fresh" ingredients which I'm sure you are. Or where you live how the items are stored? I'm about to purchase a room temp gauge to make sure my oils are in their respective temps. Sugar to me sometimes cause issues, perhaps using sodium lactate versus sugar first? I know that the qualities in sugar is suppose to help with bubbles/lather and it's also good for your skin, however you've got castor oil for that as well. All I can say is, good luck and hopefully you will try a smaller batch next?

swisspensch said:

That caught my attention!

Do you mean "tea tree" versus "tea tree oil"?

I thought the two "tea tree oil" and "tea tree essential oil" were the same thing and Wiki would agree.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_tree_oil


Is Wiki wrong? Am I wrong?

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Hi there : )

Some refer to Tea Tree essential oil as Tea Tree oil - but it is indeed the same thing. Even Mr. Robert Tiserand refers to it as such. But kchaystack is right, adulterated oils do happen.

If you find well known and trusted suppliers they usually has good feedback from returning customers if their products are good. Reviews are helpfull. They say there is more Tea Tree oil available than there is the actual material of which it can be collected, so there is no doubt a lot of tampering going on for profit.

You have something that is called Tea Seed oil too, it has nothing to do with Tea Tree oil, but is an edible oil that also can be used in cooking. It also called Camelia Oil. Just mentioning it because I know there are some confusion out there about that and Tea Tree oil.

I was also going to mention tea seed oil (Camellia sinensis). It's the oil from tea plants -- meaning the tea that you drink -- but is sometimes confused with tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) essential oil due to "tea" in both of the common names. Camellia oil is not an essential oil. It has a saponification value, so you would treat it as a normal soaping fat if used in soap.

ilovebathing said:

I'm not sure as well what could have caused rancidity in your soap, are you using "fresh" ingredients which I'm sure you are. Or where you live how the items are stored? I'm about to purchase a room temp gauge to make sure my oils are in their respective temps. Sugar to me sometimes cause issues, perhaps using sodium lactate versus sugar first? I know that the qualities in sugar is suppose to help with bubbles/lather and it's also good for your skin, however you've got castor oil for that as well. All I can say is, good luck and hopefully you will try a smaller batch next?

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The OP is making translucent soap. Sugar and castor are used as part of the solvent system

Aaand that's exactly why I bought the "tea tree oil" in a tiny bottle from Trader Joe's. And got some really really nasty soap out of it. If it doesn't say "essential oil" from a reliable source - don't buy it!

swisspensch said:

That caught my attention!

Do you mean "tea tree" versus "tea tree oil"?

I thought the two "tea tree oil" and "tea tree essential oil" were the same thing and Wiki would agree.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_tree_oil


Is Wiki wrong? Am I wrong?

Click to expand...

swisspensch said:

That caught my attention!

Do you mean "tea tree" versus "tea tree oil"?

I thought the two "tea tree oil" and "tea tree essential oil" were the same thing and Wiki would agree.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_tree_oil


Is Wiki wrong? Am I wrong?

Click to expand...

I think that the word "essential oil" has meaning (legally speaking) and "oil" doesn't. So a product that is artificially scented with lavender in a mineral oil base can be "lavender oil" but not "lavender essential oil".