Getting started with oxides

[Mobjack Bay]

I bought some chrome green and ultramarine blue oxides. If I’m remembering correctly, I need to mix them very thoroughly with oil or glycerin before SBing into the oils. Does that sound right? I also *think* I remember reading that it takes less oxide ppo compared with mica to get comparable color intensity. I’m hoping to get colors that are more on the translucent side of things, rather than saturated. Does 1/4 tsp ppo sound too low? Thanks!

 

[artemis]

I have the chrome green. I have used a little bit of my soaping oil to mix up the oxide. Definitely use a light hand-- you can always add more, if needed. I am afraid that I sort of eyeball it, but to get a nice, light "celedon" type of color I probably used about 1/8 of a tsp or maybe less? 1 tsp gave me a dark, spruce Christmas tree color. With the oxides I've used, when I've used a lot in a batch, it seems like the oxide portion of the batter shrank more than the rest of the bar during curing.

 

[Nanette]

I bought some chrome green and ultramarine blue oxides. If I’m remembering correctly, I need to mix them very thoroughly with oil or glycerin before SBing into the oils. Does that sound right? I also *think* I remember reading that it takes less oxide ppo compared with mica to get comparable color intensity. I’m hoping to get colors that are more on the translucent side of things, rather than saturated. Does 1/4 tsp ppo sound too low? Thanks!

That amount sounds about right...maybe less. Oxides are Very strong color. If you use too much they will also come off on the washcloth......

 

[DKing]

I have a few oxides too, and they are potent so you need less than you do with micas. I usually mix mine with a little sweet almond oil, but I think any oil would work really. I also like adding a bit of mica or charcoal etc to change the tone a bit just to keep things interesting.

 

[steffamarie]

I routinely use oxides and actually find it easier to mix them with water before adding them to my batter. They disperse easier. If you mix them with oil, make sure to get all the clumps out - I avoid that by using water. I think black oxide makes the deepest black. I also like and use ultramarine blue, ultramarine pink, and hydrated chrome green. Of course, we almost all use titanium dioxide Good luck with your colors - I can't wait to see what you make!! They can be very very vibrant.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Thanks everyone! I will let you know how it goes.

 

[DeeAnna]

I use chromium oxide (green), iron oxides (black, red, yellow), titanium dioxide, and ultramarine blue. I probably use more like 1/8th to 1/4th tsp of dry oxide ppo to get a decent range of pastel to medium colors, although that's a guess -- I add enough to get the color I want and don't really weigh it out. I don't care for super bright or saturated colors, and I want to avoid coloring the lather and washcloths.

I have mixed my oxides with glycerin for some years, but I'm trying them in water of late and I think I like that the best.

 

[penelopejane]

I mix my oxides with a tiny amount of water from the recipe.
This is one of my early soaps.

The bottom layer is darker than the top.
For the bottom layer I used 1/4 tsp Activated Charcoal + 1/8 + 1/4 tsp ultramarine oxide in 5ml water in 350g batter.
The top part has 1/4 tsp AC + 1.5 tsp ultramarine oxide in 5ml of water to 500g batter and after SBing I added salt directly to the batter to make the "stars".

This amount of oxide leeched. My son said it would be great for little children because it would make them wash themselves thoroughly as it turned his skin blue! So I suggest using a smaller amount of oxide.
It doesn't fade.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I mix my oxides with a tiny amount of water from the recipe.
This is one of my early soaps.
View attachment 41640
The bottom layer is darker than the top.
For the bottom layer I used 1/4 tsp Activated Charcoal + 1/8 + 1/4 tsp ultramarine oxide in 5ml water in 350g batter.
The top part has 1/4 tsp AC + 1.5 tsp ultramarine oxide in 5ml of water to 500g batter and after SBing I added salt directly to the batter to make the "stars".

This amount of oxide leeched. My son said it would be great for little children because it would make them wash themselves thoroughly as it turned his skin blue! So I suggest using a smaller amount of oxide.
It doesn't fade.

That’s info I can use to get started on some range finding experiments. I’m hoping to get some color, but also to maintain a bit of translucency. It seems like I won’t need much at all. I guess the little bag of oxide I bought has more color potential in it than I thought. Thanks!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I had a soapalooza kind of day yesterday, mostly playing around with oxides to get pastel colors. I had dabbled a little last fall, but then saw something shiny (probably a challenge...) and went off in another direction. It looks like chromium green oxide with a tiny pinch of brown (or a discoloring FO, or an otherwise tannish base) could be the way to achieve my favorite green without using a matcha tea infusion. I’ve also had a hard time getting a cool-tinted blue, but like the color from ultramarine blue with a pinch of black oxide in a very white base (nothing was added to the base, which is tallow, lard, RBO, EVOO, CO and castor). With mica I tend to end up with the blue being too grey or turning green from a yellowish FO unless I use a ridiculous amount of mica and TD, which I tend to avoid. I ordered the pigments in a set, so I also made a lavender soap using violet ultramarine, with a little Ultra Violet mica (Nurture, discontinued) added in for the top layer. It’s nice enough, but the violet pigment is a bit dull on its own. Luckily, I have a large enough bag of the mica to last forever.

I started with about 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of each color (scooped with a palette knife), dispersed it in water, and then added enough to get the color I wanted. My batches were 1000 - 1200 g oils.

 

[earlene]

I had a soapalooza kind of day yesterday, mostly playing around with oxides to get pastel colors. I had dabbled a little last fall, but then saw something shiny (probably a challenge...) and went off in another direction. It looks like chromium green oxide with a tiny pinch of brown (or a discoloring FO, or an otherwise tannish base) could be the way to achieve my favorite green without using a matcha tea infusion. I’ve also had a hard time getting a cool-tinted blue, but like the color from ultramarine blue with a pinch of black oxide in a very white base (nothing was added to the base, which is tallow, lard, RBO, EVOO, CO and castor). With mica I tend to end up with the blue being too grey or turning green from a yellowish FO unless I use a ridiculous amount of mica and TD, which I tend to avoid. I ordered the pigments in a set, so I also made a lavender soap using violet ultramarine, with a little Ultra Violet mica (Nurture, discontinued) added in for the top layer. It’s nice enough, but the violet pigment is a bit dull on its own. Luckily, I have a large enough bag of the mica to last forever.

I started with about 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of each color (scooped with a palette knife), dispersed it in water, and then added enough to get the color I wanted. My batches were 1000 - 1200 g oils.

View attachment 51573

Beautiful. Carrie at Nurtrure Soap would be pleased that you are mixing colorants to obtain the color you desire. It is one of her passions.

 

[The_Emerald_Chicken]

@Mobjack Bay Would you say that mixing oxides in water is the best way to disperse them? I've used oil up till now, but it's somewhat of a pain.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@

@Mobjack Bay Would you say that mixing oxides in water is the best way to disperse them? I've used oil up till now, but it's somewhat of a pain.

All of the pigments I’ve tried so far have been fine in water. The ones with “ultramarine“ in the name (blue and Violet) behave a little differently from the ones with “oxide“ in the name (green and black), but both disperse well enough. A fraction of the ultramarines may be sticking a tiny bit to the stainless condiment cups, while the oxides behave more like clays and swirl freely when I stir them, if that makes sense. I don’t know if what I’m seeing would be universal across brands or lots, or peculiar to the pigments I have. I haven’t had any problems mixing any of them uniformly into the batter.

p.s. I also used some yellow, which I think is an oxide, but I can’t remember for sure without checking.

 

[cmzaha]

Here is a fairly good guideline for colorants Create a Rainbow: Mixing Colors in Cold Process Soap
Ultramarine blue is my favorite blue colorant.

 

[DeeAnna]

Glycerin or water or both will mix well with these pigmented colors.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I’m playing around with oxides and ultramarines again. This time I pre-mixed the colors in glycerin and then added a little water to thin the consistency. It’s pretty easy to adjust these colorants in the batter and the results I’m getting are a bit more WYSWYG than with some of the micas I’ve been using. One of the soaps, below, shows a blue mixed from ultramarine blue, green oxide, and TD. The red and yellow are straight up oxides. I wanted darker colors for a second test batch, but may have overmixed a bit when I added a little extra black oxide to deepen the green and blue. The thicker batter was just enough to ruin my design! (I also had a weird FO issue with that one; see it here)

 

[Vicki C]

@

All of the pigments I’ve tried so far have been fine in water. The ones with “ultramarine“ in the name (blue and Violet) behave a little differently from the ones with “oxide“ in the name (green and black), but both disperse well enough. A fraction of the ultramarines may be sticking a tiny bit to the stainless condiment cups, while the oxides behave more like clays and swirl freely when I stir them, if that makes sense. I don’t know if what I’m seeing would be universal across brands or lots, or peculiar to the pigments I have. I haven’t had any problems mixing any of them uniformly into the batter.

p.s. I also used some yellow, which I think is an oxide, but I can’t remember for sure without checking.

I premix oxides in olive oil, and ultramarines in glycerin. This soap has three different iron oxides; yellow, red, and “blue”, and violet ultramarine mixed with the blue. This was an OPW - I overmixed the yellow and it accelerated, but I think the yellow looks like autumn leaves. BTW @Todd Ziegler turned me on to TKB Trading, they have a good array of oxides and ultramarines.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

That looks great. I see a daisy and autumn leaves!

 

[SoapSisters]

I started experimenting with oxides over the summer but got discouraged by my results. I bought oxide called quinizarine green CI 61565 from a local vendor that sells ingredients for cosmetics and soap. In Hebrew (the local language) it's labeled as turquoise, although I'd say it's more royal blue than green or turquoise.

In any case, I was disappointed because my color was not sharp and distinct in my soap. On this first soap, I mixed the oxide with a bit of oil and then added soap batter. (It's oil soluble oxide.)


On the soap below, I mixed oil and the oxide in a squirt bottle and added it to the batter I wanted colored. (I also added cooked rice puree, so please ignore the not-blended-well-enough rice.)


Any tips for getting more distinct lines with oxides? I checked my notes, and both times my batter was at thick enough trace (meaning: if I had used mica, the lines would have been more distinct).

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@SoapSisters I would try a slightly heavier trace, or you might try adding some TD to the white batter if you’re not already. I think the very small size of oxide pigment particles could be playing a role in how the color looks/light reflects at the edges between colored and white soap. Maybe @ResolvableOwl can weigh in on this.

P.S. That color looks perfectly turquoise on my ipad!