Has anyone directly compared different ways of adding clay to soap batter? I think I’ve read that some add it to their oils, some disperse with water, some disperse with oil first and then add to batter, etc. I’m having a problem with some of my clays settling out after I’ve SB’d them into a thin batter (emulsified, but before trace; using for pouring and swirling) following the process below.
I’ve been measuring clay (white kaolin, green, rose, gold, so far) into a small bowl, adding my EOs, letting it sit for maybe 30 minutes and then further mixing with some of the measured, melted and mixed oils before I add it to the bulk of the oils. Then I’m stick blending to emulsion. If the clay was actually dispersing as clay size particles, the clay particles should take a long, long time to settle. Twice now I have ended up with white kaolin clay batter that is very noticeably clay-enriched towards the last quarter of pouring. It also happened once with a new batch of gold Brazilian clay. It has not happened with the green or rose clays. (I have not reminded myself what types of clay minerals are in each of these) I am whisking periodically while using the batters with the different clay colors. I’m using a slow to trace recipe and I don’t want to stick blend again because I’m trying to stay close to emulsion for pouring. The end of pouring has been at least 30 min after I started. I’m starting with a batter at around 100 to 105 DF, 31% lye and an oil mix with a good proportion of soft oils.
I can think of a couple of possible explanations, and there are probably more. The type of clay it is might matter for each of my ideas, so I’m going to need to look that up. One idea is that the “clay” is not starting in clay-sized particles. For example, see the diagram here: https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/images/1062-relative-size-of-sand-silt-and-clay-particles. Larger particles would settle faster, maybe, like cinnamon and other spices left at the bottom of the bowl when making thin pancake or cake batter. So, maybe I’m not whisking enough, often enough because I’m trying to avoid trace. The other idea I have is that the clay is for some reason sticking to the plastic pitchers because of the way I’m soaking it/dispersing it and that the more I scrape down the sides, especially towards the end, the more concentrated it’s becoming.
I guess I’m going to try more whisking and pitcher scraping before I try dispersing the clays in water. I have the idea that if the EOs soak into the clay minerals they should be better anchored, which may or may not be the case per the many experiences and discussions here.
Have any other clay (or mica or oxide) users had a similar experience of these types of particulate colorants settling in an emulsified batter? Did you find that more mixing helped? If you use white kaolin clay, but have never seen it settle in an emulsified batter I would appreciate any suggestions you might have as to what I could try changing in my process. Thanks!
I’ve been measuring clay (white kaolin, green, rose, gold, so far) into a small bowl, adding my EOs, letting it sit for maybe 30 minutes and then further mixing with some of the measured, melted and mixed oils before I add it to the bulk of the oils. Then I’m stick blending to emulsion. If the clay was actually dispersing as clay size particles, the clay particles should take a long, long time to settle. Twice now I have ended up with white kaolin clay batter that is very noticeably clay-enriched towards the last quarter of pouring. It also happened once with a new batch of gold Brazilian clay. It has not happened with the green or rose clays. (I have not reminded myself what types of clay minerals are in each of these) I am whisking periodically while using the batters with the different clay colors. I’m using a slow to trace recipe and I don’t want to stick blend again because I’m trying to stay close to emulsion for pouring. The end of pouring has been at least 30 min after I started. I’m starting with a batter at around 100 to 105 DF, 31% lye and an oil mix with a good proportion of soft oils.
I can think of a couple of possible explanations, and there are probably more. The type of clay it is might matter for each of my ideas, so I’m going to need to look that up. One idea is that the “clay” is not starting in clay-sized particles. For example, see the diagram here: https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/images/1062-relative-size-of-sand-silt-and-clay-particles. Larger particles would settle faster, maybe, like cinnamon and other spices left at the bottom of the bowl when making thin pancake or cake batter. So, maybe I’m not whisking enough, often enough because I’m trying to avoid trace. The other idea I have is that the clay is for some reason sticking to the plastic pitchers because of the way I’m soaking it/dispersing it and that the more I scrape down the sides, especially towards the end, the more concentrated it’s becoming.
I guess I’m going to try more whisking and pitcher scraping before I try dispersing the clays in water. I have the idea that if the EOs soak into the clay minerals they should be better anchored, which may or may not be the case per the many experiences and discussions here.
Have any other clay (or mica or oxide) users had a similar experience of these types of particulate colorants settling in an emulsified batter? Did you find that more mixing helped? If you use white kaolin clay, but have never seen it settle in an emulsified batter I would appreciate any suggestions you might have as to what I could try changing in my process. Thanks!