Teach Soap

Does anybody pre mix their powdered colours? Is it a good idea?

if so what do you mix it with? Oil or Glycerine?, How much? How long can you keep the colours once they are mixed?

Sorry for so many questions, I am trying to streamline the process and pre mixed colours sure would help

(I mean, oxides, ultramarines etc)

Thanks

Hel x

I always mix my micas with a little oil first ( that I add in recipe calc) then add to either batch if I want solid color bar or just pour some of my soap batter in the mix then swirl in the rest of my batter. I never keep loger than during my soaping process i.e same day same time I'm making soap so do not know if it would go bad. But I'm new so...

I keep good notes and mix right before I need them. That way I won't have to worry whether or not the oxide or ultramarine will end up in the bottom of the bottle.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I premix my pigments with glycerine in little bottles for easier use, but I don't premix my natural colorants (unless I'm making an infusion), micas, ultras, or oxides. I find they don't stay suspended, so I have to mix them again, what's the point. HTH

I hate colors!!!!!!!!!!!. I have spent more money and suffered more frustration with colors than I have had trouble with a soap recipe. If you are interested in the two cents with someone who has had a lot of trouble here it is.

LabColors. Don't dilute the entire bottle when you receive it from the supplier. But DO dilute it in a little water before you add it to you soap. If I don't dilute it I seem to get specks of color in the soap no matter how much I stir.

Micas. Still trying to figure that one out. The other day I made a batch of soap that instructed me to put in pearly white mica. While I was standing around waiting for my lye to cool I put the mica in the oils and stirred it real good. I know it only suspends but it looked really cool and seemed to mix very well as I added the lye and stick blended it. It is hard to tell how it came out because it is a salt bar but I am getting ready to make a batch right now where I will color the entire batch pearly white then pull some out to add another color of mica and swirl it in the pot.

Here is something else that bug me (I was going to say pisses me off, but that isn't very nice) about color. Some colors react with your oils and then Misty Sunset comes out a god awful gray.

I would think the pearly white mica would disappear in soap, as CP soap is not see through, unlike clear MP base. What do you hope to achieve with it plschrader?

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I don't know.

I will let you know in a day or two.

The recipe that called for it was the CP salt bars that came out in the Brambleberry newsletter.

I'm sorry you are having so much trouble with colorant, plshrader...
I don't use micas in CP because they always seem to morph into something else. I have had great success with oxides - I mix them with a small amount of oil and then blend a small amount of soap into them before adding it to the rest of my soap.

I like lab colors. I mixed them right after I got them, but in about half the water called for. I keep them in jars in the fridge until I'm ready to use them. I haven't had a problem with them separating or leaving specks in my soap.

I've also had good results from the D&C powdered colorants (except for Violet #2 - that one never seems to mix and always looks speckled...)

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I'm new so take my advice with grain salt but I don't think micas are great in CP either. I do like them and colors but they either fade or morph since my soap is just for fun and the house I don't mind. I've had most trouble with blue mica which has always come out purple hmm. Not light either but bright bold purple but hey like I said it doesn't really bother me.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Lets talk colors again. All colors are from BB. I have labcolors, stuff labeled mica, stuff labeled pigment and black oxide and some stuff that doesn't say what it is. Ultramarine Blue, Super Pearly White and Fizzy Lemonade to be exact. I have used the Ultramarine Blue and I like it.

1. The first color I ever used was LabColors. I diluted them as suggested and stored them in the frig. Once I used them without diluting and that is where I got the specks. I think I will go back to them and dilute by half. I always bought the high pH for olive oil. Maybe it was the colors I chose but I couldn't seem to get bright contrast when I swirled in the pot. That is why I wanted to try something else.

When you say colors morph do you mean when you mix them or are they going to morph over time? Are my nice white and Ultramarine Blue swirl not going to be as pretty 8 weeks from now?

Soapbuddy: You asked me what I hoped to accomplish with the super pearly white in cold process. I have now used it in two batches. It makes the white part of a swirled in the pot with a color, very white, in the recipe I use. I used a scant tablespoon in three pounds. Again. I really don't make soap for profit so I am sure I spend more per bar than a for profit soaper.

Some colors morph when lye water hits them. Others fade as the soap cures. Lab Colors are saturated in the bottle. That's why you see the specks and it's suggested that they are diluted. Does the super white mica have any titanium dioxide? That could be why it makes the swirl white.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Most micas will morph in CP - emerald green turns gray, etc.

Oxides and ultramarines generally hold their color very well in CP, as do high ph lab colors. A yellow/greenish oil will make your blue colors turn green and your oinks turn brown.

Sometimes your fragrances will affect the final color of your soap as well. Some have vanilla and will turn the colors brownish and others are yellowish or pinkish.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Bingo. Lordy, lordy. It is a miricle what someone with your experience knows soapbuddy. The container said nothing about TD so I went to the web site and sure enough there it says titanium dioxide. Do you think I would get the same result with just TD?

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!