Fragrance Testing in Cold Process Soap

Is it really worth it to take the time and resources to test fragrances in your cold process soap recipe? Excluding the vanilla one, all of the reviews for these fragrances said no acceleration or discoloration. There was definitely one surprise in there!
If you use 16 ounces of oils with a 33% lye concentration in your test recipe, you should end up with enough soap for 11 two-ounce portions. One of those can be your control. I don't recommend testing more than this amount at one time as the soap will start to set up in your cups before you are finished testing. You can stir the ones without fragrance added yet periodically to help keep them fluid.
The keys to successful testing are organization and preparation and good notes! If you would like a copy of my spreadsheet, you'll find it here: bit.ly/fragrance-test-sheet
NOTE: the original Google spreadsheet got deleted somehow. So this is just a physical copy of my Excel spreadsheet that you are welcome to edit.

[@nudiebarsoapco916]

Fantastic idea. I have never tested my fragrance oils. I like to live on the edge, lol. I will have to give this a go. Thanks Amy!

[@AmyWarden]

Sometimes, I like to live on the edge too! But this has truly saved me some blood, sweat and tears! Worth it in the long run for unknown fragrances.

[@CrosslincBiz]

My favorite part of this video is that cute little mini whisk!

[@AmyWarden]

A lot of the main soap suppliers sell them. Works great! 😁

[@montserrathelu4076]

This is amazing!! I cannot wait to start doing it, such a big help with design planning 👍🏻 I love it! It can also help a lot experimenting with it fragrance blending.

[@AmyWarden]

For sure!! Because sometimes the individual fragrances can behave perfectly fine, but once you put them together you get a whole different animal!

[@BendviewFarm-dq4sp]

This is a great idea! Thank you for sharing your process!

[@AmyWarden]

You're welcome, Tracy! 😊

[@bluelot7546]

great idea and just in time as I need to do testing and was dreading it - I am loving all your videos

[@AmyWarden]

Great!! Happy to help! 🤗

[@AmyWarden]

Great!! Happy to help! 🤗

[@melanieschafer1297]

Great way to test! Thank you!

[@AmyWarden]

You're welcome!

[@CocoRenaee]

Now this is called proper planning! Saving you from a major headache later on 😩 Im a rebel and wing it but im definitely going to do this from now on

[@AmyWarden]

It's way better than wasting ingredients too!! 😅

[@patygildegarcia9055]

Very educational, thank you 👏

[@AmyWarden]

You're welcome!!

[@TheTrista321]

I would also write down the temp you tested at. I find that also plays a factor in how fragrances behave as far has accelerating and ricing.

[@AmyWarden]

So true! That's a great tip!! I tend to write down the temps of the oils and lye solution of most of my soap batches for future reference.

[@SquirrelRun]

Thank you so much Amy! This is fantastic! Ya know, I live close to Olathe (I'm in Pomona!) so if there's anything you need, please let me know!

[@AmyWarden]

So glad you found it helpful and so nice to meet another Kansas soapmaker!! 🙌

[@nimvaughen9895]

Thank You.

[@AmyWarden]

Of course!

[@ssc4153]

Amy....I love all the work that you do in regards to soaping....in fact....I learned how to line a mold from one of your videos long ago! I even started doing milk soaps the way you do them! Making certain that taking notes for your final soap is so important....a person cannot remember all the variables in making soap so taking notes is critical! I would love to take a look at your spreadsheet but every time I click on it I get an error message....I don't know if this is on your end or mine. I'll keep trying though! Thank you for all of your wisdom!

[@AmyWarden]

So happy to hear my videos have been helpful to you!! The link works fine for me. It should come up with a screen that has the Google Sheets logo and asks if you want to make a copy of Fragrance Testing.

[@cindylawrence1655]

August 25/2023 Hi Amy, great video, thanks so much! Question, how would I test one new fragrance? What would be the smallest batch that you recommend?

[@AmyWarden]

If you're a confident soapmaker, you could easily make a very small batch for one fragrance. The issue is that the batter is going to behave differently than it would in a larger batch, so you may not get a true picture of the speed that it sets up. The discoloration would be the same though.

[@transformers1017]

amazing ide, will do this too test all my fragrance because i can't get a smell........... what cups do you use for these?

[@AmyWarden]

3 oz bathroom cups

[@transformers1017]

@@AmyWarden thank you for replying to me and thanks

[@LizzieWestBathandBody]

Thank you for the idea of the file too bad it's not available it would have been a great resource

[@AmyWarden]

That is odd!! I did not delete it. I wonder who did?? 😰

[@LizzieWestBathandBody]

@@AmyWarden only the Creator it's Google docs.... That's odd

[@AmyWarden]

@@LizzieWestBathandBody I just added a link to the Excel spreadsheet instead. It's not as fancy as the one I created in Google, but hope it helps!

[@alaaeldinabou4439]

Hi Amy, can you please help me finding good Essential Oils or fragrance oils for soap making? Thanks allot 🌸

[@AmyWarden]

Are you in the US?

[@tiffanywarren-allen7149]

Yes that is a great question. I'm very interested in making soap but I am at a loss as to where to get great scents that work for sensitive skin. Please help, yes I'm am in the US.

[@AmyWarden]

There are many excellent fragrance suppliers in the US including Bramble Berry, Midwest Fragrance, Stock Fragrance, Muddy Soap Co, and Little Bee Scents that have notes about how their fragrances behave in cold process soap. I still encourage testing with your own recipe! Some of these also carry essential oils. You'll need to check eocalc.com for usage rates!

[@tiffanywarren-allen7149]

Thank you for your help! I really appreciate it 😊

[@alaaeldinabou4439]

@@AmyWarden Thanks allot dear

[@natyc81]

🥰🥰🤪😍😍