Q&A: Adding Oils to Melt & Pour Soap Base - The Nova Studio (2024)

We love answering student questions! Learn more about adding oils to Melt & Pour Soap in this question & answer post.

Question:

Hello Ladies,

I have been experimenting with melt & pour soap making for a couple of years. Making for my family & close friends. I continuously have trouble with oil separation when I’m adding oils to my M&P soap. I have tried everything I’ve read about in an effort to avoid separation of additional skin therapy oils (olive, coconut, apricot, etc.) I’ve added to my M&P soap base. My last two batches made, first batch I used 3TBS of additional oils, per 1 lb. of soap base. Of the 3TBS of oils, one TBS is my fragrance oil. Using a double boiler, I heat soap base to 130F – 150F, oils are heated as well prior to adding to soap base. I continually stir mixture until oils are no longer floating in pools on top of soap base. I still had oil separation which usually occurs within a week. Separation is not immediate.

Storage of soap is in a cool dry area of my home. I wrap bars in plastic wrap soon after cooling and taking out of molds. Second batch, I only added 2TBS of fragrance oil to 1 lb. of soap base, no additional oils. Outcome remained the same. I am wondering if I added Kaolin Clay to my base along with oils (keeping measurement at 3TBS/pound of base), would help with separation. I would appreciate any suggestions you can offer.

Thanks so much, Lisa Dudley, East Texas

Answer:

Hi Lisa, I’m glad you emailed us. Basically, you’re using more scent & oils than the soap base can contain/hold, which is why it’s separating out.

In my . I give my recommendations on everything… including how much scent & additional (optional) oils to use.

In “step 4” if the instructions in my handouts, I say you can customize your soap with small amounts of skin-loving ingredients such as sweet almond oil, shea butter, etc. With oils & butters, I add no more than 1 teaspoon per pound of soap base. Experiment with amounts to see how much you can add before separation occurs. Maybe you can get it up to 1 Tablespoon.

As far as scent, I use a similar amount as with the oils, between 1 tsp & 1T max. If your using 1T of each (scent & carrier oils total 2T) you still may have separation, so decrease one or the other until you’re happy with the results.

Remember that M&P soap base is functional “soap” to begin with. The more stuff you add, the less chance it has of still being a functional soap when you’re done “crafting” it.

You can find other helpful (and free) info on our . Hope this helps! Let us know your results after trying my suggestions. ~Lori :-)

If you have questions about adding ingredients to your M&P soap base, share in the comments!