Teach Soap

Hi
I am new, (and so far frustrated) with CP soap making. My soap turns out fine, but after spending tons of money on EO, my soap doesn't smell like anything other than the ingredients. No EO scent. I am using approximately one ounce of EO per pound of soap. I have read things that say "the lye can eat your fragrance" well, how do I stop it from doing that?? I know I am doing something wrong because I have smelled a lot of homemade soaps that smell great!
Thank you so much for your advice.
Also, if any of you might be soy candle makers, I am having a similar problem with that. My candles smell fantastic sitting on the counter, but have zero smell when lit. WTH??

Some essential oils like orange oil will fade in soap; even at 1 oz. per lb. of soap. Using anchors like Vetiver, Litsea or Patchouli in the total blend helps.
I use fragrance oils in my soy candles as those hold scent better. Orange oil in a soy candle can smell like burning fuel once the candle is cured for a couple of days.

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

Thank you.
I'm not clear what it means to anchor it. I see that a lot. Does that mean mix 1/2 oz of the two scents together? 1oz of each? Do I need to pre blend the two so they are bonded or just mix them both in the soap at the same time? Also, can you suggest a book or some sort of guide that says 'you should use such and such a scent with such and such'?? And also, is there a place to find a list of scents that don't last so I don't spend thousands of dollars on trial and error? And if some, like orange, don't last, is it a good idea to use them at all? Does the anchor oil make them stay, or just stay a little better?
Sorry, I actually have so many more questions, I'm trying not to be annoying lol
Have a great day

_________________
-Wendy
There are no negatives, only slow positives.

To anchor a scent means you are using an essential oils that helps another essential oil last. They are normally used in small amount. I'll give you a hypothetical example. Let's say you need 1 oz. of an essential oil total. You would use 0.9 of the essential oil of choice, then add the other 0.1 as an anchor. You might want to read this post. viewtopic.php?f=4&t=12046

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

Thank you.
I have another question. How do you know how big a recipe is going to be in order to figure out how much EO to put in? I see a lot of recipes that give the amount of oil, water, and lye, but don't say how much EO to put in. Do I add up the weight of everything going in and use that as the weight to determine my fragrance off of? Or is it less than those totals since most the water will evaporate out over time??
I am sure you are shaking your head because the answer is probably obvious, but I guess that is why we come up with cute user names instead of our real names. Anonymity lol
Thank you!

Each essential oil or fragrance oil has a safe usage rate. One size does not fit all. Some are used at 03. oz. per lb. of soap. Others at 0.7 to 1 oz. per lb. of soap. You will need to research each one individually.

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

Thank you. Good to know! But what my actual question was, was how do I know how big the batch is? If I am reading a recipe so I add up the weights of everything going into it and that equals the weight of the batch? Do I add up everything except the water since most of that is going to evaporate out? Some recipes tell me, 'this will make a 4# batch of soap" so then I know. Some just give the list of ingredients and measures but don't say how much soap it's going to make, so I don't know how much EO to add.
Hope that makes sense. Thanks so much for all your answers!

_________________
-Wendy
There are no negatives, only slow positives.

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

Thank you

_________________
-Wendy
There are no negatives, only slow positives.