Table of Contents
- What Does That Soap Smell like?
- Why Soap Smells So Good!
- What Makes The Smell Of Soap
- What Ingredient Makes Soap Smell Good?
- What Makes Soap Smell Bad
- How do You Make Strong-Smelling Soap?
- Final Thought
Would you want to know what makes soap smell like soap? As a skilled soap maker, I can say that the smell of soap comes from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that are found in flavored soaps.
These can be solids or liquids. To make soap, fats, and oils are chemically broken down into their basic parts, which are glycerol and fatty acids.
However, the smell of soap can be different based on how it was made and what ingredients were used. Some soaps have nice smells, while others might smell more like chemicals.
In the end, everyone has a different opinion about what soap smells like. What one person thinks is a chemical smell, another may enjoy.
There is no right or wrong answer. For a pleasant bathing experience, it is important to find a soap that matches your favorite smell.
There are a lot of chemical ingredients in soap that clean and add color and scent.
The washing and cleaning agent is made from a fat or oil mixed with a special substance called “lye” and usually some natural color and smell add-ins. Beginners guide to soap making.
Like most things, soap tastes the way it does because of what it’s made of. I’ll tell you more about what makes soap smell like soap as you read on.
Now, let’s get started.
What Does That Soap Smell like?
It has a strong, soapy scent. It will smell like old-fashioned scentless soap if you’ve ever smelled that kind of thing.
Depending on how perceptive you are, the coffee may show through a little in certain batches.
One way to feel connected to nature is to smell the trees, which is precisely what CleanO2’s Montane Meadow Body Bar offers.
This natural bar soap, which has a beer base, also smells woodsy and flowery since it contains natural pine and lavender oils.
A combination of sea moss, bark, cedar, teakwood, agave, aloe, and sweet melon is called “Agave & Teakwood.”
Our most energizing, zesty, “clean” smell is Aloe Leaf & Mint. We combine cold mint with fresh aloe leaf and a dash of black pepper. This fragrance is great for a morning pick-me-up.
Apiary Number 55: Previously Known as “Milk & Honey”, it is calming, pleasant, and tidy.
It is Almost suitable for consumption. Among our most well-liked combinations for both sexes.
Apiary No. 55 has a fairly conventional, almost nostalgic aroma that is “clean” but also comforting.
Earthy, rich, and smoky around the Autumn Equinox, the Transient top notes of lavender blend with earthy amber, burnt tea leaves, lemon, orange, and cedarwood notes in the middle and base.
Balsam & Fir: A bar with a light, woodsy scent and The strong scent of the forest—perfect for a male.
A pinch of genuine balsam is added after we combine fresh green fir essential oil with a rich amber scent is Very “clean” in scent, yet the amber and balsam give it a little deeper, vanilla-like quality.
Why Soap Smells So Good!
Remember that soap has a natural scent, so even if you choose not to add fragrance, it will still have a perfume to it.
Some customers refuse to purchase my fragranced soaps only because of their inherent aroma.
Commercial items have duped people into thinking that a product is scent-free or unscented when it doesn’t smell.
Make your soap if your oils aren’t rancid. Notice the scent when your oils are mixed (before adding lye).
Natural sources provide essential oils The yearly weather patterns have an impact on the quality and aroma of essential oils, which differ between crops and geographical areas.
Because of this, it is quite challenging to create complete goods with consistent fragrances.
The majority of commercial soaps and skincare products, even some labeled as “natural” ones containing essential oils, are formulated using synthetic, nature-identical, or natural fragrance oils.
Any synthetic fragrance will guarantee a more uniform aroma.
It takes a temperamental person to use essential oils in any situation.
However, although the aroma blend of natural essential oils might vary somewhat in a cream or oil, these combinations are particularly erratic when creating cold-processed natural soap.
The degree to which the aroma of an essential oil mix is altered during the soap-making process still astounds me, even after all these years.
What Makes The Smell Of Soap
As previously discussed, essential oils are typically used to give soap and other skin care products a natural aroma.
Certain essential oils, like citrus oils, can impart both color and aroma. However, some color/scent combos aren’t achievable due to the hues of essential oils.
For instance, because clove oil is dark, you cannot create a pale yellow soap that smells like cloves.
Your oil may be rancid due to prolonged exposure to air or oxidation if your soap has an “off” scent.
Typical soap fragrance pairings include:
• Lavender and Rosemary.
The best flowery fragrance of all time The aroma of lavender comes in a variety of forms.
The smell ranges from quite medicinal at one end to faintly lavender-garden-like at the other.
The public is drawn to both varieties, so it would be good to have both in your lineup.
Another top-ten mixer is lavender. We have a really lovely lavender patchouli fragrance that has consistently been one of our best sellers.
We have also produced a lovely purple vanilla throughout the years; This aroma is also known as “sleep time.” Numerous variations may be found when you search for “handmade soap” and “laver.”
Make sure to use this penny for a lot of tests. Your investigation will pay off when you discover your unique combination, which is certain to become a big seller.
• Lemon with Rosemary
• Gardenia with Frangipani
• Lemongrass and Lemon Myrtle
• Sandalwood and Patchouli
• Oatmeal Milk Sweetheart
Even by itself, this aroma is fantastic as a soap; it ranks second in our inventory. More on how to mix fragrance oil for soap.
In addition to being a fantastic mixer, it contains very little vanilla, keeping your bar looking light brown.
It blends in wonderfully with the most fruity food scents. A delicious blueberry cobbler may be made using oatmeal milk, blueberries, and honey.
This aroma soap is yours to steal, as we no longer produce it. We used to create it.
• Orange (a citrus essential): We adore the various ways our orange scent may be combined.
The very good thing about orange is that it’s generally possible to find a naturally occurring five-orange aroma at competitive prices—in some cases, even less expensive than a synthetic perfume.
This might be really beneficial if you have an all-natural line. Because orange is so versatile,
it is often listed as a constituent in various artificial smells and perfumes. Orange is used as an accent in mixes with various flowers to create distinctive soap and fragrance lines.
By experimenting, you can give your customers what they want and elevate your product to a more premium level.
(I like orange, although lemon might also be put here. In most cases, lemon may be substituted in lieu of orange and still give a lovely aroma.)
What Ingredient Makes Soap Smell Good?
You’ll need to use lye, which is an acidic salt called sodium hydroxide, to make soap from scratch instead of melting and pouring ready-made soap bases.
It is called saponification when lye and oil ingredients combine chemically to make soap. There is no lye left in the end product.
While recipes for homemade soap can be different, there are a few things that are always in them:
- Fat or oil
- Sodium hydroxide, or lye
- Water Essential oil or scent (not required)
Warning: When working with lye, wear safety gear like masks, gloves, long-sleeved shirts, and pants.
Once you know how to use lye and have played around with the soap-making ingredients, tools, and equipment,
Adding scents to the melt-and-pour soap base is a great way to make the soap more unique and provide even more pleasure during use.
To make sure that the flavor oil is spread out evenly in the soap base, you should start with a small amount and mix it well.
Popular scents for homemade soap can be very different based on the person, but here are some of the most common ones:
- Lavender is a flower with a soothing smell that is often used to rest and relieve stress.
- Peppermint is a sweet, energizing smell that is often used to wake people up.
- This plant has a minty, earthy smell that is often used for its healing and energizing effects.
- Rose is a sweet flower smell that is often linked to romance and femininity.
- Orange is a sweet orange smell that is often used to wake people up and give them energy.
Soap made by hand is usually different from soap bought in stores in a number of ways. Natural ingredients like essential oils, herbs, and plants are often used to make handmade soap in small amounts.
On the other hand, store-bought soap is usually made in large quantities and has many chemicals added to it for color, scent, and preservation.
Because it has glycerin, a natural by-product of making soap that store-bought soap often takes out,
handmade soap is also likely to be better for your skin and keep it fresh. Because of this, many people with sensitive skin discover that homemade soap works better for them than store-bought soap.
What Makes Soap Smell Bad
Butter containing fatty acids that don’t transform into soap molecules is often the primary ingredient in handmade soaps.
The lipids could stay longer as a result and finally turn rancid. Naturally, this is for soap that has over its curing period.
I have compiled a list of the most typical reasons why soaps smell bad:
1. Rancidity of Oils and Fatty Acids: If you’re a big fan of Shea butter, you might want to give it another look before using it again.
There is an expiration date on every component, But certain butters and oils have a very short rancidity period
This is particularly true if your soap contains shea butter. Dry skin is said to be soothed by this butter. It makes sense that a lot of skin professionals all around the world advise it.
But this butter has a reputation for spoiling rapidly. Unrefined Shea butter typically has a shelf life of 12 to 24 months.
If you keep it at room temperature, its shelf life is significantly reduced. Why does soap crack?
Furthermore, there’s a good probability that your cold process soap may begin to smell terrible before the curing process is complete if you need to do it right.
2. Butter and oils not saponifying: You’ll probably get rotten soap if the butter or oils don’t saponify. If your soap is not saponified, it indicates that the fatty acids did not solidify into soap
This implies that when your soap is ready to cure, these fatty acids are exposed and quickly become rancid, producing an unpleasant stench in their wake.
This often occurs due to your formula most likely needing more Lye, which prevented the specification process from happening. I would highly suggest using a soap calculator to prevent this.
Insufficient Essential Oils:
The essential oil you used may have a faded or completely changed fragrance in the soap; depending on it, I would advise against using synthetic scents. How To Measure Essential Oils
Ventilating Your Soaps:
Handmade soap requires an appropriate curing process. Cold process soap must be stored in a location that is closed, damp, and has adequate ventilation.
If you give up at this point, your soap can smell terrible and get rotten. How to store soap
Additionally, there should be room between your soaps, and they shouldn’t be wrapped too tightly or at all.
Should you enclose them or seal them within a container, too much moisture could be kept there and cause oxidation and DOS (dreaded orange spots).
A failed batch of soap will likely result from not utilizing a rack, which is what most soap producers do, and from poorly ventilated space.
How do You Make Strong-Smelling Soap?
For a potent fragrance, 0.7 ounces of fragrance or essential oil may be added per pound of cold process soap. 0.3 ounces may be added per pound of material to dissolve and distribute.
Depending on the oil you select, this figure will change. Cherry Almond Fragrance Oil, for example, is very potent; we advise using no more than 0.2 ounces for every pound of cold process soap.
The standard usage rate for essential oils and fragrances is about 5%, which means you would use 1.5 ounces of fragrance for every 30 ounces of oil.
However, you should check the safe use rates for each E.O.; some have strong enough scents that you don’t want to use the full 5%, and others may need more.
When it comes to essential oils, I suggest Brambleberry since they have several at extremely good rates (their lemongrass essential oil, for instance, is perhaps the greatest deal I’ve seen anywhere, and it’s of excellent quality).
Another essential oil I highly suggest for staying power is lemongrass; I use less than 5% of it because it’s so powerful and doesn’t fade easily.
I really suggest the 10x folded orange from Brambleberry; It smells fantastic and stays nice because of the folding, which sets it apart from other essential orange oils.
Purchasing bigger E.O. bottles will initially cost more, but considering the value per ounce, you will save a significant amount of money.
Final Thought
Now that we have established What makes soap smell like soap, For the best scent-keeping, make sure that the essential oil or flavor you’re using has been thoroughly tested and given the all-clear to be used in soap.
All of our scents are tested, and performance notes are written in the essential and fragrance oils descriptions.
Some of the best and highest-quality fragrances and essential oils can be found at Veda Oils. I promise that these will always make your soaps smell great!
