0

I recently bought a brand of liquid soap I've never used before and it turns out they formulated it with a bit too much of the scent ingredients, to the point where I find it gets uncomfortably close to nauseating during use, and also it persists too long on my hands afterwards, compared to what I find normal.

How do I neutralize some of this scent, what can I try to mix in? All I can think of are baking soda or vinegar (but then vinegar also persists a lot and is unpleasant, plus it's acidic and I'm going to mix it with a probably-alkaline soap, and I don't want any crazy reactions and byproducts if possible).

Don Joe
  • 3
  • 2
  • 4
    Just dump it and buy something else. I dislike all of the scents that I have tried. :-( – MaxW Apr 03 '19 at 18:46
  • 1
    This is like saying, I like to eat oranges, but I don't like the smell. Well, you can either not eat them or ignore the smell because your proposed solution is to remove orange smell from an orange. – Zhe Apr 03 '19 at 20:27
  • 1
    Return it to the store? They don't have to take it back, but probably will if you tell them it stinks. Customer is king etc. ;-) – Karl Apr 03 '19 at 20:31
  • It may cost more than its worth to de-scent it. Better dump and buy a new as MaxW suggested.:-) – Mathew Mahindaratne Apr 03 '19 at 20:34

1 Answers1

0

If the scent reaches out and touches you that much, it is likely volatile. Pour it in a pot, add a volume of water, heat on a hot plate outside your dwelling till the smell goes away. Evaporate to volume and check ingredients. You may want to add back a small amount of a desirable ingredient that boiled off. Raise the temperature slowly. A vigorous boil will make a real mess.

Luquettm
  • 175
  • 9
  • 1
    The OP is unlikely to have a fume hood. The smell would stink up the whole house. // You'd need a pot with a much larger volume, and stir, since this is going to bubble like crazy. – MaxW Apr 03 '19 at 22:52
  • It is volatile at room temp, so should not have to heat too much to liberate the stench. I suggested slowly elevating the temp to avoid ever reaching a boil and do it outside. That said, I agree a fume hood would be a better option. – Luquettm Apr 04 '19 at 00:09
  • Thanks! It's not a "mix something in" solution like what I was going for, but it makes a lot of sense - I hadn't thought of the volatility aspect. So I should be able to pour this stuff into a flat, wide open container and let it off-gas and could expect some measure of results even at room temp, I'm thinking. – Don Joe Apr 04 '19 at 06:21