Essential Oil question

[DirtyKnuckles]

After a marathon rabbit butchering episode, friends were washing up at the kitchen sink and someone mentioned the bar of soap was an odd size/shape. I stated it was from my first batch of deer tallow soap (see Rebatching Woes thread). One person was fascinated and smelled the soap, scrubbed up, and marveled at how mild the soap appeared and how soft her hands felt.

She said she didn't like the smell of the soap and asked if I wanted to use some cedarwood essential oil in my next batch and offered to trade soap for oil. Since it was my last bar and I was considering starting anew, I jumped on the offer.

It will be a one kilo batch (1,000 grams, 2.2 lbs) of 90% deer tallow, 10% olive oil, and a fairly low superfatting ratio like around 5%. So....about how much cedarwood essential oil would I add if I wanted a light amount of scent? I understand that this is sheer guesswork since I cannot tell you the concentration of the EO, much less the brand at this point. But I have NO IDEA how much scent to add because I have never made scented soap before and I have ZERO experience to fall back on....hence, my tapping you for general guidelines.

Thanks in advance,
John

 

[BeeMaiden]

Haven't made pure cedarwood soap before, but have made some mixed with rosemary. I believe the guideline is something around .5oz/lb oils. If you want it mildly scented you might cut it back some. For 2.2lbs you might add maybe .75oz-1oz. Remember that it might smell really strong at first but after curing for 6 weeks, the smell will mellow out a lot. Tallow soap sounds really interesting

 

[not_ally]

Yes, DK, please come back and post about your experience w/that. As you might know, there are lots of lard and beef tallow addicts here, but deer tallow is hard to find, so it would interesting to find out what you think ...

 

[kchaystack]

I would look at Brambleberry's scent calculator. Different eo have different safe levels. You would not want to use half an ounce per pound of oil for say peppermint or clove eo.... But that is ok for lemongrass...

 

[spenny92]

I don't like cedarwood EO on its own, but I do like it in a blend. I just can't seem to smell much from straight cedarwood. Maybe it's just me!

Tallow soap sounds really interesting

Are you sure?

Our skin wasn't made to absorb animal fat. If I am going to bother to make the stuff, then I am going to make the best and lard seems like a cheapo way to make not-so-good soap. Vegetable oils are more expensive because they are higher quality and a more pure fat. I would take a fat from a plant anyday over a antibiotic-pumped fat raised in a factory farm. Just my 2cents.

 

[cmzaha]

I use all cedarwood eo's at 1.1oz ppo of the soap batch, Cedarwood is not a strong eo and the scent tends to fade. Have to agree with Spenny that it is a great blender. I like Cedarwood and lavender for one and cedarwood with litsea is very nice.

 

[Seawolfe]

I used cedar and fir blend in my shaving soap (3 grams for half a lb of soap), but that was for HP soap. I really liked it.

 

[DeeAnna]

I'm another for blending cedarwood, and the combos that Carolyn and Seawolfe have suggested would be nice. It does become very soft (light) smelling with time, but it lingers enough to give an aromatic, woodsy, and slightly dusty odor to the soap. The overall effect is okay, but cedarwood alone doesn't draw me to smell it over and over. IMO cedarwood needs to be paired with an EO that will be a brighter, dominant aroma -- pine-y, herbaceous, citrus, or whatever -- and get a synergy going.