Does anyone add Titanium dioxide directly to lye water?

[Firefly24]

I have used Zinc Oxide instead of TD a lot. But I have learned it yellows quite a bit faster so I would recommend it only if you are going to be selling them fairly soon so they don't yellow on your customers. It works at close to the same ratio and imo is close, but not quite as white. I used it a good bit when making soaps like pumpkin spice that have an orangey/yellow tint anyway so it works.

Yep, I wasn't as happy with the zinc oxide either. Going to stick with the TD.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I am just noticing and reading this thread and now I'm second guessing my decision to order TD from Nurture instead of mica (I've never used either one before).
Question: I keep reading that some of you pre-dissolve your TD in water and store it in a squeeze bottle. Wouldn't this need a preservative since it's water based?

 

[melinda48]

Help needed with using TD.

I've really struggled with Titanium Dioxide. It doesn't seem to incorporate well and I get little specs. I saw on some Utubes that TD was mixed ahead of time and put in squirt bottle. Then when needed, the bottle was given a really good shake and then used as needed. My TD is water soluable (I have bought more that is purportedly both water soluable or oil soluable, but I thought I'd try to make this water soluable TD work since have a pound of it.....) So, I mixed a batch up and put in a small jar. It settles really quickly and also dries really quickly so I first stir up the pre-mixed TD with a butter knife (scrape it off the bottom of jar, and stir until it feels like there are no clumps -this is super time consuming.). Then, I use a milk frother to try to get the TD really disbursed in the water. But, my jar of TD has gotten worse and worse. I'd say it ruined my last soap batch by being really speckled in not a good way. Also, since it's pre-mixed, I can't really tell how much TD I'm using this way. So, to add to the fact that my soap has mega TD specs, it's not very white.

So, I'm wondering if anyone adds their TD directly to the lye water (along with other additives like salt and sugar.)
I feel like if I added directly to the water, I would 1) know how much TD I'm adding to this amount of batter and 2) I'd be able to see if the TD were really disbursed, just like I can see if salt and sugar have dissolved.
(Not sure if TD dissolves or just disperses.)

I've tried mixing up my pre-mixed TD in jar, then adding that to a small amount of batter and mixing with my milk frother, then adding to the rest of the batter.
Although it has looked to me like it was well disbursed, it wasn't!! Big time TD specs anyway!

So, I'm wondering if I can add TD directly to lye water. This would lighten the whole batch of batter but I could live with that. Does anyone add there TD in this way?
Is there a downside or problem with this approach?
HELP!!

I water a tutorial for master batching titanium dioxide (oil soluble) on tube-“I Dream in Soap” and it changed my life! I am also master batching my oxides now as well. Check it out!

Help needed with using TD.

I've really struggled with Titanium Dioxide. It doesn't seem to incorporate well and I get little specs. I saw on some Utubes that TD was mixed ahead of time and put in squirt bottle. Then when needed, the bottle was given a really good shake and then used as needed. My TD is water soluable (I have bought more that is purportedly both water soluable or oil soluable, but I thought I'd try to make this water soluable TD work since have a pound of it.....) So, I mixed a batch up and put in a small jar. It settles really quickly and also dries really quickly so I first stir up the pre-mixed TD with a butter knife (scrape it off the bottom of jar, and stir until it feels like there are no clumps -this is super time consuming.). Then, I use a milk frother to try to get the TD really disbursed in the water. But, my jar of TD has gotten worse and worse. I'd say it ruined my last soap batch by being really speckled in not a good way. Also, since it's pre-mixed, I can't really tell how much TD I'm using this way. So, to add to the fact that my soap has mega TD specs, it's not very white.

So, I'm wondering if anyone adds their TD directly to the lye water (along with other additives like salt and sugar.)
I feel like if I added directly to the water, I would 1) know how much TD I'm adding to this amount of batter and 2) I'd be able to see if the TD were really disbursed, just like I can see if salt and sugar have dissolved.
(Not sure if TD dissolves or just disperses.)

I've tried mixing up my pre-mixed TD in jar, then adding that to a small amount of batter and mixing with my milk frother, then adding to the rest of the batter.
Although it has looked to me like it was well disbursed, it wasn't!! Big time TD specs anyway!

So, I'm wondering if I can add TD directly to lye water. This would lighten the whole batch of batter but I could live with that. Does anyone add there TD in this way?
Is there a downside or problem with this approach?
HELP!!

Titanium Dioxide Master Batch
From “I Dream in Soap” on uTube (Lisa)

Ingredients
Oil soluble Titanium Dioxide
Olive Oil
Plastic container in which you will keep the mixture
Stainless steel bolts or ball bearings

Tare the container in which you will keep your titanium dioxide mixture.

Fill with olive oil to about 1 1/2” below top

Weigh to get the weight of the olive oil
1 Tbsp. of olive oil weighs 15g

Divide the weight of the olive oil by 15. This will give you the number of Tbsp. in container. 1 tsp. of titanium dioxide to 1 Tbsp. of olive oil (so if you have 14 Tbsp. olive oil in your container, you will add 14 tsp. of titanium dioxide to the container).

Using the Nutribullet or similar device, mix the oil and TD together. Blend for about 20 seconds.

Pour into your container with bolts (ball bearings)
Shake before each use.
1 Tbsp. of TD mix PPO

 

[akseattle]

I recently made up two squeeze bottles of TD, one with water and one with oil. I put three small hardware nuts in the bottle to break up the clumpy TD on the bottom. Last batch of soap I made, I added the TD to the lye water and had no issues with spotting at all. Will see what happens with the TD in oil I add when I don’t need all my batter light.

@KimLynn did you have a chance to compare the TD in water with bolts vs TD in oil with bolts? I love to know the result.

 

[catcat]

Help needed with using TD.

I've really struggled with Titanium Dioxide. It doesn't seem to incorporate well and I get little specs. I saw on some Utubes that TD was mixed ahead of time and put in squirt bottle. Then when needed, the bottle was given a really good shake and then used as needed. My TD is water soluable (I have bought more that is purportedly both water soluable or oil soluable, but I thought I'd try to make this water soluable TD work since have a pound of it.....) So, I mixed a batch up and put in a small jar. It settles really quickly and also dries really quickly so I first stir up the pre-mixed TD with a butter knife (scrape it off the bottom of jar, and stir until it feels like there are no clumps -this is super time consuming.). Then, I use a milk frother to try to get the TD really disbursed in the water. But, my jar of TD has gotten worse and worse. I'd say it ruined my last soap batch by being really speckled in not a good way. Also, since it's pre-mixed, I can't really tell how much TD I'm using this way. So, to add to the fact that my soap has mega TD specs, it's not very white.

So, I'm wondering if anyone adds their TD directly to the lye water (along with other additives like salt and sugar.)
I feel like if I added directly to the water, I would 1) know how much TD I'm adding to this amount of batter and 2) I'd be able to see if the TD were really disbursed, just like I can see if salt and sugar have dissolved.
(Not sure if TD dissolves or just disperses.)

I've tried mixing up my pre-mixed TD in jar, then adding that to a small amount of batter and mixing with my milk frother, then adding to the rest of the batter.
Although it has looked to me like it was well disbursed, it wasn't!! Big time TD specs anyway!

So, I'm wondering if I can add TD directly to lye water. This would lighten the whole batch of batter but I could live with that. Does anyone add there TD in this way?
Is there a downside or problem with this approach?
HELP!!

Ellen Ruth soaps on YouTube makes a goatsmilk oats and honey soap and puts the TD directly in the lye solution to combat the browning of the fragrance oil. I followed her entire recipe and it made a beautiful light colored soap just like hers.

 

[melinda48]

Get some stainless steel nuts and put them in your container. When you need to add the titanium dioxide to your soap batter, shake your container well. You will hear the nuts rolling around (like you hear in a paint can). Shake and shake and shake. I have never liked water-soluble TD - far prefer the oil soluble. I actually threw away some water soluble years ago because it just would not work well for me (yes, impulsive but such is life)

 

[melinda48]

@KimLynn did you have a chance to compare the TD in water with bolts vs TD in oil with bolts? I love to know the result.

Be sure those nuts are stainless steel or they may rust.

 

[akseattle]

I haven’t used TD for several months. I was thinking that when I ‘ve recovered from my TD PTSD I’d try the sifting method. This way, I don’t have to worry about trying to calculate how much oil to subtract from my oils to account for the additional oil with my TD. How do you account for the additional oil?

 

[akseattle]

@Servant4Christ, I assume you would only need a preservative if you were going to add this water based TD solution to a product that required a preservative if adding water- like a lotion or something. I don’t think TD by itself with water would create an undesirable bacteria., mold etc. but others may know better.

 

[Servant4Christ]

@Servant4Christ, I assume you would only need a preservative if you were going to add this water based TD solution to a product that required a preservative if adding water- like a lotion or something. I don’t think TD by itself with water would create an undesirable bacteria., mold etc. but others may know better.

Anything water based that isn't preserved (unless its pH is really high or low) will develop bacteria or other undesirables over time. At least, that's my understanding. Lotionmaking info that's ingrained in me, I guess. The idea of predispersing TD in water that isn't preserved and leaving it on a shelf for any length of time beyond a day or two just seems unwise to me. @DeeAnna could you give us real info on the safety of this, please?