Teach Soap

I plan to make a CP batch of soap this week with orange essential oil, half the batch colored with Titanium Dioxide and the other half with Activated Charcoal. I planned to add the orange EO to the oils before adding the lye water, do you think this will be ok? Do you think the Eo will speed up trace?

Actually, citrus EOs will slow it down. I have no idea why - maybe they are acidic? It will slow down trace, and also your bars will remain very soft for much longer.

Last time I used orange EO for fragrance it faded completely by the time the soap cured. I don't think the orange EOs have good staying power, but maybe that was just my batch.

I've heard you have to anchor the citrus scents. Anyone know how to anchor with corn starch?

I haven't found corn starch to be effective. I use Litsea, Vetiver or Patchouli as anchors and use 5X or 10X folded orange oil in soap to give it staying power.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

RE: citrus scents fading

I have found lime to be the exception to the "sure to fade". I did a 50/50 combo of lime and lemongrass EO, which held very nicely. Most scents I have used featuring lime have held. Maybe lime is the exception for a reason, but darned if I know what it is.

As an aside; please be careful with lime EO. It is a known photosensitizer. If your soap leaves a nice lime scent on the skin it is also potentially making your skin more sensitive to sun light and more prone to burns!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Odd, but my experience with lime eo has been the opposite. It fades to nothing.
I have also used Key Lime EO - was told it's a lot better, but when it cured, it smelled like a tarnished silver spoon to me.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

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Anna Rose @-}--
blog

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Anna Rose @-}--
blog

I just made a batch using some type of orange eo. The label came off the bottle when I washed all the soaping containers, so I'm not sure what type it was. It turned the batter yellow, and I was not able to do what I had intended with it. I tried TD to whiten it, and that failed. Then I tried coloring it blue, like I originally wanted it to be colored. It turned out an almost charcoal color. I'm really disappointed, because this batch was supposed to be a Christmas gift.

Bummer! Orange will color your soap. It can turn blue to green for instance. Maybe try a different color scheme that works with it? Red would be good with it and for a holiday gift. Good luck!

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!