Adding Essential Oils

by Elizabeth
(New Zealand)

I bit the bullet today and did the soap recipe you checked for me, the one with just goats milk or water, olive oil instead of lard and lye.

You are amazing! It worked beautifully, except when I added my essential oils of 7.5 mls lavender and 7.5 mls peppermint the batch went thin when I stirred it in.

So I zapped it with the stick blender for a few seconds then stirred it until it came back to trace. Is this a normal reaction??? I have tried to find out but no luck.

It smells divine by the way and is sooooo white already.

I am also playing with the soapcalc as you suggested and slowly, slowly a light bulb gets a faint glimmer happening, occasionally, but I will get there.

I am determined to but in the meantime I hope you don't mind me running to the font of all knowledge.

Thanks heaps also for you patience.

Liz


Answer:

So glad you had a great first batch!

When adding in certain essential oils, the soap batch may become thinner for a short while.

This is especially true with Lavender essential oil which seems to loosen up trace quite a bit once added. It's nothing to worry about...you just have to beat the batch back up to trace like you did.

Be aware that the reverse can also happen with a some essential oils. A few varieties will almost thicken your soap up immediately!

Clove essential oil, for example, should be used sparingly as not only is it very strong but it will speed the saponification process up quite a bit. Spices in general tend to be like that but they really do add that something extra to a scent.

I assume you are already planning your next batch and look forward to hearing about it soon!

Happy soaping!

Cathy