Smell :(

[sodapop0374]

My soap does not smell good!!!!! None of my oils are rancid, they are brand new, and no matter what I add to it it does not smell better! Do I need to put a ton of essential oils in the soap to cover up a base smell that does not smell very good or is there something wrong with my recipe? I use pure olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, and castor oil. I've also used canola oil, coconut oil, and castor oil. HELP I JUST WANT SOAP THAT SMELLS DELICIOUS

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

What is a typical recipe and what % of scent did you use? Where was the scent from and what was it?

To help, we really need some specifics.

 

[MorpheusPA]

My soap does not smell good!!!!! None of my oils are rancid, they are brand new, and no matter what I add to it it does not smell better! Do I need to put a ton of essential oils in the soap to cover up a base smell that does not smell very good or is there something wrong with my recipe? I use pure olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, and castor oil. I've also used canola oil, coconut oil, and castor oil. HELP I JUST WANT SOAP THAT SMELLS DELICIOUS

Can you tell us your base recipe with percentages and, if you can, try to describe the scent? Musty, foul, rotten, and so on are good description words that might lead us in a specific direction.

Olive, coconut, and castor generally have just the normal "soap" scent. Canola can be a little...oddly scented, that I've found, but it's nothing offensive at least when the soap is young (high percentages of canola never smell good to me as they age). I haven't used avocado, so that might be the culprit...but I doubt it as it's a pretty popular oil.

Edited To Add: And yes, as TEG noted, include any scents used. Some simply don't play well with lye and I have a few marked in large, black letters "MP Only" because they go completely foul in CP.

 

[Seawolfe]

Sniff every oil that you use right now - do any of them smell off? Are you adding anything? I find that proteins such as milk can add an icky ammonia smell if you aren't careful in how they meet the lye.

People are often surprised at how much essential oils are needed to scent soap properly. I typically use 5% which is a little over 100 ml of essential oils in my 5 lb / 2.25 kg batches of soap. If you are using Fragrance Oils, well some of them are just yucky IMHO.

 

[dixiedragon]

I agree - first sniff each container of oil. I know a person who hates the smell of olive oil.

Second, what additives did you use? Did you put anything in the lye water?

 

[sodapop0374]

I agree - first sniff each container of oil. I know a person who hates the smell of olive oil.

Second, what additives did you use? Did you put anything in the lye water?

Is a soap made with olive oil supposed to smell like olive oil??

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

A lot of factors come in to play - if you fill in the blanks that I highlighted, people can really help you get this sorted

 

[Susie]

It depends on how much olive oil you used.

We really need your recipe, including base oil amounts, lye amount, water amount, any scents used, any additives used. In other words, everything. We are not mind readers, neither are we trying to steal your recipes.

 

[dixiedragon]

Is a soap made with olive oil supposed to smell like olive oil??

To my nose, I can sometimes smell olive oil if a soap is 100% olive oil, or if it uses a high percentage of extra virgin OO. Extra Virgin OO is more flavorful which is why it's preferred for cooking and not preferred for soaping.

 

[Dorymae]

Soap to me smells like oils. Not strong, and nothing offensive, but not good either. If this is the kind of smell you are talking about then it is normal.

To add scent, whether EO or FO start with .5 oz PPO (per pound of oils). This will usually be a lightly scented soap. For most fragrances you can go up to double that amount without too much trouble.

Now I said most because some scents are very strong (tea tree, and most woodsy fragrances to name a couple) and some are very light ( citrus comes to mind). For those fragrances you will need to adjust to your taste.

 

[sodapop0374]

I used 40% olive oil, 20% canola, 5% castor, 10% avocado, 25% coconut. I used a lye calculator to determine the amount and made a five pound batch. I used .5 oz of haitian sandalwood oil per pound.

 

[marilynmac]

What else went into the soap? Did the batter touch any metal - what kind of metal? Do all the oils smell fine OOB? Did the oils get burnt? Does your EO smell OK OOB? what does it stink like?

 

[dixiedragon]

Where did you get your Haitian Sandalwood? Are you sure it was meant for CP?