Long cures and Fragrance

[redhead1226]

I like to cure my soap longer then most as my firm belief is that soap gets better with age. I have no doubt I'm not alone in that thinking , especially here.
The downside of that as I see it - It's difficult to maintain some scents for that long and my older soap hardly smells like anything but soap and sometimes, depending on your ingredients, that is not always good. Like tallow!

Any ideas? What have others done to maintain scent. Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

Sherry ( Redhead1226)

 

[zanzalawi]

i've been reading about white kaolin clay being used to make scents stick better but i havent tested it myself yet

 

[cmzaha]

How long an age are you talking. I find my lard/tallow combination without a really good sticking fo do get to smelling, what I call an old smell, when they get around the 1 year mark. You just never know with fragrance and I find if a fragrance does not stick well nothing including clay helps. They say Patch is a good anchor but I find you just smell the Patch when the fragrance fades since Patch is a good sticker. I really think you just have to test fo's and find what will stick that long. I have a 4 yr old salt bar that I used Salty Air from soapsupplies.net and it is still there, although not as strong but that is typical for salt bars anyway.

It is funny I had a fragrance that faded so badly after curing I never took it to market, but the fragrance came back after about 6 months. They are now at the 1.5 yr mark, smell wonderful and lather fantastic, even with my low coconut oil, but they are my veggie recipe, with 45% palm so do not have the lardy soapy smell.

 

[OldHippie]

I weigh each batch of new soap every week until there is no longer a significant difference from the last week. That means the batch is dry enough, and can be shrink-wraped to hold in the fragrance.

 

[redhead1226]

i've been reading about white kaolin clay being used to make scents stick better but i havent tested it myself yet

I have ever known that to work. It think it is just something ppl think. But I tried that many many years ago. Some may have other thoughts on that. Thanks!

How long an age are you talking. I find my lard/tallow combination without a really good sticking fo do get to smelling, what I call an old smell, when they get around the 1 year mark. You just never know with fragrance and I find if a fragrance does not stick well nothing including clay helps. They say Patch is a good anchor but I find you just smell the Patch when the fragrance fades since Patch is a good sticker. I really think you just have to test fo's and find what will stick that long. I have a 4 yr old salt bar that I used Salty Air from soapsupplies.net and it is still there, although not as strong but that is typical for salt bars anyway.

It is funny I had a fragrance that faded so badly after curing I never took it to market, but the fragrance came back after about 6 months. They are now at the 1.5 yr mark, smell wonderful and lather fantastic, even with my low coconut oil, but they are my veggie recipe, with 45% palm so do not have the lardy soapy smell.

Yes I agree about the lard/tallow combo or even on their own. Interestingly I also have zero problem with my salt bars and I also cure a year or more and they hold their scent well. And Ive used many different FO's as I make them often as they have to cure so long so I always have some that are ready. I have so many FO's and some are good some are great and some are uggggg! I dont always believe the reviews as some companies give discounts if you review. On our FO review chart I trust the reviews more. But you buy them and then realize its not a good sticker. I think we need a list of the ones that stick best for a long time.

 

[cmzaha]

I weigh each batch of new soap every week until there is no longer a significant difference from the last week. That means the batch is dry enough, and can be shrink-wrapped to hold in the fragrance.

Shrink wrapping can help but a fragrance that likes to fade will oblige with fading in time, even if shrink wrapped

 

[zanzalawi]

I think we need a list of the ones that stick best for a long time.

that would be awesome

 

[shunt2011]

I have tested and only use scent that stick. If they didn’t stick I don’t make them and keep those made for personal use. It’s taken a lot of testing.

 

[IrishLass]

It's a bit of a time-consuming pain, but the only foolproof thing I've found to work well is to buy sample size FOs, soap them, and then hunker down for the long wait. lol The following is not an exhaustive list, but for what it's worth, here are some that stick very well for me:

From Daystar:
Paradise
Salty Sailor
Blooming Violets
Milk Sugar Kisses

From WSP:
Sugared Spruce
Iced Tea Twist
Sun & Sand
Midsummer's Night

From SweetCakes:
Santa's Pipe
Clean for Men
Cucumber Melon
Mango Tea
Masculine Musk
Northwoods
Orange Blossom
Pomegranate

From Peaks:
Bayberry
Black Raspberry Vanilla
Twilight Woods
Wild Mountain Honey
Sunflower

Rustic Escentuals:
Barbershop 1920's
Corn Husk Rustic
Tuscan Fields
Redwood
London Fog

Oregon Trails:
Confederate Jasmine
Green Irish Tweed
Jasmine Yin Hao
Mediterranean Sea Salt
Old Spice

Brambleberry:
Cedar & Saffron
Kentish Rain
Soapy Clean

MMS:
Green Tea
Intense Almond
Love Spell
Relaxation

Nature's Garden:
Perfect Man

Soapalooza:
Tassie Lavender


IrishLass

 

[redhead1226]

I have tested and only use scent that stick. If they didn’t stick I don’t make them and keep those made for personal use. It’s taken a lot of testing.

If you dont mind me asking. Do you notice a pattern with the ones that stick? Such as scents that have more vanillan? or Citrus or Florals or Musky? I started now buying 4 oz FO instead of larger sizes so I don't have so much waste.

It's a bit of a time-consuming pain, but the only foolproof thing I've found to work well is to buy sample size FOs, soap them, and then hunker down for the long wait. lol The following is not an exhaustive list, but for what it's worth, here are some that stick very well for me:

From Daystar:
Paradise
Salty Sailor
Blooming Violets
Milk Sugar Kisses

From WSP:
Sugared Spruce
Iced Tea Twist
Sun & Sand
Midsummer's Night

From SweetCakes:
Santa's Pipe
Clean for Men
Cucumber Melon
Mango Tea
Masculine Musk
Northwoods
Orange Blossom
Pomegranate

From Peaks:
Bayberry
Black Raspberry Vanilla
Twilight Woods
Wild Mountain Honey
Sunflower

Rustic Escentuals:
Barbershop 1920's
Corn Husk Rustic
Tuscan Fields
Redwood
London Fog

Oregon Trails:
Confederate Jasmine
Green Irish Tweed
Jasmine Yin Hao
Mediterranean Sea Salt
Old Spice

Brambleberry:
Cedar & Saffron
Kentish Rain
Soapy Clean

MMS:
Green Tea
Intense Almond
Love Spell
Relaxation

Nature's Garden:
Perfect Man

Soapalooza:
Tassie Lavender


IrishLass

Thank you so much - Your right its an exhaustive task but I will put together something as well to share. Maybe if everyone named some we would all have a good list. But I could always go to the FO list here and look, Im just not sure it has been updated as frequently. Again thank you!!

 

[zolveria]

You can anchor a scent with an essential oil. I add some clay. Or and aldehyde to those pesky scents. Coconut is one of those scent that is loved but never stays. I do try to mix sev coconut variation with a hint of aldehyde and it helps

 

[shunt2011]

If you dont mind me asking. Do you notice a pattern with the ones that stick? Such as scents that have more vanillan? or Citrus or Florals or Musky? I started now buying 4 oz FO instead of larger sizes so I don't have so much waste.



Thank you so much - Your right its an exhaustive task but I will put together something as well to share. Maybe if everyone named some we would all have a good list. But I could always go to the FO list here and look, Im just not sure it has been updated as frequently. Again thank you!!

Hi Citrus notes seem to be the ones that fade the most. If you check out the fragrance review section and read the notes there is a lot of helpful information based on scent and the company.

 

[lsg]

You can also check out what essential oils act as good scent anchors.

 

[cerelife]

Off the top of my head, these are the ones that stick very well for me. And by very well, I mean the bars that I reserve still smell great after a year! I'm sure there are more, but these were the ones that came to mind.

Brambleberry
Sea Moss
Fresh Snow
Vanilla Vanilla

Fragrance Buddy
Jasmin Showers
The Smell of Weather Turning
Prince Showers

Rustic Essentual
Blue Skies
Oud Wood

Peak
Green Clover and Aloe
Paris Nights
Downey Fresh
Wild Mountain Honey

WSP
Sweet Honeysuckle
Iced Tea Twist
Rose Garden
Nag Champa

Natures Garden
Bite Me
Narcissist

Daystar
Woods and Bitter Coffee
Salty Sailor
Milk Sugar Kisses

Mad Oils
Elderflower
Velvet Peppercorn

 

[penelopejane]

It’s great to have these suggestions from everyone but make sure you do your research because some of those mentioned move like a speeding bullet!

 

[Lin19687]

And some you might not like at all. so keep that in mind.
I usually look through all the FO threads on here, pick a seller or 2, read the descriptions, search those FO's on here and other places.
Then pick.
I have picked a few that others loved but i do not, but if they sell then I am ok with that . unless it is Drakkar haha

 

[madison]

I have done the same thing, I picked some FO that others loved, they didn't work for me.

 

[zanzalawi]

thanks for sharing your favorite sticking scents!

 

[penelopejane]

I have done the same thing, I picked some FO that others loved, they didn't work for me.

A really good way is to find someone who has a positive review for a FO that you do like.
Then you know that their "nose" is the same as yours.
Then you can look for other reviews by them and you can be pretty sure their sense of smell will be like yours.

You can also do this in a negative way to cross off those FOs that someone loved when they also loved an FO that you hated.

 

[snappyllama]

Ditto to what was said about just needing to test to see what stick and fades. Some of my anecdotal tips:

Oven processing makes things fade faster for me.

White Kaolin has made a very minor difference. But it isn't going to make a fader really come back. I only bother with it when I suspect something will fade (citrus scents).

Scent heavily. I go for 1oz ppo if it is IFRA allowable.

Store soap and fragrance oils away from sunlight.

When making salt bars, I use a small portion of dendritic salt (maybe 100gms or so) and let my FO soak into it before adding to batter. It really boosts the scent retention.


Some of my best stickers:
MO Black Raspberry Vanilla. (now sold through Arizona oils or something like that)
WSP Raspberry Lemonade (this one is crazy strong. Use caution.).
Dark Patchouli EO. Good for over a year.
BB Cold Water
BB Ginger Patchouli (also my all-time favorite scent)
MO Dragon Blood. Also dragon blood from other places. (I had a MO DB bar sitting in my guest bathroom for over a year and it still strong)/