Adding cocoa powder and bakers chocolate to CP oil base

[lynn2064]

After adding titanium dioxide to my last batch improperly, my soap now has pockets of white powder, I wanted to know is there anything special I need to do with the cocoa powder or bakers chocolate? It says to dissolve in the base oils prior to mixing with the lye but should this be something I do at trace?

I added the titanium dioxide in at trace in powdered form, hence the pockets of powder

 

[HorseCreek]

I always take a little oil out (or water if it's water soluable) and mix whatever I'm adding into that. Get yourself a mini frother, they are a wonderful little invention, lol. At any rate, cocoa powder mix with a little oil and mix til all the lumps are out. Baker's cocoa, melt it and add some oils to it to keep it fluid before adding to everything. At least that's what I would do... doesn't mean it's the only way lol.

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome, Lynn!

Anytime I work with any kind of powdered colorant, I always make sure to disperse it really well in either a small bit of oil, water, glycerin or a little bit of soap batter before I add it to my main soap batter. The type of liquid medium I choose to use all depends on the colorant (i.e., whether it be oil dispersible or water dispersible, or perhaps both).

Oh, by the way, it's not necessary to add colorants at trace. You can add them whenever you want- before during or after trace (preferably pre-dispersed in some type of liquid first).

I've never used cocoa powder or baker's chocolate as a colorant, but if I did, I would do the same as I do with my other powdered colorants mentioned above.

I've never had good results from adding powdered colorants directly to my batch at trace. I would always end up with speckles or powdery pockets. For me, dispersing them well in some kind of liquid beforehand is the only way to go.


IrishLass

 

[lynn2064]

Thank you! I started making soap just two months ago after a solid year of research (lye was really scary) and I'm on my 7th batch today. I started with colorants on yesterday's batch and am a little disappointed with the result. Then I remembered I joined this lovely forum for just these types of questions

For the soap batch with the titanium powder pockets...is this safe to use and just cosmetically blah or should I discard?

I will try the oil blending today prior to trace - the cocoa powder is my main worry because it can be clumpy. Also I have read that sugar can speed up trace so I was going to try and soap at the lower end of the temp and work fast.

 

[Susie]

I have never used any type of chocolate other than cocoa powder because there are ingredients other than cocoa, milk, and sugar in there. I just did not(and still do not) know what the extra oils and ingredients will do in soap.

I have used cocoa powder in soap successfully. I mixed a tiny bit of my water to the cocoa powder at the time, stirring constantly just until I got a loose paste. I then stick blended that with the oils thoroughly. Then added the lye to the remainder of the water and proceeded normally. I used 1 tablespoon PPO. It gave a beautiful chocolate color, but it did not retain any chocolate smell. I think you have to use an FO to get that smell.

 

[Obsidian]

Use your soap, the TD spots aren't harmful.