calculating blend as percentage

[*au natural*]

Can anybody help me with this?

 

[Othelia]

It depends on how accurate you need to be !
rough and ready way (which I use in practise) - one drop from a dropper bottle is about 50 microlitres (uL), so you get 20 drops to a millilitre (mL). A teaspoon is about 5 mL so one drop in a teaspoon of carrier oil is 1% solution (5 x 20 drops in a teaspoon = 100, 1 drop in 100 = 1%)

to be more a precise you either need a very accurate chemical balance and do the following: weigh empty blending bottle and zero (or 'tare') the balance, add carrier oil and weigh, add essential oil and weigh again.
Calculate weight of essential oil by subtraction and then % blend = weight of essential oil / weight of carrier oil x 100
or some accurate chemical pipettes and measuring cylinders and do a similar calculation based on volumes.

If this sounds wrong to anyone please correct, it's a bit early for my brain to be doing maths

 

[Fistas R]

Hiya

When I did my aromatherapy course my teacher gave me a chart showing how many drops to use in how many ml of carrier oil at what percentage. Something like 30 ml carrier oil at 3% = 18 drops total EO. (I'm not sure that's the actual figure so don't quote me - I'm doing it from memory)

If you're on a course, why not ask your teacher if she's got something similar?

 

[luditess]

Hello

Basic blend is per 60ml base oil (enough for one person) it is about 24 drops essential oil depending on the oils. Very advisable to use prof qualified person as some oils are toxic and can cause allergies if given more than a few drops.

 

[Grabeelfan24]

Hi,

Patricia Davies gives the same advice as Muzone described - 1% = 1 drop in 5ml of carrier, etc. so just extrapolate from that.

x

 

[David L]

I generally use the same ratio as Muzone. The easiest way to calculate a 2 1/2% blend is to take the total volume of base oil (say 30ml) and divide by 2 to get the number of drops needed (in this example 15). From that you can then work up or down. You do get to a point where you know exactly what % you have got simply cos you've done it so often.

 

[Jstig]

I used to find 30 ml more than adequate for one person, even if I'd done the face, neck and scalp!

I then used to extrapolate to 30 ml = 18 drops of EO, split between top middle and base however I fancied (more base than top if it was evening for example).

(I say used to because I haven't actually done aromatherapy since September for some reason all my clients have asked for Reiki or Crystals)

 

[THE]

My aromatherapy is increasingly "energetic" or "subtle" in nature and therefore at 0.5% to 1% max

 

[Sounds_like_a_crime]

Hi thanks for replies.

I have looked in various books that quote 1% in 5ml would be 1 drop of EO and 1% in 10 ml would be 2 drops of EO etc and that 20 drops of EO is equal to 1ml . I spoke to my tutor who told me that is actually incorrect as this is based on a drop of water and that for Essential oils I should be calculating at 30 drops of EO = 1ml, therefore a 1% blend in 10ml carrier would be based on 3 drops of EO and a 2% blend in 10 ml = 6 drops of EO etc....I think this is where my confusion lay - books or info off tutor......I hope that makes sense!

 

[knucles]

Drop quantity in 1ml is also affected by the size of the dropper in the bottle you are using. Also maybe for some oils this could be true I generally find 20 drops is about right and I have a proper graded receptacle to check this with. You may actually find it is less with some of the more viscous oils (generally the resin based ones.)

 

[erideni]

It is my understanding that 20 drops of essential oil equals 1 ml. You have to ensure that you are using precise measuring equipment as drops do vary.

Love Binah
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