Orange and clove EO blend

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Dr.J

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Mom requested an orange and clove soap for Christmas. I have several orange EOs and clove bud EO - what ratio would you recommend for CP soap?

I know clove can be irritating and is rather strong - but should it be 2, 5, 10% of the EO blend to make a good scent (any of these will keep it below the "0.5% of oils" limit I've read about here)?

Thanks!
 
I've done one a 90% 10X Orange with around 10% Clove, and it smelled really good to me (still sticking a year later with some clay added to anchor it). Since oranges vary in intensity, you might want to do a few testers... use toothpicks for various ratios and put in a labeled baggies. Come back after an hour or so and see which ones you like best.

I don't use EOs or blends very often so hopefully someone with more experience will drop by to give you their go-to percentages.
 
I would definitely use a 10 or 15x orange. And, the 90:10 ratio is about right. I don't gel my orange soaps because it tends to fade more quickly that way.

Soap cool and pop it in the freezer. Clove is a known accelerant and heater.
 
Thank you both for the advice.

I didn't have any folded orange EOs on hand, only "normal" orange EOs. So I took a guess and reduced your recommendation of 10% clove to 6% to account for the weaker citrus scent. I added a little litsea cubeba and clay in an effort to anchor - I hope it smells good after cure. Will let you know. I did soap cool and it went ok - did trace quickly but certainly manageable.

Appreciatively,
Kurt
 
After 6 week cure, the clove scent was plenty strong at 6% clove bud EO along with the ("unfolded") sweet orange EO. Gave them all away for Christmas - Mom was especially grateful.

Thanks again for the advice that led to a successful batch! :thumbup:
 
That's my boy, Shepherd. Well, he's "my boy" when he's good, and he's "my wife's boy" when he's bad. :p

I got tired of looking at the poor image quality of my old avatar. It was a pine warbler I photographed a couple years ago on my back porch here in TX, but you could hardly tell from the crappy little pic!

I'm an amateur birder for sure. In a couple weeks I'm headed to FL for vacation... looking forward to spending lots of time in the Everglades spying wildlife.

Is there good birding where you live?
 
Oh, pine warbler; I knew I wasn't quite right. No streaks on the sides and who knows what else I missed. I don't know eastern birds very well. I am not a fanatic birder but when I lived in Arizona (>15 years ago), I was pretty in to it. We recently moved from Alaska to the northern US Rockies, so it's been great to see species I haven't seen in a while. I wouldn't say birding is great here (compared to southern AZ or FL) but it is fun no matter where you are because there are always birds, and they're always a challenge.

Have fun in the Everglades -- it's an amazing place for birds and other wildlife in general. It's my kind of Disneyworld!
 
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