Perfumes and fragrances are made by blending and dissolving aromatic compounds in ethanol. These compounds can include natural ingredients from plants, resin, or animal extracts, as well as synthetic ingredients.
Filtration plays a key role throughout the production of perfumes and fragrances, as well as the production of it's key ingredients. Below are some of the roles of filtration in the production of perfumes.
1. Ethanol Filtration
Ethanol, a form of alcohol, is the main carrier for the fragrance of oils. As perfume comes into contact with the skin, our body heat evaporates ethanol quickly, allowing the fragrance to be released. Ethanol has to undergo filtration in it's final step to ensure its purity.
Read about the filtration of ethanol for the production of sanitizers here, or view our case study on how MBF Filters helped an ethanol manufacturer excel here.
2. Essential Oil Filtration
Expert perfumers in the fragrance industry often draw their palettes from an extensive range of essential oils which are made from the natural and synthetic ingredients we have mentioned above.
To create these oils, a filtration process is required during production to remove haze and particulates. This ensures that the final result is a pure and clear oil that is not contaminated, and can be used in producing perfumes or fragrances.
3. Perfume Filtration
Similar to essential oils, perfumes need to undergo filtration to remove haze and particulates. The blending of essential oils with other ingredients such as water, alcohols, and other solvents causes the result to be cloudy. Therefore, perfumes must be frozen and then filtered.
Depth filtration is the quickest, most effective and most consistent means of polishing these liquids for a clear and transparent finish prior to bottling. Additionally, colour removal is sometimes necessary, as it allows manufacturers to add colour additives to create a final product that is presentable to consumers.
The COAX® Series Filter Cartridges are suitable for the production of perfumes. It is a two stage depth filter cartridge that is made of nonwoven melt blown polypropylene to trap coarser particles in the first stage, and composed of a bicomponent polypropylene and polyethylene fiber to provide fine particle retention in the second stage.