How much TD for a brilliant white?

[AndyRoo]

Hello all,

How much TD do you guys use to get a brilliant white soap? I just used 15g to 0.6lbs batter and it was still a cream/ivory colour!

I used OO (pale), Shea (refined), Cocoa (refined), Coconut Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, and Castor Oil.

I would have thought based on what I read that I'd have ended up with something as white as snow, but no such luck.

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Andy

 

[TheGecko]

Are your Shea and Cocoa Butters bleached? Whitest soap I've even gotten was with @Obsidian's Lard Soap.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Olive oil, though pale, still has some colour to it, that can deepen with lye addition. You might swap it for high-oleic sunflower oil (which is, apart from coconut and palm kernel, the palest oil that gives the brightest white soap by itself).

ETA: pics!

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Hello AndyRoo.
I second that "what's been mentioned above" the lighter the color your oils & fats are' the whiter your soap will be. now when adding EO & FO they can & usually do change your "Soap Color" depending what you use.

When using TD the rule of thumb is 1 tea per pound of oils' which is usually dissolved in water or oil, make sure its mixed really well or you'll see TD spots in your finished cured soap.

 

[Tara_H]

How did you mix it in? With the TD I use, I find I don't really get a white white unless I use the SB at least a tiny bit after mixing it in. Also pre-dispersing helps a lot, in either oil or water depending on the type you have, apparently it comes in both varieties.

ETA: my standard recipe has a decent bit of OO and I get a good white colour with about 1-2g of TD per 100g of batter. (At 38% lye solution, if you need to work it out relative to oils)

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

When i use TD I use 1 part TD mixed w/ 2 parts "water or oil" which ever you prefer. When it comes to TD' I cant stress enough to mix it really good' before each use & SB when add'ed in soap oils or batter' which ever you're preferred method. I like adding TD to my hot oils before lye cause I can SB really well' of course more SB more bubbles in oil too' ugh! its a trade off in my humble opinion. No matter what I do' Ive found TD is a "tyrant to get it smooth looking in soap.

 

[lsg]

I agree with choosing oils/fats or butters that produce soap that is as near white as you can get. That way you don't have to add so much TD to the soap.

 

[TheGecko]

How did you mix it in? With the TD I use, I find I don't really get a white white unless I use the SB at least a tiny bit after mixing it in. Also pre-dispersing helps a lot, in either oil or water depending on the type you have, apparently it comes in both varieties.

ETA: my standard recipe has a decent bit of OO and I get a good white colour with about 1-2g of TD per 100g of batter. (At 38% lye solution, if you need to work it out relative to oils)

I just started experimenting with oil dispersible TD and I mix it the same as I did with my water dispersible...3 parts liquid to 1 part TD. I am also finding that I don't have to SB the oil dispersed TD like I did the water one.

Another option for water dispersible TD is to mix it in with your Lye Solution...less added water, less SBing.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

15 g is at least 2 tsp, which sounds like a lot of TD for 0.6 lbs of batter. I would have expected the resultant soap to be very white. I don’t use much cocoa butter or sweet almond oil, so can’t help you there. The refined and bleached shea I use in many recipes at 10% is very white. I can get very white soap with very pale yellow OO, but if the oil has a green tint the resultant soap is not as white.

 

[TheGecko]

15 g is at least 2 tsp, which sounds like a lot of TD for 0.6 lbs of batter. I would have expected the resultant soap to be very white. I don’t use much cocoa butter or sweet almond oil, so can’t help you there. The refined and bleached shea I use in many recipes at 10% is very white. I can get very white soap with very pale yellow OO, but if the oil has a green tint the resultant soap is not as white.

First time I used TD...OMG. I was totally confused and add three tablespoons of dry TD to 33oz of oils. It was snow white, the orange stripe was a gorgeous contrast. Then I went to cut it. It...shattered into pieces.

 

[AndyRoo]

Oooh, no. I wouldn't want to exchange the OO for the same quantity of sunflower oil... it'd be a horrible, sticky mess in my experience!

Maybe I'll just have to accept ivory is the best I can hope for.

I've not heard of bleached shea or coconut before, just refined (which are pretty pale) or unrefined which contain their darker shades.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

it'd be a horrible, sticky mess in my experience!

That sounds like you've made bad experiences with regular (high-linoleic) sunflower oil before, which indeed would be a terrible idea. But high-oleic sunflower oil is something utterly different – in my experience, its only “disadvantages” over OO are lower price, slightly shorter cure times and less colour of its own.

 

[rjk185@]

Hello all,

How much TD do you guys use to get a brilliant white soap? I just used 15g to 0.6lbs batter and it was still a cream/ivory colour!

I used OO (pale), Shea (refined), Cocoa (refined), Coconut Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, and Castor Oil.

I would have thought based on what I read that I'd have ended up with something as white as snow, but no such luck.

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Andy

What does TD mean, us newbies are not up with it, print it out, don't abbreviate?

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Titanium dioxide (white pigment)

 

[dibbles]

What does TD mean, us newbies are not up with it, print it out, don't abbreviate?

I think you will find this helpful!
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/the-acronym-and-abbreviation-definition-thread.51841/

 

[AliOop]

What does TD mean, us newbies are not up with it, print it out, don't abbreviate?

Sorry, but we do use a lot of acronyms, and that isn't going to change. It takes too much time to type "coconut oil" when one can type "CO," or titanium dioxide instead of TD, etc.

The acronym thread that @dibbles posted above will get you in the groove in no time!

 

[Tara_H]

acronym threat

Freudian typo?

 

[AliOop]

Fixed! Threats (perceived or actual) are a big no-no these days.

 

[Carly B]

Forgive me if I missed this somewhere, but did you add a fragrance oil? They can produce some "interesting" colors, even with TD.