FO % calculation

[artcwolf]

okay i know there are hundreds of threads on FO % but i got to thinking tonight if we use 6% per pound. We use 1oz of FO when making 1 pound, but i'm using 3.84oz when i make 4 pounds....

Can we get away with 4oz for 4lbs?

[candlesprite7]

Why not? I add 1oz to 1lb of wax, i always have a bit leftover but I just make a tart or two with it.

[sudsnwicks]

Yes, using 4 oz for 4 lbs would be the equivalent of using 1 oz with 1 lb of wax. Had you made your 4 lb batch in 4 separate batches of 1 lb each, you would have also used 4 oz of FO.

[artcwolf]

makes sense, just took me a year to figure that out. i've been measuring out the 6% this whole time.

[candlesprite7]

makes sense, just took me a year to figure that out. i've been measuring out the 6% this whole time.

LOL you can do it that way too but it's just wayy easier to figure out using 1oz per pound.

[topofmurrayhill]

It doesn't matter what the exact percentage is.

There are circumstances where it's necessary or desirable to formulate your candle ingredients by percentage. Sometimes it's the only practical way to do it, or it just might be the method someone prefers. In that case, the fragrance oil will be calculated according to percentage along with everything else.

If you don't have the need or desire to use percentage formulas, then 1 oz per lb of wax is a perfectly reasonable and practical equivalent for the often-mentioned baseline of 6%, even if it isn't exactly the same. 1 oz pp is actually a little less: 5.88%.

[Auntie S]

OK, I have a question. I want to make my own body butter, but don't want to make a whole bunch the same scent. I have 2oz jars, and you are only supposed to add 1% FO. So my question is...what is 1% of 2oz TIA

Sandy

[candlesprite7]

OK, I have a question. I want to make my own body butter, but don't want to make a whole bunch the same scent. I have 2oz jars, and you are only supposed to add 1% FO. So my question is...what is 1% of 2oz TIA

Sandy

.02 oz, but how much can you actually fit in the jar by weight? is it 2oz? or is it a bit less?

[Stella1952]

Sandy, be sure not to get crossed up between volume measurements and weight measurements! A 2 oz. container means 2 FLUID ounces, which is a volume measurement and not a weight.

Here are some handy-dandy calculators I use to help me figure out stuff...

for calculating percentage...

http://www.onlineconversion.com/percentcalc.htm

for converting temperature...

http://www.onlineconversion.com/temperature.htm

[Auntie S]

Well, I'm not sure, I bought a sample of the body butter already in the jar from the supplier I use. ( same size jar I want to use for when I want to make more) She said it was 2oz and not to use any more than 1% fo. So I think she meant, there was 2oz of body butter in there. Is this making any sense to you. Thanks you gals for your help

Sandy

[topofmurrayhill]

She said it was 2oz and not to use any more than 1% fo. So I think she meant, there was 2oz of body butter in there.

What we're saying here is that the contents of the jar should weigh 2 oz. That would be 1.98 oz body butter ingredients with 0.02 oz FO.

I don't know about making body butter, but I assume you'll be mixing the fragrance into a slightly larger batch and putting it into 2 oz jars. You said you don't want to make a lot at once, but you might have difficulty measuring for just one jar. That would only be a little over half a gram of FO.

Regardles of your batch size, it will be 1% fragrance and 99% body butter. That's your batch size x .01 for fragrance and batch size x .99 for the body butter.

[Auntie S]

I don't think my scale will go that low. Is there some other way, maybe in teaspoons. You can tell I wasn't very good at math. If i'm getting on your nerves, please just ignore me LOL

Sandy

[sudsnwicks]

Sandy, if your scale doesn't go that low, your smallest teaspoon isn't going to be able to measure 0.02 oz either. This is just a sample jar you got, right? My recommendation is to use it unscented, then only try adding scent when you have a larger quantity for your scale to accurately measure.

[Rachael]

I found a converter that uses drops

http://www.megaconverter.com/mega2/

havent gone through them all but have a look

HTH

Just scroll down to kitchen measurements ( converter on the left ) in the drop down thingie

[Stella1952]

I don't think my scale will go that low. Is there some other way, maybe in teaspoons

Sandy, teaspoonfuls are a volume measurement. Unless you weigh the FO, your results will not be accurate. If you are bound and determined to make such a small amount, you can use the online converters to help you approximate the amount... but remember: this is only an approximation!

I ran the amount through an online conversion program and here's what I came up with:

...assuming that the weight (density) of your FO is similar to that of vegetable oil (.89 grams per ml)...

0.02 ounce [weight] = 0.12925097778 teaspoon [uS]

http://www.onlineconversion.com/weight_volume_cooking.htm

then from there...

0.129 250 977 78 Teaspoon [uS] = 12.408 093 867 drop

http://www.onlineconversion.com/cooking_volume.htm

Good luck.

[topofmurrayhill]

It doesn't really have to be 1% exactly. Find an amount that works OK and that you can easily measure in some way.

A measuring spoon could be practical for your purposes. Frankly I don't feel like going off to figure out which spoon would be the closest approximation. One thing I can tell you off the top of my head is that the most common eye droppers and bottle droppers seem to dispense roughly 0.1 grams per three drops. So something like 15 to 17 drops per 2 oz jar might be in the ballpark.

Drops come in somewhat different sizes depending on what you're dropping with and the thickness of the liquid. You might have to try it out and make an adjustment.

[Auntie S]

You gals have been very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to help me. I've bookmarked the handy conversion charts. When I try out the body butter, I'll let you know how it turns out

Thanks again

Sandy

[candlesmcs]

Make sure you understand the difference between oz by weight and liquid ounces.

One oz by weight of fragrance oil is typically 0.8 liquid oz. Similiarly 16 oz by weight of melted wax is about 19 liquid oz.

One oz by weight of f.o. added to 16 oz by weight of melted wax yields exactly a 6% f.o. content: Here's the calculation:

1/(16+1) = 0.06

Now if you put 1 liquid oz of f.o. in 16 liquid oz of melted wax....you will have a fragrance content of 9%!! Sounds incorrect but do the math!