help

[DeeAnna]

Oh.... Obviously what I thought to be brown is quite different than what Terr means. A great example of "50 Shades of Brown".

Soap batter can be many colors. The color of the batter is not always the color of the finished soap. One of my soaps was bright lemon yellow when I poured the batter into the mold, but the finished soap bars were ivory colored.

Pure white is going to be tough without adding a white pigment. In general the finished color of the soap will depend on the oils you use and the fragrance and other things you add to the soap. I expect the color of my soaps to be ivory to light tan most of the time if I don't add anything unusual.

 

[newbie]

I would do a little more reading before your next batch so you have a better idea what to expect and you won't get thrown off. I would also use cheaper oils to start (rather than 30% cocoa butter) so if you have a botch, it's not a very expensive mistake. A good basic starting recipe is something like:

40% tallow/palm/lard
40% olive oil
15% coconut oil
5% castor

Here is a picture of batter poured in the mold on the left, starting to gel in the middle picture and at full gel on the right. Once it cools from gel stage it will be lighter than that brown color. Get a few good batches under your belt before you start adding colors and all, so you get the hang of it. That way you are familiar with the basic process before you make it more complicated.

 

[Susie]

Awesome pics, there! PERFECT examples of gel.

 

[not_ally]

That middle picture is why I either CPOP or refrigerate.

 

[Seawolfe]

Terr, why are you making your first soaps as hot process instead of cold process? There are fewer steps in cold process.

I only cook my 2-4 lb HP batches about 30-40 min (until they don't zap and look like that picture of soap in the pot), and then cool, color, scent and mold.

 

[terr]

the reason i started with hp was family demand!! however will try your recipe with cold process and i will let you know how i get on , thanks sooo much , by the way what colourants do you use in your soaps??


x

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Regardless of family damand, HP soap still needs the same cure as CP, well I would even say it needs more of a cure than CP. Sure, it is able to be used sooner, but that does not mean that it is anything near ready to be used.

 

[El_Granado_Loco]

Hi terr! Good to see your soap is fine!
For adding colour, there is a great variety to choose from.
Apart from pigments, you can use clays, cocoa powder, paprika, indigo. There are also things like spirulina, alkanet root and lots more that other people can suggest, in which I don't have any experience because I can't find them easily. But what I can suggest is natural stevia powder for green and carrot oil for orange.
A little honey will turn your soap a little brown, in the sense you describe it in your post.
You can also try micas and oxides, but I can't advise you on those either.
Good luck!

 

[Susie]

I use only stuff I can find in the grocery store for colorants: Paprika, annato, coffee(liquid), cocoa, turmeric. I have lots of allergies, so I tend to stick to things I know are safe for me.

I infuse the paprika and annato into liquid oils. I use the cocoa and turmeric dry mixed into the oils before adding the lye water. I use the coffee as a water substitute. I have tried using tea as water substitute, but the color does not come out right.

 

[dixiedragon]

Stuff you can find without going on the internet - cocoa, dried parsley, beta carotene (snip the capsule and squeeze, the capsule won't dissolve in the soap.) For WHITE soap, you can use titanium dioxide. Most of us order it online, but you can get small bottles of icing color at places like Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc. The brand is Wilton's. Look for the white that has titanium dioxide in the ingredients. You can also use their red if it contains Red Dye #40. I think that's the number.

ETA: if you decide to order ingredients online, make sure the colorants are approved for CP. There are some things that work wonderfully in MP but don't work in CP. I love Brambleberry, TKB trading, and Nurture soap supplies b/c they include pictures of the colorant in CP.

 

[terr]

thanks wow what a lot of resources for colouring !! cant wait to try these on my soap will now do cp I think