Soap Techniques
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I would NOT use them for straight scents or lye, but what about using those disposable foam cups for coloring soap?
Can I use styrofoam cups for swirling?
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To mix the colors - say mixing micas with oil or oxides with glycerin, my only worry would be that when you "scrape" the corners or sides to get everything mixed in you might knock some bits of the styrofoam into your color mix. Which is why I use cheapie water cooler plastic cups that we get at work in the 100's with our big bottles of water. But if you didnt scrape, and there was no heat or EO or FO, it should work.
Soap Techniques
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Does NaOH react with styrofoam (polystyrene)? My quick search indicates it does not.
Styrofoam (or polystyrene) is the same sort of thing as the cheapie water cooler plastic cups mentioned above, chemically. Of course, the water cooler cups are smooth rather than extruded polystyrene (Styrofoam) so that might make it easier, but as has been said, as long as you don't break it, it should work.
My concern would be that the soap batter will contain the EO/FO.
Now that is indeed something else. It is not overly reactive with acids and bases, but with solvents it appears to be.
Could only scent the main batter that is not in a plastic cup?
Ahhh, yes, solvents.
Here is a demonstration on how EO's react with Styrofoam:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIfv3lDfJXM[/ame]
Just watching that is enough for me to not want to use styrofoam in my soaping. It's either stainless steel or glass for me (or my ceramic crock pot LOL)
And it's not just Styrofoam, I stay away from plastic cups too.
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=20920
How many of us has this happened to?? I remember the same thing to have happed to me early on in my soaping.
That being said, there are certain kinds of plastic that are safe. I use a plastic pitcher for my lye water, and I also use a plastic cup that originally had cake frosting in it for measuring my lye. I'm thinking they are HDPE possibly.
Soap Techniques
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Thank you everybody for the input! Usually I use HDPE cups for swirling but I am tired of cleaning them up. :evil: I've seen many tutorials where people use those disposable plastic cups, and they add their scent to the oils at the very beginning, and seem to do it regularly without having any problems.
Like in this popular ITP swirl tutorial:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqsxfKIzjts[/ame]
I went to my local dollar store - the styrofoam cups are almost twice cheaper than the plastic ones. That's why I thought about them.
Like in this popular ITP swirl tutorial:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqsxfKIzjts[/ame]
I went to my local dollar store - the styrofoam cups are almost twice cheaper than the plastic ones. That's why I thought about them.
I may be asking for a problem, but I now use re-purposed plastic tubs(lard or cream cheese) with 5 PP on them for EOs. Never had a problem, and the EO does not stick in the polypropylene. And after a fast rinse in hot water, I just toss them into the dishwasher.
I just wouldn't use Styrofoam. I prefer to not throw out lots of stuff, plus, why take the chance? It's easier to just use reusable stuff. Cleaning up isn't an issue for me. I wipe everything out with cotton rags (let them sit for two days before tossing them into the laundry) and wash the utensils up.
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marilynmac
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I recently learned that lemony EO's will dissolve electrical tape.
