Does anyone have any recommendations for Cierra Fo’s in CP? Particularly, ones which stick well? I have a list of them that look good and have a couple of thumbs-ups from soapmakers on their site, but there are not a ton of reviews generally. I did PM a poster here, u/math ace, who had a similar question some time ago and was doing testing, but they have not been on the forum for a while so may not get it.
Also, what happened to IFRA rates over the last few years, what led to the (sometimes precipitous) dropped maximum usage rates (MURs) in the latest IFRA amendment? I have basically lost the ability to use some of the oils I really liked in soap because of them, although they never caused adverse reactions in me or any of the people I gifted them to at the previous/higher rates. I’m not questioning being cautious, I guess I’m just wondering if there was new information/discovery of adverse reactions that caused this overhaul.
General woolgathering about IFRA limits: I just realized from looking at DeeAnna’s soapybells site that FO MURs are based on total batch weight (TBW). Also that you should subtract about 10% of the TBW for dehydration during cure. I have always mistakenly based it on total oil weight (TOW) and did not realize that you had to offset for dehydration.
My math may be wrong (it probably is, if history is a guide!), but I think in the end it works out that anyone using TOW rather than TBW to calculate MUR can actually increase the percentage of FO that they are using per batch by 20-25% because the TBW v TOW difference is proportionally higher than the deduction for dehydration. But if the MUR has dropped significantly it probably won’t be enough of an increase to get a nice strong FO amount anyway. Very frustrating.
Also, what happened to IFRA rates over the last few years, what led to the (sometimes precipitous) dropped maximum usage rates (MURs) in the latest IFRA amendment? I have basically lost the ability to use some of the oils I really liked in soap because of them, although they never caused adverse reactions in me or any of the people I gifted them to at the previous/higher rates. I’m not questioning being cautious, I guess I’m just wondering if there was new information/discovery of adverse reactions that caused this overhaul.
General woolgathering about IFRA limits: I just realized from looking at DeeAnna’s soapybells site that FO MURs are based on total batch weight (TBW). Also that you should subtract about 10% of the TBW for dehydration during cure. I have always mistakenly based it on total oil weight (TOW) and did not realize that you had to offset for dehydration.
My math may be wrong (it probably is, if history is a guide!), but I think in the end it works out that anyone using TOW rather than TBW to calculate MUR can actually increase the percentage of FO that they are using per batch by 20-25% because the TBW v TOW difference is proportionally higher than the deduction for dehydration. But if the MUR has dropped significantly it probably won’t be enough of an increase to get a nice strong FO amount anyway. Very frustrating.
