PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Furfural
How much Furfural can you put in a perfume?
IFRA standard: Furfural · Category 4, 51st Amendment
0.001%
of the finished perfume, at most
Under the IFRA Standards (51st Amendment, Category 4: fine fragrance on skin), Furfural may make up at most 0.001% of the finished perfume. In an eau de parfum at 18%, that is at most 0.00555% of your concentrate: 0.00555% of every 100 g.
What the limit means at your strength
The limit is on the finished perfume, so the stronger the perfume, the less Furfural its concentrate can hold. If nothing else in the formula carries it:
| Perfume strength | Most Furfural in the concentrate |
|---|---|
| Cologne, 5% | 0.02% |
| Eau de toilette, 10% | 0.01% |
| 15% | 0.00666% |
| Eau de parfum, 18% | 0.00555% |
| 20% | 0.005% |
| Extrait, 25% | 0.004% |
Which materials contain Furfural?
Sold as Furfural itself, counted in full:
It also arrives inside other materials. The limit is on the total, so the calculator adds every source together. The largest carriers in PerfuMate's catalog, by their typical composition:
| Material | Typical content | Alone at 18%, at most |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee (F-TEC) | 2% | 0.277% of the concentrate |
| Choya lobannatural | 1% | 0.555% of the concentrate |
| Coffee Absolutenatural | 1% | 0.555% of the concentrate |
| Oakwood Absolutenatural | 1% | 0.555% of the concentrate |
| Choya Ralnatural | 0.8% | 0.694% of the concentrate |
| Whisky CO2™ (Mane)natural | 0.4% | 1.38% of the concentrate |
| Honey Provence (Firmenich) | 0.137% | 4.07% of the concentrate |
| Oud Assafi™ (dsm-firmenich)natural | 0.048% | 11.5% of the concentrate |
13 materials in the catalog carry Furfural; the calculator counts every one of them.
Shares are the catalog's typical values. A real batch varies with origin and season, and your supplier's analysis (GC-MS or certificate of analysis) is the real figure.
A worked example
A 100 g concentrate, bottled as an eau de parfum at 18%:
| Material | Weighed |
|---|---|
| Furfural | 0.0028 g |
| Choya loban | 0.33 g |
| Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit | 99.6672 g |
Furfural alone brings 0.000504% Furfural to the finished perfume, and Choya loban adds 0.000594%. Each looks modest, but the perfume holds 0.0011% against a limit of 0.001%: 1.1 times the limit. To bring it inside on its own, the calculator cuts Furfural from 0.0028 g to 0.003 g and Choya loban from 0.33 g to 0.3 g. Or keep the formula and bottle it weaker: the highest strength inside every limit is 16.39%.
Or paste these lines into the calculator:
Furfural 0.0028 g Choya loban 0.33 g Ethylene Brassylate 99.6672 g
Questions
Is Furfural banned in perfume?
No. IFRA restricts it: at most 0.001% of a fine fragrance (Category 4).
How much Furfural can I use in an eau de parfum?
At 18%, at most 0.00555% of the concentrate, if nothing else in the formula carries Furfural. Every other source counts toward the same total.
Does Furfural from essential oils count?
Yes. The limit is on the total in the finished perfume, whatever brings it: Choya loban typically carries 1%. The calculator adds every source.
Does this limit apply to candles or soap?
No. This is Category 4, fine fragrance on skin. Other products sit in other IFRA categories with other limits, which these pages and the calculator do not cover.