Teach Soap

Hi, i just made this BB Green Chrome pigment colored CP soap yesterday with BB Fir Needle EO and after cutting i have just 2 or 3 pieces with small white bleach spots.... before adding EO and colorant it was a creamy yellow like tapioca pudding. Was a spot visible on top a few hours after pouring and i have included a photo (hopefully) i did anyway). anyone have an answer for me ? in real life the soap is green and the spots bleach white....

Looks like all your oils/butters didn't get completely incorporated. Did you pre-hydrate your color first? Did you pour at a thin trace?

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

Hello Irena,
Boy am i glad to hear from you ! Here is what i cooked up and what i did. my soap totaled about 50 ounces consisting of sweet Almond oil (1.09 percent), Olive oil (63.04 per), palm oil (21.74 per), grapeseed oil (3.26 per), beeswax (3.26 per), safflower oil (5.43 per), shea butter (2.17 per). I added the shea and sweet almond oil at thin trace I added the green pigment color to the melted shea & sweet almond and stirred in before i pouured it into my mixture at thin trace. I then whipped it with the stick blender pretty good. Then i added the Fir Needle EO as i stirred with a spoon. I used the spoon only on the EO because I wanted to try and not have air bubbles. I do a ha random really small air bubble or two here and there in a few bars though. I count 3 of the eraser sized bleach spots.... my soap looks and smells super awesome though! can't wait till the 4 weeks are up to try one out

Here is what I would have done. Add all your oils and butters right up front. After they melt and cool off some, add your green oxide to it and stick blend well. Then pour your lye water in. I presume that you know there is no need to add any oils or butters at trace? At trace, the lye is still quite active and it will take whatever it wants. There is no way to be sure that any oil or butter at trace will end up as your superfat.

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

Thanks Irene, that's how my next batch is gonna be done. I did not know that you could add the green chrome oxide to the oils in the intial stages before you added the lye. That'll definitely ensure that is is blended very well Is there any way to keep those stupid small air bubbles out of my soap ? First time i used a stick blender i had lots of them. this time i was alot more careful and only used the stainless steel spoon at the end to stir in my EO to avoid air bubbles but I still ended up with some very small ones here & there, and I'd like to have zero of course THANKS FOR THE HELPFUL INFO !!!!!!

You're welcome. Here is a tip for you. Oxides start with the letter "O", so mix those up in oil. Ultramarines have "marines" which means the ocean. Ocean has water, so you mix ultramarines with water. As far as bubbles.....stick blend for a minute or two, then stop and stir with the stick. Repeat til you reach thin trace. Make sure that the container that you are mixing in is tall and narrow enough that it covers the bottom portion of your stick blender. If you container is too shallow, you will introduce bubbles as you stick blend. Try pouring at a thin or thinner trace to help reduce bubbles.

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

what about natural colorants like powdered parsley or paprika? When and how would you add those?

Some folks add powdered herbs like that at trace (I'd suggest thin trace so you have a chance to really work them in!). Perhaps you could add them to the oils as well, in the way SB describes for the oxides, but I'm not sure on that one. Depending on the fineness of the powder, this can add texture to the soap, which may or may not be desired.

You could also infuse them in warmed oils (strain or filter 'em afterwards!) and use the colored oils either as a portion of your recipe, or as a small addition later at trace, depending on how you need to color.

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CP newbie who's turning into a soaping addict!

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

Thanks - I added the parsley powder to my hemp soap last night and it came out such a nice light green - love it!

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