Scents and Soaping

[Saponista]

Oddly I have always liked patchouli, can't see how people hate it so much!

 

[seven]

i HATE honeysuckle! esp honeysuckle jasmine! i refused to make another batch with it as i can't stand the smell. i do not care how good a seller it is, i feel like throwing up by that scent. and it's such a strong scent. if i walk past by the curing rack the scent lingers on my nose for a long time. euuuwwww!

 

[osso]

Also not a big floral fan. I really can't handle rose at all.

 

[MzMolly65]

I hope this doesn't derail the original intention of the thread but how is everyone getting their EO's to stick. I've tried the cornstarch theory .. didn't work. I've tried not letting it gel .. good results but still fades quickly and it's hard to keep things from not gelling so it's a tricky option.

My FO's are still smelling nice after weeks of sitting out curing but I really didn't want to have to use synthetics just to keep things strongly scented.

I'm disappointed that expensive EO's are evaporating away!! All advice welcome.

 

[coffeetime]

I CPOP and only use EOs not FOs and my scents stick just fine. It helps to wrap them at 4-6 weeks, and I cure them in breathable cardboard boxes. Are you adding at 3% ppo? Is it possible that the synthetics are so strong that they are drowning out the EOs?

 

[MzMolly65]

Are you adding at 3% ppo? Is it possible that the synthetics are so strong that they are drowning out the EOs?

Yes, 3% .. and no. The synthetics are not really strong, they're just still there to smell. Even if I take the eo soaps out of the room the fo's are in I cannot smell them much anymore. The smell is slightly stronger in shower but barely there when dry.

 

[Saponista]

I find that adding organic matter to soap helps the eo's stick. My coffee ground soap with rosemary EO scent lasts for ages and grated orange zest seems to really bind sweet orange which is a tricky one. Lots of people use things like clay or orris root to bind scent. Adding a base note essential oil is also meant to help as it will still be around when all the volatile top notes have disappeared.

 

[soap_rat]

Miz Jenny, I saw your main point as being that even scents we don't like can be built into a blend we like, which is great advice and something it took me time to learn, too!

Efficacious, I bet that even a tiny sample could be tested, if you have tiny molds, or silicone cupcake liners, or paper cups. The sample is probably big enough to scent 1oz of soap? Sometime when you're making a batch, just steal a few ounces to makes testers of each FO.

MzMolly (we are becoming very formal here, aren't we, with Ms. and Gentleman and the like...I would like to be addressed as Lord Soap Rat, please...) I only use EOs, I scent at 3% or less of the oil weight, and the scents are strong for most EOs. What EOs are you using, specifically? (I do use HP sometimes for a more expensive EO)

 

[green soap]

Many essential oils have relatively low flash points. I have much better results with eo scent retention when I soap cooler and prevent high temperature gel. This is particularly true of citrus, eucalyptus, rosemary, all of these EOs have very low flash points.

The spice EOs will cause heating of the soap, even if you start cool and try soaping at room temperature. However, those have much higher flashpoints and I have no issues with scent retention with 'spicy' EOs, even after they heat up the soap. By spicy I mean cinnamon leaf, clove, cardamom, nutmeg....

 

[paillo]

If it's an FO that I find doesn't stick well, I up the quantity to the manufacturer's max recommendation. And, heck, I've even gone over that at times, knowing that if I'm not super careful it will rice, seize or otherwise misbehave. Then I give it a good long cure. The non-stickers I've given up on - like coconut, in my experience.

I heard not long ago that as you age, and the cells turn over in your body over the years, that your sense of of smell can change dramatically (don't know if this is fact, but it makes sense to me). For many years I couldn't be in the same room with patchouli, and now I totally adore it. Hmmm, maybe I'm getting old? :roll:

Lord Soap Rat, I bow to your new moniker :grin:

 

[Miz Jenny]

Well, if you're going to be Lord soap_rat, I'd like to be called ... oh, heck, I'm just Plain Ol' Jenny. BTW, patchouli mixed with sweet is wonderful in beer or hemp soap.

 

[Miz Jenny]

I think maybe we (at least I!) misunderstood the tone where you were saying how you said you vowed never to make certain things - which is a strange vow when people might well want it!

My point was one should listen to their customers and step out of their self-imposed boxes and I use both now because that's what a good percentage of my customers want. Just realized I have no florals except rose and English lavender so I will get a couple more to satisfy those customers who like sweet.

I am so swamped from mid-summer to mid-December that I only have time to read and no time to post anything constructive or informational. This post was my way of talking to new soapers who may one day sell. "Listen to your customers and set your personal preferences aside."

Jenny

 

[MzMolly65]

What EOs are you using, specifically? (I do use HP sometimes for a more expensive EO)

Well .. Lord Rat (I said that with a crisp British accent by the way) ..

specifically I have in stock; lavender, tea tree, lemon grass (which sticks better than the others), litsea, vetiver, orange 5x, Brazilian Red Orange, eucalyptus, and patchouli and jasmine which I haven't used yet because they're private stock and I'm saving them for some thing super special when I'm sure they'll stick.

I got the Jasmine in Thailand and it's pure .. cost me a pretty penny even when everything else was a tiny fraction of my normal budget at home. I'm scared to waste it so I just open the bottle and sniff it once in a while. ***ahhhh***

 

[Miz Jenny]

I meant to say "patchouli and sweet orange." MzMolly, do you prefer orange 5x to sweet orange and why.

 

[MzMolly65]

I meant to say "patchouli and sweet orange." MzMolly, do you prefer orange 5x to sweet orange and why.

I don't have a preference but to me they are distinctly different scents. One is very much citrus while the other is a softer, riper citrus scent. It's like standing in the grocery store with a Florida navel orange in one hand and a Japanese mandarin in the other.

They're both awesome but it depends on your soap intent which one you choose. I chose the 10x because people said it stuck but I don't find that it sticks any better than the Brazilian Red Orange.

 

[Miz Jenny]

Thanks, MizMolly.

 

[soap_rat]

I use a lot of those EOs and consider them "stickers," but I can't say for sure about eucalyptus, last time I used it was as an accent in a blend. I have soap I lightly CPOPed that is mostly citrus, plus lemongrass and maybe palmarosa for stickiness, plus cornstarch for stickiness, and it's about 3 months old with good aroma. I use 10x or 15x orange because it's supposed to stick better. I haven't used the Brazilian orange.

Lavender and tea tree, litsea, vetiver (strong stuff!) and patchouli all stick well for me (be warned, patchouli "grows," according to what I've read--you smell it more in the finished product than in the blend). I take my oil weight, multiply it by .03, and that's my maximum EO weight. Is that what you do? Some people will go higher but it's not recommended. (And some EOs have chemicals that have limits for safe usage set by the IFRA and we have to use far less than 3%)