Getting CP Soap Snow-White?

[jenn624]

I was wondering, what are some good oils to use to get a nice, white bar of CP soap? My have all turned out a tannish color (I did get a decent beige-y ecru using coconut, canola, and soybean, but still not white white).

Is adding some titanium dioxide about the best way to go? Crisco?

Also what have you found to be the best (non-botanical, non-herbal) colorants for CP & MP? I got some non-bleeding Lake dyes from WSP, but I'm just not happy with them (tried with both CP & MP). Do powders tend to work better in soap than liquid dyes??

 

[topcat]

I get a whiter (note: I said 'whitER' not white ) bar by using whiter/lighter coloured oils e.g. CO, ELight OO, Canola,Shea Butter, also tallow and lard will help here. I find aloe juice gives a slight colour to soap also (just a tad). I got my whitest by adding TD to a light coloured oil batch.

I haven't done much non-botanical/herbal colouring in either CP or MP yet. I have used ultramarine powders and oxides with some success so far. HTH!

Tanya

 

[AshleyR]

I have had decent success using titanium dioxide to whiten my batches. You can also add white kaolin clay to your batch to lighten it a bit too.

Oxides are great if you get them blended in well. I have had issues with that - 9 times out of 10 I can't get them mixed in thoroughly enough before the soap starts thickening like crazy, so I get oily swirls through my soap, or speckles of oxide.

Someone may have a tried and true suggestion as to how to get them mixed in well.

 

[Laurie]

Not gelling can help to keep your soap whiter.

Laurie

 

[Lindy]

I got my whitest soap using tallow.....

 

[angbaby4974]

The whitest soap I have made was made with Crisco. In the crock pot.

 

[surf girl]

I made a 100% coconut that is white.

 

[Deda]

Sweet Almond, PKO & Castor

 

[Barb]

it might not be your soaping oils that are causing you problems.

frag oils that contain vanilla ( and lots do in varing percentages) can turn the soap various stages of tan to dark brown.

 

[pinkduchon]

I did a Palm, Palm kernal, coconut and castor, no gel and it was white.

 

[Soapmomma]

I use a Lard, coconut, corn, castor blend and my soap is snow white before adding fragrance, and now that I've gotten the hang of it tradewinds liquid dyes mixed with a lil castor makes wonderful colors for me.

 

[MikeInPdx]

My Eucalyptus EO soap is snow white.....basically, it's a mixture of lard, trans fat style veggie shortening, coconut, and castor.

 

[jenn624]

Thanks everyone! I'll give some of these combos a try (I might buy some TD too when I can, just to tinker with, I'm big on the tinkering).

I wondered about my FO's, the first CP soap I made was 75% EOO and 25% CO (I hope I'm getting the abbreviations right ), and I thought olive oil cured to a white(ish) bar, but its the darkest I've made so far. I used a pumpkin spice FO, I wouldn't really think of pumpkin spice being vanilla heavy, but...it did turn a nice pumpkin-y color, so I'm happy :wink:

Now I just have to make it to payday so I can buy more lye & oils lol

 

[reallyrita]

Getting CP soap snow white

These are all good suggestions. You have alot of ideas to play with here. Be careful with TD. Too much can make your soap chalky. It is an oxide, really, and can also be a bit tricky to blend in well. I get the one that is oil and water dispersible and I add it to my pot of warm oils and stir really really well. It just sort of sits there and looks suspended in the oils but once I get the lye in and start SBing, the batter begins to lighten up. If you use OOm make sure it is the light yellow kind. The extra virgin ones will always give you an off white or even greenish color. My lard soaps are whiter than my palm oil ones. The biggest culprit is the FO or even the EO. Even if there is no vanilla in the FO, it can still discolor. TD can lighten it a bit but vanilla always wins out. Lavendar EO does not discolor. My whitest soaps were made with Lavendar and Crisco or Spectrum which is a palm oil type Crisco from the health store. Expensive to use but when white is really what I am after I use Spectrum or lard. Getting color right is an ongoing challenge for me.