[CP]How can I prevent scent's loss after curing soap

[valen2]

I already made few bars of soap with peppermint essential oil. While the soap have been cured, i realize that the scent's been fading day by day. I searched on webs, and found some conclusions but i don't have any experiment of them. Those are:

+ Add kaolin clay to soap, thay said kaolin help scent stay better
+ Put soap in a lidded container with the same essential oil (or blend) you used in soap, then let it cure.

Is there anyone has experiment with these way? Or you have another ? :think:

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

How much did you use, as a % of the oil weight? How hot were you soaping? Did you gel or not?

 

[IrishLass]

Ditto what the good Gent asked.

Essential oils can sure be tricky to use. Many of them don't last very long in CP soap, although some such as litsea cubeba seem to last quite a long time. And while some people might be tempted to use them at a higher usage rate in order to make the scent stronger or last longer, it's really not recommended to go higher than .5 oz. ppo (i.e. 3% ppo) because of their therapeutic properties, especially with something as skin-sensitizing as peppermint oil.

Having said that, I've heard from a handful of people who mix their essential oils with kaolin clay before adding it to their soap batter that say that it really does help. I've not tried it myself because I use FOs in my soap instead, but hopefully they will chime in soon.

Another thing that can be helpful is to make your soap via the HP method instead of CP, and then adding the EO after the cook.


IrishLass

 

[valen2]

@ Gentleman: I used 10ml peppermint EO for ~ 450g soap, just light. I made that by cold process so my soap did not have gel stage, and stayed at room temperature.

@ Lass: It may work, i'll try it next time. Thanks so much

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

That's about 2.2% - low for a scent overall, but as has been said, going higher with a mint can lead to a soap that tingles in places where it shouldn't!

 

[Susie]

You can't cure soap properly in a container with a closed lid. It needs to lose moisture as well as curing.

Also, the scent will come back after you use the bar a time or two. It just seems to disappear in that first mm or two. Or you could plane it right before packaging it.

 

[bhelen]

I have tried so many things to solve this issue, and here is what I have found:

There is a fine balance between curing time and losing scent. I use a recipe where the soap is great after about 3 and a half weeks, and then I wrap each soap individually and store each batch in closed tupperware containers. Definitely helps. I do use kaolin clay to try to preserve the scent but honestly can't tell if it makes much difference. I don't think it does to be honest.

I use up to 50g EO per kg of soap. Even with all that, there are scents that simply disappear within 3 weeks. Citrus is the worst, even combining it with a hefty dose of cinnamon doesn't seem to help. The best soap I have is peppermint and honey, so just using peppermint EO and the natural scent of the honey, it's amazing. Another one that turned out quite fantastic was lavender, neroli and cardamom, although it was the cardamom that really stuck, and it's pretty prohibitively expensive. Bergamot and rosemary is a nice combo but again, the rosemary sticks much longer than the bergamot.

I must admit I am finding it increasingly frustrating and am considering throwing in the towel with most of the EOs, or maybe having an EO range of just the scents that really stick well, and FOs for the rest.

Please let us know if you find any more secrets.

 

[treegoddess]

Yeah that peppermint will tingle.. lol

 

[notapantsday]

What about cellophane? I've found a German website where they did some testing and apparently cellophane is pretty good at keeping the scent in the soap. They used blood orange at 5% ppo with CP soap and packed it in cellophane. After a year, they could still clearly smell the blood orange which they couldn't when it was packed in paper. Sure, that's a lot of EO but it shows that cellophane really seems to keep in the scent.

Cellophane also allows some moisture to escape. This should be good in theory and I know some soapers pack their soap in cellophane, but does anyone have experience with packing relatively young (3-5 weeks) soap in cellophane?

 

[mymy]

My bud made a batch of 940g of CP soap by using only 10ml peppermint EO. It has been a week now and the scent is still intact. impressive.

 

[Spice]

You can't cure soap properly in a container with a closed lid. It needs to lose moisture as well as curing.

Also, the scent will come back after you use the bar a time or two. It just seems to disappear in that first mm or two. Or you could plane it right before packaging it.

I wondered about the scent coming back after use. I thought it was just me and wishful thinking. Good to know.

 

[valen2]

@bhelen, @notapantsday:

2 weeks ago, i bought 1 soap and its scent now still remain as the first time i opened it. Its ingredients are:
+ Coconut, Olive, Grape seed oil
+ Natural Glycerin, Honey, Organic Turmeric powder
+ EO: Palma Rosa, Cedarwood, Orange
I can easily smell cedarwood's scent, but hard to find another clear. I can not find Turmeric powder's scent too. I wonder if Turmeric powder / Honey is the key to keep scent, or both. By the way, she also wrapped her soap in cellophane, same as the way "notapantsday" had shared.

 

[Cactuslily]

I have found also, that with use the scent comes back, but also, after steaming a bit.

 

[spiderpup]

I have tried so many things to solve this issue, and here is what I have found:

There is a fine balance between curing time and losing scent. I use a recipe where the soap is great after about 3 and a half weeks, and then I wrap each soap individually and store each batch in closed tupperware containers. Definitely helps. I do use kaolin clay to try to preserve the scent but honestly can't tell if it makes much difference. I don't think it does to be honest.

I use up to 50g EO per kg of soap. Even with all that, there are scents that simply disappear within 3 weeks. Citrus is the worst, even combining it with a hefty dose of cinnamon doesn't seem to help. The best soap I have is peppermint and honey, so just using peppermint EO and the natural scent of the honey, it's amazing. Another one that turned out quite fantastic was lavender, neroli and cardamom, although it was the cardamom that really stuck, and it's pretty prohibitively expensive. Bergamot and rosemary is a nice combo but again, the rosemary sticks much longer than the bergamot.

I must admit I am finding it increasingly frustrating and am considering throwing in the towel with most of the EOs, or maybe having an EO range of just the scents that really stick well, and FOs for the rest.

Please let us know if you find any more secrets.

bhelen, my cousin wants a honey soap for her babies - she remembers it from her childhood in England - and I'd love to make it for her, but I'm worried that if I use enough honey for the scent to come through, I'll have an explosion. How much do you use ppo? Do you use a darker/stronger smelling honey? GIVE ME ALL OF YOUR SECRETS!

Seriously, though, if you wouldn't mind sharing some tips with me, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[spiderpup]

Also, white kaolin at 3 tbsp per 10 lbs of soap seems to hold my eo's for about a year, at least. Weird, but my lard soap retains eo's forever, so maybe oils have something to do with it as well?

 

[bhelen]

bhelen, my cousin wants a honey soap for her babies - she remembers it from her childhood in England - and I'd love to make it for her, but I'm worried that if I use enough honey for the scent to come through, I'll have an explosion. How much do you use ppo? Do you use a darker/stronger smelling honey? GIVE ME ALL OF YOUR SECRETS!

Seriously, though, if you wouldn't mind sharing some tips with me, I'd really appreciate it.

I literally just made a honey soap, used 50g honey dissolved in a little warm water for a 1kg batch. I stick blend the honey solution into the oils before adding the lye so that it disperses really well. Plus I use milk (I dissolve the lye in an equal amount of water and the remainder of my liquid is milk, which I add in just after mixing in the lye). No worries and no explosions! And the honey scent comes through really well and lasts for ages. I haven't tried many different types of honey actually, and the one I use is pretty light.

 

[spiderpup]

I literally just made a honey soap, used 50g honey dissolved in a little warm water for a 1kg batch. I stick blend the honey solution into the oils before adding the lye so that it disperses really well. Plus I use milk (I dissolve the lye in an equal amount of water and the remainder of my liquid is milk, which I add in just after mixing in the lye). No worries and no explosions! And the honey scent comes through really well and lasts for ages. I haven't tried many different types of honey actually, and the one I use is pretty light.

Thank you so much for sharing this, bhelen! My cousin will be thrilled! I really appreciate your help

 

[Spice]

Also, white kaolin at 3 tbsp per 10 lbs of soap seems to hold my eo's for about a year, at least. Weird, but my lard soap retains eo's forever, so maybe oils have something to do with it as well?

Oh, gosh, I just started using white kaolin. I have never seen my soaps so nice. And the feel. At first I wasnt to sure, but I tried the kaolin......I was presently surprised at the results. I had heard that it was good in eos too, I am not sure about that though. It could be the eo I used it in too, it was eucalyptus eo, but then again, eucalyptus I believe is a high note.