Cold Process Soap without fragrance

[wbocrafter]

I have a friend that wants me to make her some soap but she doesn't want any fragrance in it. Will it smell like the old lye soap I remember as a kid? Or, should I just put in a small amount of fragrance? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[mx5inpenn]

If she wants it without fragrance, that's what I would give her. It will smell like soap. The exact scent will vary some depending on the oils you use, but I don't mind the smell of just plain soap. I just prefer other options.

 

[jcandleattic]

I agree, if your friend asked for fragrance free, and you want to make it for her, make it fragrance free.

I personally don't like the smell of unscented soap, but if it's not for me, then I don't care, I'll give the client/customer/friend what they want.

 

[penelopejane]

I make lots of unscented soap.
I had a friend over the other day who likes scented soap and she sniffed all my available soaps (pretty scary as she didn't like a few scents!) and she chose a pure Castile unscented as one of her favourites!
I make all my recipes in scented and unscented as my DH has eczema and that's what is best for him especially when he has an episode.

Don't use pomace or any chemically smelling ingredients.
Would the old soap you used as a kid have had animal fats? Some people can smell that in soap.

 

[toxikon]

Lard may have a piggy smell. Shea and cocoa butter have a distinctive - but not unpleasant - smell to me.

Unscented soap just tends to smell like oil to me. I don't mind it. I made a facial bar with raw shea and the shea scent really dominates.

If you want a low-odour bar, I'd go for these oils: palm, coconut, olive, avocado, castor.

 

[Relle]

I make an unscented, uncoloured soap with pomace included and it doesn't smell like anything except soap, no smell of chemicals.

 

[cherrycoke216]

I think olive oil soap smells like olive oil. To me, it's not a low odor bar, it does not smell stinky to me. But this goes to show that everyone's nose and receptor is different.

If using animal fats, tallow smells more than lard, in my opinion. I cannot smell lard. ( do NOT overheat lard when making soap, and it should be fine. ) And if you render it yourself, try render it with salt and a dash of baking soda to reduce odor. wash it this way 3-4 times till water color is clean.

 

[artemis]

If you are unsure of what your recipe smells like unscented, I think you should make a small, plain batch. If you are still concerned, you can give a sample size to your friend to test.

 

[Mae01]

Unscented may be a good option for my son-in-law who has a skin condition. I have never made unscented but the oils mixed with the lye mixture smells good to me before I add essential oils. I added essential oils to my Castile soap, too. Your soap should turn out nice using coconut oil 25% and olive oil. I like to add5% caster oil to my recipes, too, amount other nice oils. The oils alone are pleasant smelling.

 

[Obsidian]

My recipe is 50% lard and after a cure, it just smells soapy. Many people prefer it over scented and it's the most requested.

 

[dixiedragon]

You could make your regular recipe, pour off enough for one bar, then scent the rest as usual. If she wants unfragranced I would not add fragrance. Some people can't stand the smell of unfragranced soap. To me, a high olive oil soap does smell like olive oil. A 100% coconut soap smells "soapier" to me than a bar with 50% lard and 20% coconut.

 

[artemis]

You could make your regular recipe, pour off enough for one bar, then scent the rest as usual.

I like that idea even better than my own!

A 100% coconut soap smells "soapier" to me than a bar with 50% lard and 20% coconut.

I have to agree with that. When I use my 100% coconut to wash something by hand, it definitely has a distinctive scent of it's own.

I can't say my 100% OO has a particular smell to it... My no coconut, veggie soap (Oo, Palm, Avocado, Castor) has a very pleasant scent all on it's own, though. Or maybe I just don't mind it myself. As has been noted, each nose is different.

 

[wbocrafter]

Unscented soap

I usually make my soap with 1/3 each of coconut oil, olive oil and canola oil and about 5% castor. I've always put fragrance in mine and I wasn't sure how it would smell without a fragrance. I do understand people have a sensitivity to some items in soap so I respect her wishes. I just wanted to confirm that it would still smell okay. Thanks for all of the responses.