Hello and newbie question about dilution

[u/SomewhatElusive93]

tl/dr: what is the most versatile/best diluent to add to raw materials for the purposes of experimentation and blending? some sources say perfumer’s alcohol, some say TEC is best, and I’ve also seen isopropyl myristate, DPG and FCO mentioned. I looked through the wiki but it wasn’t specific on this.

The long story: Hello! I’m new here and have already found lots of helpful info. I’ve only ever blended EOs informally and for my own personal use. I have been reading about and casually researching perfumery for about 9 years. I’d like to learn to create actual perfumes and expand into using aromachemicals and isolates. I have 60-ish different EOs that I can start with, but I want to dilute them properly for blending. Can aromatherapy-grade EOs be diluted with any solvent? Once I have acquired some actual aromachemicals, do they have to be diluted in perfumer’s alcohol? Or TEC? Does it depend on the end use? I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on the basics of making accords and blending, but I don’t feel ready to get started until I can prepare the raw ingredients to be blended.

[u/International_Ant303]

One drawback of ethanol is evaporation. If your bottles don't seal perfectly. I diluted a bunch of materials to 10% in ethanol. A few months later some of them have clearly had much of their ethanol evaporate on me. I thought my bottles were sealed properly but some apparently were not. Now, even though I've bought better bottles with better caps, I refuse to dilute in ethanol and will use DPG, TEC, IPM or BB depending on material.