How do I recalculate the E/O's in your recipe for a larger batch of soap?

by Lisa
(Oxford, Wisconsin )

Hi Cathy, I just love your site. Very very helpful.

I have been making soap for a bit now. I have no problem with calculating the soap oils to fit my mold. I do not know how to recalculate the E/O's to fit my newly sized batch of soap.

Answer:

Percentages!! I know...everybodys favorite thing to do!

It's quite easy really. Decide on how strong you like your soap to smell and use anywhere from 3 to 5% of the amount of base oils for your essential oils.

For example, lets use the Camellia Oil Soap recipe:

The essential oils are:
Rose Geranium - 10 ml
Sweet Orange - 15 ml
Lemongrass - 1.25 ml

Add those up and you get a total of 26.25 ml

So the percentages of each in the recipe are as follows:

Rose Geranium is 10/26.25 x 100 = 38%
Sweet Orange is 15/26.25 x 100 = 57%
Lemongrass is 1.25/26.25 x 100 = 5%

**I've rounded the percentages to whole numbers.

Now...if you've increased the base oils of the recipe to say 2000 grams then you will want anywhere from 60 - 100 grams of essential oils. (thats 3 - 5% of 2000). We're no longer working in milliliters now since it is easier to go to grams for a recipe enlargement.

We will assume that you're going for the maximum amount of essential oil at 5% of the base oils.

Rose Geranium - 38% of 100 grams = 38 grams
Sweet Orange - 57% of 100 grams = 57 grams
Lemongrass - 5% of 100 grams = 5 grams

There you have it! It looks harder than it is...it's really just basic math and is somewhat time consuming but worth it.

Good luck,
Cathy