Fragrance Oils And Lye Calculation

[TomS]

My question is whether I need to include fragrance oil in my lye calculation. I am new to soaping and made my first scented batch today using .5 oz. of lavender fragrance oil. Using SoapCalc I determined that 69.69 grams of lye was required for my 16.5 ounce batch (not including the fragrance oil) using a 5% discount. The SoapCalc lye calculation does not change when you enter a fragrance quantity in box #4. If, for example I used another .5 oz. of coconut oil, the lye calculation would come out to 71.16 grams. By using fragrance oil, and not adjusting the lye, am I adding another 3% discount to my batch? Does fragrance oil saponify? What if I added 1 oz. of fragrance oil – wouldn’t that potentially have a major impact on my soap, effectively going from a 5% to 11% discount. I would appreciate hearing from anyone with an opinion on this subject. Thank you.

 

[TessC]

Nope, you don't add your fragrance oil or essential oil into the lye calculation. Welcome to SMF, by the way.

 

[IrishLass]

What TessV said. Fragrance oils aren't made of 100% oil anyway, and from my understanding, they do not saponify.

IrishLass