Oils

[Rick]

Just got 15ml of Sri Lanka sandalwood oil (santalum album), steam distilled .
One hundred smackeroos .
Should last for quite a long time .... I hope .

The stuff has a very nice scent; not cloying or too sweet .
Funny, they date the stuff like wine; this batch is Spring 2007 .

Can anyone offer a mixing ratio with mineral oil ?
I don't think this stuff will need any cananga; it's nice all on its own .


Another amusing thing; our Ridgeback hound will not go anywhere near it .

[Bill S]

While doing a search on oils in this forum, someone (I think it was A. G. Maisey) had posted a recipe. It was 50% liquid parafin (mineral oil), 45% sandalwood oil, 5% kenanga (Cananga) oil. If you are omitting the Cananga, I'm guessing you'd still go with 50% mineral oil, 50% essential (fragrant) oil, in this case sandalwood oil. But I'm completely new to this, so hopefully someone with more background will jump in here.

[A. G. Maisey]

Goodness me Rick, that cost you a lot of money!

I bought a kilo a couple years ago, and it cost me around RP2 000 000.

My wife is in Solo at the moment, and she's under orders to bring home another kilo with her, I'll find out exactly what the stuff I use costs at the moment.

What you use is pretty much a personal preference, I got my mix from a bloke who used to work for me, who got it from his grandfather who was one of the famous old m'ranggis. I reckon at $100 for 15ml I'd be using it at the rate of two drops per 10ml of liquid parafin.

The kenanga is not essential, but it is the kenanga that gives my oil the faint bitey smell, without the kenanga it has nice round smell.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Goodness me Rick, that cost you a lot of money!

I bought a kilo a couple years ago, and it cost me around RP2 000 000.

My wife is in Solo at the moment, and she's under orders to bring home another kilo with her, I'll find out exactly what the stuff I use costs at the moment.

What you use is pretty much a personal preference, I got my mix from a bloke who used to work for me, who got it from his grandfather who was one of the famous old m'ranggis. I reckon at $100 for 15ml I'd be using it at the rate of two drops per 10ml of liquid parafin.

The kenanga is not essential, but it is the kenanga that gives my oil the faint bitey smell, without the kenanga it has nice round smell.

Ahh, then it's no wonder you can mix it at almost 50/50 Alan .
Now mate are you pulling my leg about 2 drops per 10 ml; I guess I'll give her a go and see for myself .

The price you quoted is breaking my heart !!

I've come to the conclusion that the older I get the less I know; not sure if it's Wisdom or Alzhiemer's ........

Rick

[kai]

I'm sure the stuff Alan is using is already "prediluted" - what you usually can buy in Europe isn't pure sandalwood oil by a long, long stretch and I guess this holds true for most commercial venues worldwide (regardless of actual quality).

If Rick's oil is pure essential sandalwood oil, it might actually be a good buy (need to refresh my memory though). A drop or two may be enough for 100ml base oil.

Regards,
Kai

[Rick]

Hello Kai,

The lable says this stuff is "steam Distilled".
Got it from www.naturesgift.com .
They claim it is pure .

I find it very interesting that it is 'vintaged' but I suppose every year's batch is a little different .

Rick

[gwirya]

Hi all, I recently purchased a kilo of Santalum Album essential oil; the price 1 months ago is US $1300/kg. It is directly from the distiller in Kupang, Timor island. From my experience, the smell is vary slightly from one batch to antoher. It depends on where they get the raw cendana tree from and how old the tree is. it has strong woody smell and very soothing, natural, luxurious, and calming. Sandalwood oil can be store for a long time as long as it doesnt get sunlight and place it in glass jar or bottle instead of plastic.

[A. G. Maisey]

Well, I spoke with my wife yesterday, and I do not have good news.

For years I have bought my sandalwood oil from Toko Sedap in Pasar Gede, in Solo. She went there with my instructions for purchase, and was told that the oil that I have bought for more than 20 years is no longer available. It has become too expensive for them to stock.

What I use is not vintaged,steam distilled, cold pressed, gilt edged, Rolls Royce minyak cendana, it is just oil with a pleasant long lasting smell, and what was used at the time I started to use it, by most people in Solo who used minyak cendana.

I can probably find another supplier of satisfactory minyak cendana, but I can't get my wife to go chasing it, because this is outside her area of knowledge. Thus, it will have to wait till I go back to Solo later this year.

[ferrylaki]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Well, I spoke with my wife yesterday, and I do not have good news.

For years I have bought my sandalwood oil from Toko Sedap in Pasar Gede, in Solo. She went there with my instructions for purchase, and was told that the oil that I have bought for more than 20 years is no longer available. It has become too expensive for them to stock.

What I use is not vintaged,steam distilled, cold pressed, gilt edged, Rolls Royce minyak cendana, it is just oil with a pleasant long lasting smell, and what was used at the time I started to use it, by most people in Solo who used minyak cendana.

I can probably find another supplier of satisfactory minyak cendana, but I can't get my wife to go chasing it, because this is outside her area of knowledge. Thus, it will have to wait till I go back to Solo later this year.

The last minyak cendana wangi I got it from my mother , she bought it from "akar sari" the traditional herbal (jamu) shop ( coyudan area of Solo ). it has a yellow oil with a smooth cendana smell. but here in Jakarta I find there are two tipes of cendana wangi oil. the white and the yellow oil. they have a slightly different in their smell. maybe it coused the the age of the sandal wood tree it self. Finding the cendana wangi wood is far more difficult these days. I mean the old wood ( approx 40 years old or older ) which produce the best fragrance for the oil.

Melati oil would be cheap enough to replace the cendana oil, ofcourse it's much much cheaper . but this is a personal preferance. once you like the cendana wangi odour, melati oil would be just an ordinary oil.

FERRY, JAKARTA

[A. G. Maisey]

Yeah Ferry, you're right, you can get minyak cendana from Akar Sari, but my experience has been that they're too expensive. I buy pala panjang from akar sari, and damar selo, but I don't buy minyak cendana. Toko Sedap was #1 for a long time for any of this sort of stuff, but according to what my wife tells me, they've fallen into a bit of a hole since I was there last year. I know where there are a couple of other shops that sell oils, but I can't give the job to my wife to chase up a new supplier, because there are a number of different types of minyak cendana, and some have a pretty lousy smell.It'll sort itself out OK when I'm actually there on the ground.

Actually, I rather like melati, but some people have told me they don't like it because its too sweet, too much like a woman's perfume.

My wife's mother owned a jamu factory in Pare, near Kediri. Before she died she had an enormous gudang full to overflowing of cendana wangi. I mean FULL. Within three months of her death that warehouse was empty, all the wood stolen by employees.

[ferrylaki]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Yeah Ferry, you're right, you can get minyak cendana from Akar Sari, but my experience has been that they're too expensive. I buy pala panjang from akar sari, and damar selo, but I don't buy minyak cendana. Toko Sedap was #1 for a long time for any of this sort of stuff, but according to what my wife tells me, they've fallen into a bit of a hole since I was there last year. I know where there are a couple of other shops that sell oils, but I can't give the job to my wife to chase up a new supplier, because there are a number of different types of minyak cendana, and some have a pretty lousy smell.It'll sort itself out OK when I'm actually there on the ground.

Actually, I rather like melati, but some people have told me they don't like it because its too sweet, too much like a woman's perfume.

My wife's mother owned a jamu factory in Pare, near Kediri. Before she died she had an enormous gudang full to overflowing of cendana wangi. I mean FULL. Within three months of her death that warehouse was empty, all the wood stolen by employees.

the demand to cendana wangi wood is very high. this demand might couse the young tree being harvest far too soon. as the result we finf poor quality cendana wangi wood and oil. even the javanese cendana wood are also expensive commodity. but it cannot have a smell like cendana wangi.

buying cendana wangi oil would go much cheaper when we can afford to buy a bunch of them , like 1 litre or even more... but finding a thrusted source is another problem to solve. as you know, cant put your thrust easily these days. I plan to find my self a few bottle of those cendana wangi oil ( 5ml each bottle) I like to sniff on them during my break time...make me calm, relaks, and pleasant feeling.
No wonder people use them as an aroma theraphy.

about the jasmine oil...I recon it too sweet also. but sweet is always nice to smell. people like cendana wangi for its aroma, but people prefer cendana for its rarity...its value as an expensive oil, as we all know, since timor leste separate from Indonesia, cendana wangi became more and more expensive...
Any body have information about cendana wangi in timor? are they still around? are they survive? I really hope they're still available there.

[BluErf]

I bought a 15ml bottle of Indian sandalwood oil 5yrs ago, and it cost me S$50. It has a 'salty' tinge to the smell, unlike the 'sweet' smell from Indonesian sandalwood oil. But still, it beats what's coming out of India these days - atrocious foul smelling stuff. I wonder what they put in the oil...

I've been using the oil extremely sparingly, on one keris only.

[Bill S]

I got a small quantity of sandalwood oil and tried to mix it as per the recipe noted above - but it does not mix with the mineral oil. My first reaction was to assume that this indicates it's not actually sandalwood "oil", but some water-based sandalwood scent. The person I bought it from insists it's good quality distilled oil - but is willing to take it back and refund my money. Before I do that, however, I'd like to ask here among more experienced people - is there a trick to disolving sandalwood oil in mineral oil? Is this, as I suspected, not truly sandalwood oil? Is there a simple test I can use?

[David]

All i do is mix the oils together in a bottle and shake vigorously. I would say that if your mixture looks like what happens when oil and water are mixed then it is most probable that you have water in one of the oils you are mixing.

[A. G. Maisey]

I've been mixing sandalwood + kenanga + liquid parafin for years and years. Mostly I've used oil I've bought in Solo, but on a couple of occasions when I've run out, I've bought stuff from the nearest hippy shop. I've never had the slightest difficulty.

I just mix it roughly by guessing at the quantity---half a bottle of medicinal parafin, add almost the other half of sandalwood, top up with kenanga, and shake the bottle. If its cold weather I put the bottle in warm water for a while before I shake it. No tricks involved.

Bill, I reckon that you've got this fragrance in a base other than oil, as you guess. My wife has just got back from Solo, and I had her try to buy some of the oil I use when she was there. My supplier there no longer stocks it, but they gave her a sample of what they now stock. What they stock is a good quality sandalwood oil that has been diluted by adding to something other than oil, I think it has probably been added to a spirit base, because it seems to evaporate when you put a drop on your skin, a bit like perfume does, sort of goes into your skin, the fragrance lasts for a long time, but there is no oily feeling where you put it.

[PUFF]

Originally Posted by Bill S

I got a small quantity of sandalwood oil and tried to mix it as per the recipe noted above - but it does not mix with the mineral oil. My first reaction was to assume that this indicates it's not actually sandalwood "oil", but some water-based sandalwood scent. The person I bought it from insists it's good quality distilled oil - but is willing to take it back and refund my money. Before I do that, however, I'd like to ask here among more experienced people - is there a trick to disolving sandalwood oil in mineral oil? Is this, as I suspected, not truly sandalwood oil? Is there a simple test I can use?

Hope my reply is not too late
I just experimented with sandalwood oil, obtained from essential oil company. It should be pure, extracted essential oil rather than sandalwood spiked spa (jojoba/coconut) oil.

The sandalwood essential oil 's chemistry is mainly santalol, high molecular weight alcohol/terpene. It contains hydroxyl group which not totally compatible with mineral/petrolium oils. I tried diluting the sandalwood essential oil in mineral oils at 1% and 10% v/v. (didn't try something in between... yet)

At 1%, no problem, clear solution. But at 10%, the solution 's turbid but not separated.

If your oil 's pure, distilled sandalwood essential oil, put less than 1% in your recipe. Or, if you need higher concentration, put some plant based (coconut/almond/jojoba) to improve mixture compatibility.

[Rick]

Since this thread has resurfaced I'd like to report on my latest Sandalwood oil purchase last Winter .

The oil is a blend of :
East Indian
West Indian
Indonesian
Australian
and
African
Sandalwood oils; no more is available at this point .
US $19.89 per ounce; bought 4 ounces .
Pleasant and well rounded scent .

Mixes well with light mineral oil .

Rick

[ferrylaki]

I'am now using melati/jasmine.
I love my keris smell sweet. but I do keep my cendana oil for the future.
since it's becoming more and more difficult to find.

[Rick]

What would be the shelf life of this stuff ?
Currently it's stored in a spun aluminum 4oz bottle .

[David]

Sandalwood has a somewhat longer self life than many other oils and if properly stored (cool, dark places...no temperature changes) could last from 6-8 years or longer.

[A. G. Maisey]

All this talk of incredibly expensive essential oils makes me a little bit embarrassed.

Makes me feel like a bit of peasant --- or even worse:- an outright cheapskate.

For 30 or 40 years I've used European produced sandalwood --- undoubtedly synthetic --- that I have bought in bulk from sellers of essential oils in Solo, Jawa. What I have been using since I began using the Javanese scented oil approach is exactly the same as everybody I have ever known involved with keris in Solo uses.

The raw materials are not collected from mystical 500 year old trees standing on top of haunted mountains.

Sure, its not distilled in gold pots over a slow fire of ebony wood.

Its not conjured over by wizards who use secret methods handed down from ancient kings.

Its not stored in crystal cylinders suspended by gold cords in sub terranian chambers.

But it is cheap, and it smells OK.

I used to buy "Sandescan" by Schimmel & Co. a German firm.

My current bottles bear the brand:- H&R = Haarmann & Reimer, another German firm.This oil is labelled "Sandescone"

I think H&R were taken over by Symrise AG a couple of years ago. This is another German firm.

I buy by the kilo, not by the gram, and I have never paid anything like the prices you other gentlemen are paying.

If we only have a few keris to anoint from time to time, I guess the gilt-edged approach is not too expensive, but if we need to look after a lot of keris, these cunningly hand crafted oils are just too expensive

[Rick]

I fall in the 'few' category .
'Twould take me forever to use a kilo .

[Bill M]

Happy to have found this thread and ordered some Australian Sandalwood essential oil and Ylang Ylang.

[Pusaka]

I often wondered why Ylang Ylang essential oil smells different from Ylang Ylang kris oil. I later discovered that Ylang Ylang keris oil has coconut and a small amount of wintergreen oil added which changes its scent profile. Personally I dont like the smell of Ylang Ylang essential oil I find it to be a sickly sweet smell.