Weak Soap Fragrance

[gbtreasures]

Well. I've made my 2nd batch of soap this past weekend. Things went pretty good, except the fragrance is very weak. I don't want to over fragrance, and I used approximately 1 oz. FO per 8 oz. of soap. I don't use too muck lye for the FO to saponify, the soap seems to be quite mild. The FO was added at trace. The soap was covered for 48 hours, then cut. I have it on racks and will let it cure for 2-3 weeks(?). Does this timetable seem OK?
The soap is a lighter color inside then out, and is a bit on the soft side right now. I expect it to harden up some, and I'm hoping the FO really comes out. Are my expectations rational? :?
I just got a digital camera and as soon as I learn to use it, I will post some pics. Thanks to everyone for making this forum some place I love to visit every evening!

 

[Soapmaker Man]

I used approximately 1 oz. FO per 8 oz. of soap.

If you used this much for 8 ounces of oils in your batch, this is too much FO. The normal usage rate is .7 to 1 ounce per pound of oils used in your recipe. For example, a TOG 10" log mold holds 2 pounds of oils to make a batch. You would add between 1.4 to 2 ounces of FO for this batch. This makes 10 full sized bars cut 1 inch thick. Adding the FO at trace is just fine. I think you added a bit too much. I'm surprised it is week. Some FO pick up scent intensity longer in the cure. If you bought your FO's from a reputable retailer, this amount was about double the amount you should have used.

Paul

 

[IrishLass]

Paul is right. 1 oz of fragrance per pound of oils is the absolute highest I would ever go, too. I usually use .7 oz per pound of oils, but I've used 1 oz before for a really light fragrance.

Other than that, your expectations are very rational.

Don't worry if your soap smells on the light side right now. Most scents bounce back during cure. As an example, I just made a soap last week using WSP's Violet Bouquet and I couldn't smell anything from it at first. It's been a week now, and the scent has gradually been bouncing back. It smells pretty good now. I have a couple of other scents that are light at first like that, too, but they've always bounced back sometime during cure (except for one- Pink Sugar from FOH ). I've learned over time to make good use of TheScentReviewBoard site when choosing fragrances to buy. There are a lot of reviews on there about different scents from different suppliers and how they perform in soap. I don't buy anymore without checking on there first. It's an awesome resource.

Regarding Curing: I always cure my CP soaps for 4 weeks at a minimum. If you happened to have used the HP process, though, a two week cure or even less is perfectly fine.

Don't be too concerned if the soap is lighter in the middle than it is on the outside. I've had a handfull of batches like that and the color always evened out after curing.

Oh, before I forget- your soap should get good and hard during cure, too.

HTH!
IrishLass

 

[gbtreasures]

You are right. I was milling that over in my head the next day and realized that I made a mistake on the amount of FO that I said I used. I really used approximately 4 tablespoons of it in a 15 oz. batch. The fragrance has come out a little more after a couple of days, but it is still faint. The soap is on the soft side.