For the life of me...

[dOttY]

I can't make WHITE soap!

I have added TD, but I think I'm that petrified of using too much, that I use too little. I'm not having any joys with colouring either. I used Ultramine Blue here, and it's a greenish/dirty dark denim colour. I'm hoping that things change with cure.

What are the results of using too much colouring? I know too much TD can make for a chalky soap....

The 'white' looks kinda whitish here, but I peeked this morning, and it's a creamy colour

 

[morena_mama]

Right there with you sweets. My whites wont get white.

 

[debbism]

I can't get white soap white-white....just a natural eggshell color. I know that hard oils will whiten soap and lighter oils will help so I am off the experiment in that area as well.

I think I read in another post about 100% CO being a white bar. I am going to try that as well.

HOWEVER, that being said, that round swirl soap you poured is just beautiful!

 

[dOttY]

I can't get white soap white-white....just a natural eggshell color. I know that hard oils will whiten soap and lighter oils will help so I am off the experiment in that area as well.

I've lessened the amount of Palm I use, upped the coconut to compensate. I use macadamia oil with my olive, because I read somewhere that macadamia oil is 'light'. Not that it looks too much lighter in the bottle!

I use cocoa butter, but I'm thinking of replacing it with Shea. Shea butter is white, whereas cocoa butter is off white. Hopefully that will have some impact.

All I can think of, is to use Extra Light OO, Coconut Oil, NO Palm (it's kinda light yellowish), shea butter, and any other light fats.... I don't want to use Lard or Animal Fats. But in saying that, I have my suspicions that by using them, the outcome would definitely be a whiter bar.

I don't fancy making a 100% Coconut Oil bar, as I've read it can be drying....

I guess I'll just keep experimenting with the Titanium Dioxide! Ugh.

Thanks for the compliments

 

[IrishLass]

My personal upper limit on TD is 1 tsp. ppo. Using much more than that gives me chalky soap.

One tsp., or even only 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. ppo can give me really white soap, but it's totally dependant on the particular FO I'm using. Some FOs will only allow my soap with max TD to be a light tan color or maybe a creamy off-white, while others are as white as snow. The colors of your oils/fats can play a part, too, as well as adding honey and milks, etc...

How much UM Blue are you using? I can get various shades of blue with UM Blue (and even green) depending on my FO and/or the color of my oils.

The more you make soap using the same colorants, the better you get at working your oils, FOs and colorants together to your advantage to eventually get the right shade that you want. A lot of trial and error goes into it.

Also- sometimes a soap with TD can lighten up a bit as it cures, and different colorants can change shades, too, so don't make any final judgement on your soap just yet.

I agree with debbism- your swirl is beautiful!


IrishLass

 

[dOttY]

Double thanks IrishLass!

I guess it's just another case of my 'expectations' and my soap doing it's own thing.

This is FO 'Cold/Cool Water', which is a golden colour.

I used ¼ teaspoon (aust. metric) for my Ultramarine (it was half the batch, so about 500g of oils), but now realise I should have used more, because the bases were so yellow! Duh @ me!

The colour is like a dark jade green at the moment...

And yes, I am hoping for a change in colours upon curing. I've witnessed it in a previous batch.

 

[carebear]

Sadly, Extra Light OO refers to it's flavor, not to the color. I've soaped, side by side, identical batches of regular OO, Extra Light, and Pomace. The regular and Extra Light looked absolutely identical after a couple of weeks. The pomace remained a touch taupe.

 

[debbism]

Dotty...the palm you are referring to, do you mean palm oil or palm kernel oil...my palm kernel is very white.

 

[dOttY]

Carebear, here, our Extra Light OO is actually 'extra light' in colour, and in taste. Where put beside a bottle of standard OO, the 'extra light', is far lighter. Thanks for your input.

Deb, sorry, I should have said 'Sustainable Palm Oil'. That is what I have been using.

 

[carebear]

Carebear, here, our Extra Light OO is actually 'extra light' in colour, and in taste. Where put beside a bottle of standard OO, the 'extra light', is far lighter. Thanks for your input.

yes it looks lighter because it's further refined. it's not going to matter in your soaps, though.

and you are quite welcome. any time.

 

[dOttY]

Thanks CareBear. So, regardless of the colour of OO, it won't effect the colour of the soap, at all? Is that right? Yanno, because I've spent a lot of money of a variety of Olive Oils! Haha, luckily I can use them up in the kitchen

 

[Pepper]

I made a CP soap using 50% coconut oil, 25% ricebran, and 25% sunflower, coloured with ultramarine blue. This is how the colour ended up!

I'm happy with the colour, but it's certainly not what I was expecting. I've learned over the years to "go with the flow" as far as colouring CP soaps is concerned.

 

[MrsFusion]

I have the same problem! I've read that palm kernel oil makes a pure white bar. I've never used it though...been thinking about getting some PKO when my reg palm runs out. You do have a great swirl there!

Pepper, those are beautiful!

 

[busymakinsoap!]

I can't comment on the difference between regular OO and Light, but EVOO will give a green soap. I ordered some by accident so used it to make a castille, which is very green, but I'm ok with a green olive bar.

The whitest soap I ever made (aside from high coconut) was an unscented olive, ricebran, castor and coconut - bright white.

I believe FO are the biggest contributer to colour change. If its coloured straight out of the bottle, chances are it will change the colour of your soap. I could count the number of FO's on one hand that I have used, that didnt have some kind of effect on my overall soap colour.

Ive learnt to work with the FO's. I NEVER fragrance the white portion of a swirl in my soap, and if I wanted a white soap, I would make sure it was with a FO that doesnt discolour.

 

[judymoody]

I confess I just don't get the pursuit of the ultimate white soap. I suppose it provides a nice contrast if you're going for a peppermint stick look or if you want a pure white ground from which to add other colorants. But really, off-white or cream is fine. Perhaps I'm just lazy or don't want to deal with the hassles associated with TD. Or maybe I just don't get it. For me, it's more important that it smell good, lather well, and have a nice consistency.

 

[LauraHoosier]

I tried for a lighter soap using TD and ended up with a tan batch of soap that crumbles. I know I had to have made several mistakes and after reading this I know which ones. Now I'm trying to figure out how to rebatch it and add in 1/2 rebatch and 1/2 new batch to bring the TD amount down so I have usable soap.

As for a white soap my very first batch came out white and was only light colored EVOO, Coconut oil and Castor Oil and lavender EO. The OO and CO were probably close to 50/50 in amounts. I can't find my recipe sheet on it, dangit, but if I do I'll post it for you dOttY.

 

[Kenaslan]

I found it easiest to just give up on white. And not stress out the few brain cells I have left.

 

[carebear]

I confess I just don't get the pursuit of the ultimate white soap. I suppose it provides a nice contrast if you're going for a peppermint stick look or if you want a pure white ground from which to add other colorants. But really, off-white or cream is fine. Perhaps I'm just lazy or don't want to deal with the hassles associated with TD. Or maybe I just don't get it. For me, it's more important that it smell good, lather well, and have a nice consistency.

I think at least part of the drive is that a yellowish hue can impact the way your colorants appear in finished soap. Doesn't seem like anything significant until you try to make a light blue or pink soap...

 

[saltydog]

dOttY. omygosh, that is such a beautifully swirled soap! please post pics after you cut it.
Maybe the white will lighten up as it cures? Even if it doesn't, I'd be thrilled with that soap

Pepper- your swirls (and the blue color!) are soo nice. Still very swirl-challenged here, so I can appreciate a good swirl..

Hope you don't mind the thread heist, dOtty, but since we're on the subject of color, can someone tell me what color olive pomace creates? Is it very, very green?
I just bought some for a good price so I figured I'd try it. I don't mind the green, and if it's very green, I'll just go with it.

 

[carebear]

Dog - pomace from columbus foods results in ever-so-slightly slightly taupe but primarily white soap.