Using Fragrance Calculator for Liquid Soap

[Carl]

Looking at the BB fragrance calculator.

I select Liquid Soap.

It wants to know how many ounces I am making.

Is this the original weight of my oils? Or is this the weight after I dilute the paste at the end?

 

[Susie]

This should be the diluted weight. Why are you using a fragrance calculator? Your soap calculator gives you a % choice on fragrance, and just use that down to whatever you want to add. If it tells you 58 grams, and you want to use 1:1 lavender/mint, then just use 29 g of each, etc. I find this amount is generally ideal.

 

[Carl]

This should be the diluted weight. Why are you using a fragrance calculator? Your soap calculator gives you a % choice on fragrance, and just use that down to whatever you want to add. If it tells you 58 grams, and you want to use 1:1 lavender/mint, then just use 29 g of each, etc. I find this amount is generally ideal.

I've been using SoapCalc with 3:1 for water to lye ratio. But it only allows you to enter an "Oz per Pound" on the fragrance. I was going to get the "Oz per pound" from Bramble Berry. Unfortunately SoapCalc does not know my dilution rate at the end. So I was going to calculate the soap recipe with soap calc. Add the fragrance at the dilution step and then just use the BB calculator to determine how much fragrance.

 

[Susie]

Have you tried Soapee.com?

 

[Carl]

Have you tried Soapee.com?

No I haven't but I could.

Is it a better option?

Interesting.
Seems like the soapee calculator used the weight of the oils to determine fragrance amount and not the diluted weight.

So lets say I use 16 ounces of oil. Soapee is saying I should have .48 ounces of fragrance.
This seems like a small amount since 16 ounces of oil used should eventually turn into 64 ounces of liquid soap.

 

[Susie]

That is the place I start. You can also set your % of fragrance oil if you find your diluted soap has an inadequate amount of scent. I have had to reduce to 1% for certain FOs, but never, ever have I had to increase it. YMMV. Test small amounts before committing an entire batch to too much or too little FO/EO.

You are thinking of the diluted product as the "soap". It is not necessarily the same. The soap is the paste. We use the same name for the diluted product out of convenience. When you make bar soap, you mix it with water to get lather. That lather has to have a certain amount of scent for you to be able to detect/smell that, yes? So why should this same standard not apply to liquid soap?

 

[Carl]

That is the place I start. You can also set your % of fragrance oil if you find your diluted soap has an inadequate amount of scent. I have had to reduce to 1% for certain FOs, but never, ever have I had to increase it. YMMV. Test small amounts before committing an entire batch to too much or too little FO/EO.

You are thinking of the diluted product as the "soap". It is not necessarily the same. The soap is the paste. We use the same name for the diluted product out of convenience. When you make bar soap, you mix it with water to get lather. That lather has to have a certain amount of scent for you to be able to detect/smell that, yes? So why should this same standard not apply to liquid soap?

.

Wow, I just ingested that last paragraph. Great explanation. We are scenting the soap, and not the diluted product. Which explains the lower than expected amount of FO.

But in your 1st response a few days ago, you mentioned that we should base it off of the diluted product

 

[Susie]

We do...sort of. It is a matter of knowing your recipes and your scents. I have made enough soap to know just how much water my soap is going to require for dilution, and I test all new scent by pulling out enough paste to make 8 oz of diluted soap. I then mix the scent in at my standard 3% ish and use that soap for a few days to see how it fares scent wise. If I am not happy with it, I dump it and start over with a different amount. You also have to accomodate whether you are diluting for a foaming soap (more water) or not. But take copious notes and record them in your computer (I use a spread sheet) with the scent, manufacturer, each amount of dilution you have tested, etc. To START with, however, you need a starting point. Start testing with the 3% on the calculator..