CP soap loses scent in shower?

[Samantha_atz]

Hello everyone. I've been having this issue for a while and I cant seem to find anything online that covers my specific problem. You see my cp soap keeps losing it's scent once it's being used. It smells beautiful all the way up until you use it. Once you lather it up the scent disappears and it just smells like oil. I use 1oz of fragrance oil per pound of oil and it still stinks in the shower. Any ideas?

 

[dixiedragon]

That's weird. Where are you buying your FO?

 

[Samantha_atz]

The ones I have been using have all been from either wholesale supplies plus, Nature Garden Candles or Nurture Soap.

 

[galaxyMLP]

What is the recipe you use? What are the names of the fragrances that stick out in your mind the most?

 

[Samantha_atz]

Olive oil 30%
Coconut oil 25%
Palm oil 25%
Castor oil 10%
Sunflower oil 5%
Coco butter 5%

A great example is my black raspberry vanilla soap. I got the FO from WSP. It looks beautiful and smells amazing right now but the moment I use it with water and lather it up it starts smelling like raw soap. Weirder still is the bar goes back to smelling good after it dries it just stinks while using it which is a major problem.

 

[Seawolfe]

How long has that soap been curing?

 

[Samantha_atz]

That particular loaf is 6 months old. I noticed it when I first tested it after it cured for 6 weeks and it still does it now. A lot of my friends want a bar because it smells really nice but I wont give it to them because of how it smells during use. A few others that do it are the monkey fart, baby bee, cranberry fizz, pink sugar and thats jsut off the top of my head.

 

[KristaY]

This is very interesting as it's usually the other way around - scent intensifies with water and steam. Have you had anyone else try it in the shower? I ask only because our noses are all different so maybe someone else will smell the scent just fine and not the batter, especially if they aren't soapers. You know what soap batter smells like but they don't so may smell your bars differently.

Other than that, I have no idea. I've used several FOs you mentioned and haven't had this issue with them, plus, your recipe looks good so shouldn't cause any odd things to happen. I'm head-scratching now.....

 

[galaxyMLP]

Thats very interesting. It could be your nose. I agree that it is almost always the other way around.

How old are the oils that you are using? Does that scent fading get worse over time or does it stay the same. For example, did the BRV soap smell less like raw soap @ 6 weeks and now smells more like it in the shower? or is it a constant amount of non-smelling goodness?

 

[Samantha_atz]

I've been head scratching so long I think I'm going bald lol. Yes I've had my husband, my parents, my sister and her family and a few close friends try it and they all say the same. I'm so confused.

 

[Samantha_atz]

All fragrance oils are fairly new when I use them. I get all soap happy when I get a new fragrance order in. Also the raw smell is always the same. It doesn't get better or worse so again I don't know. I have even used kaolin clay to try and help but still the same problem. I'm so confused.

 

[dixiedragon]

I'm reaching here - but could it be your water? Might be worthwhile to try making a batch with distilled water from the grocery store.

 

[Samantha_atz]

I use bottled distilled water.

 

[shunt2011]

I too find that hard to take in. I have used BRV from WSP and I have a bar over 1 year old that still smells great. I use FO's from both WSP and NG and yes, sometimes a scent fades to nothing, but at this point all my scents have been tested for sticking power. Not sure what to tell you. A big question mark for sure as to what would be causing that for you.

 

[galaxyMLP]

All fragrance oils are fairly new when I use them. I get all soap happy when I get a new fragrance order in. Also the raw smell is always the same. It doesn't get better or worse so again I don't know. I have even used kaolin clay to try and help but still the same problem. I'm so confused.

I meant your actual soaping oils. Like the olive oil, ect.

This is very interesting. Do you have any additives that you use in your soaps regularly? Where do you live? What state/area in the US if you are in the US, otherwise what country?

I wonder if it may be linked to the type of water you have coming out of the tap when you are actually showering.

Do you mind going through your process with us when you soap? Maybe there is something we/you might be missing? It's really strange that it has scent until it is used in the shower. I've had some lard soaps that have the lardy smell come through a bit in the shower but, never really with veggie soaps. Then again, some people can't stand the smell of castile soaps and can pick up that saponified olive oil smell in most bars that use any amount of olive oil.

 

[Samantha_atz]

That particular batch of oils was probably 2 months old when I made the black raspberry vanilla. Only additives are colloidal oatmeal and kaolin clay. I live in upstate SC. I didn't think it was the shower water because it doesn't do it with all my fragrances just some of them. My process is pretty straight forward. I soap around 100 degrees or lower depending on how impatient I am being. I mix my additives with me melted coco butter and add at light trace then I add my fragrance. I like doing alot of swirls so I use full water most of the time unless I'm doing a simpler design.

 

[Seawolfe]

Just on the off chance - go sniff your oils and see if any smell "off". Stock can sit around at the distributor for a while.

 

[dixiedragon]

I mix my additives with me melted coco butter and add at light trace then I add my fragrance.

I am wondering if this is the problem. Wikipedia says the melting point of cocoa butter is 93-101F. I am wondering if your soap is a bit cool, so the melted cocoa butter is solidifying and the additives in it are not fully distributed? instead of being mixed evenly into the soap, they are in little pockets of cocoa butter? Try a batch with one of the FOs that doesn't work for you, but instead melt the cocoa butter with the other oils and mix your additives with a liquid oil (maybe hold a bit of your olive oil in reserve).

Honestly I don't know WHY this would make your soap smell weird in the shower, but it's the only thing I see you are doing that seems different?

 

[snappyllama]

I've used a few of those FOs and haven't noticed anything odd in their behavior. I'm wondering though... is your bathroom very humid? I always run the fan when I shower, but my kids constantly forget. I've noticed that anything (candles, soap) in their bathroom seems to fade faster. Also, is your soap getting and staying saturated. That can knock the scent down in my very unscientific experience.

 

[Samantha_atz]

Checked my oils and they all smell fine. I will try mixing my additives with a little olive oil instead of coco butter to see if that helps. Also this happens from the very first use. I can literally pick a bar of the curing rack and take it to the shower and it does it so I dont think the bathroom humidity is the cause. Thank y'all for trying to help. It means alot.