Re: Re: Patchouli...Now Alcohol...

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

You have made this very easy to understand so thanks. And you seem to know a

lot about this subject so I have a few questions? I understand that if I have

190 proof organic grape alcohol to work then 5% of it would be water, correct?

Now if I wanted to soften this alcohol and add water, would that 5% would count

toward how much I would add?

Sorry for so many questions but I have never added any water before and I don't

want to mess up my precious stash. Would you ever consider running the organic

grape alcohol through a Brita filter?

I made a promise to myself that I'd post instead of just read and so I'm jumping

in.

Regards,

Suzy Larsen

www.nakedleaf.ca

>

Hi, I'd thought I'd chime in. About the grape alcohol. I used to have some, well

still do actually. I have almost a gallon sitting in my parents basement in

Illinois! It's not something I was comfortable trying to move with me when I

moved down to Florida.  I couldn't bring myself to throw it away though!  I

wish I had it here with me.  Anyway, I wouldn't recommend filtering it. I think

runs the Everclear through the filter to deodorize it.   The grape

alcohol  has a subtle, pleasant scent, thats quite nice with any kind of blend.

  I've had trouble with Everclear.  Many perfumers get good results with it,

but I had horrible results with it.  I had trouble dissolving so many essences

in it, especially semi-solid ones like benzoin-they just didn't dissolve. Or it

would get cloudy.  It seemed the first few essences I put in the blend would

dissolve(other than the thick ones) but after a while nothing would dissolve! 

I found it very frustrating.  Maybe I didn't get the right proof.  I was lucky

to find  a source of perfumers alcohol, but they  went out of business, and

did the source of grape alcohol(who also sold grain alcohol).  So now I have to

find a new source before my supply runs out.

[Guest guest]

> Still wondering about softening it thought with water, if that's necessary and

might enhance my blends.

Suzy, your should always add as much water to the final blend as possible. Test

by slowly adding water to the blend until a slight haze occurs. Then

mathematically back off for the final calculation.

When making the blend, oil+alcohol, mix, then qs with the water amount you

calculated. Age 24-48 hours, then place in freezer and filter 'secuntum artem'

with a neutral filtering agent. Usually, anything above 18% will not tolerate

more H2O. In most cases, unless you live in a particularly bad water area, tap

water is OK.

There are several reasons to cut. 1) lower finished cost 2)salting out effect on

the oil 3) less drying and sting effect on skin 4) stronger olfactive perceived

effect on skin.

-= Cß =-

[Guest guest]

>> Still wondering about softening it thought with water, if that's necessary

and might enhance my blends.

> Suzy, your should always add as much water to the final blend as possible.

Test by slowly adding water to the blend until a slight haze occurs. Then

mathematically back off for the final calculation.

>

> When making the blend, oil+alcohol, mix, then qs with the water amount you

calculated. Age 24-48 hours, then place in freezer and filter 'secuntum artem'

with a neutral filtering agent. Usually, anything above 18% will not tolerate

more H2O. In most cases, unless you live in a particularly bad water area, tap

water is OK.

>

> There are several reasons to cut. 1) lower finished cost 2)salting out effect

on the oil 3) less drying and sting effect on skin 4) stronger olfactive

perceived effect on skin.

>

> -= Cß =-

>

Thanks for posting this, Chris. We've had many descriptions of

this process over the years, and yours is the most concise, IMO.

Anya McCoy

http://AnyasGarden.com

http://NaturalPerfumers.com

http://PerfumeClasses.com

[Guest guest]

> unless you live in a particularly bad water area, tap water is OK.

Maybe I should specify. Bad water, means high levels of iron content (ions), or

copper. Copper can be noted as a green stain in your sink/bathtub that develop

over time. This is usually caused by acid water leaching copper out of your

pipes. Citric or Tartaric acid can help, but better avoid it first, rather then

try to cure the problem once it has occurred. It's a long story, but if the

water is acid to begin with, it may negate the iron problem.

-= CB =-

[Guest guest]

>> unless you live in a particularly bad water area, tap water is OK.

> Maybe I should specify. Bad water, means high levels of iron content (ions),

or copper. Copper can be noted as a green stain in your sink/bathtub that

develop over time. This is usually caused by acid water leaching copper out of

your pipes. Citric or Tartaric acid can help, but better avoid it first, rather

then try to cure the problem once it has occurred. It's a long story, but if the

water is acid to begin with, it may negate the iron problem.

>

> -= CB =-

Thanks for expanding on the water info, Chris. In Miami the

water pH is 7.7 - 8 by my pH strip reading, the county says it's

7. Our calcareous soils are very highly alkaline, 7.4 - 8.4,

because of the limestone bedrock. Our bathtubs and sidewalks and

buildings, fences and any other hard surface hit by our water

turns orange, due to the high iron content. Therefore, I would

also call this bad water and I use distilled water for perfumery.

I don't have a 'water softener' unit on my house, (just a filter

on my shower and sink faucets for chlorine and such), and I joke

I'm surprised my hair hasn't turned into something resembling

stalactites.

Anya McCoy

http://AnyasGarden.com

http://NaturalPerfumers.com

http://PerfumeClasses.com