I have bought micas from every popular company there is and I want to make bright soaps reds and derp blues and purples but when I do I have a mess in my shower so afraid to sell to anyone and get chewed out for the color bleeding. I use recommended amounts. I have been making white based soaps with light pastel colors to prevent this and still if it's a red or deep color it will run. Does this happen to everyone or am I doing something wrong. I would love to make derp colored soaps but ends up bleeding. I have asked a couple soapers that I see using a ton of mica and they tell me they don't have that problem and I'm using the same micas. What am I doing wrong.
Micas running down shower wall.
- Thread starter ginak1117
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Todd Ziegler
Circle Z soaps
How much mica are you using and what way are you determining the amount of mica to use. Most mica sellers who deal with soap makers give you a recommended amount of the particular mica to use per pound of oil. It usually falls between 1-2 tsps per pound of oil.
Also where did you buy your mica from?
Also where did you buy your mica from?
Todd Ziegler
Circle Z soaps
I will need more information. All you put is "I."
Weird, I'm sure there was a proper post here earlier. They said they had been soaping for 5 years, bought micas from all the usual big name places, followed recommended dosages etc.
They also said their kids would leave the soaps in the shower and that was causing them to 'bleed' which I thought was interesting but I hadn't gotten around to replying.
They also said their kids would leave the soaps in the shower and that was causing them to 'bleed' which I thought was interesting but I hadn't gotten around to replying.
Most dark colors will run when soap is used, also soaps that turn dark from fragrance will run. What you want to make sure of is if the soap color actually stains. I actually never colored large portions of soap heavily except charcoal soaps which did not actually stain although they did run dark gray when used. When I used reds, bright magentas, etc I would use them in swirls. I also had a warning on my labels: Warning: Do not set directly on countertops, and explained why to always use a soap deck for handmade soaps as colorants can run and/or stain. It was something to that effect.
Thank you for replying to my question. You are the first person that has said that to me. I have asked so many soapers this question and they all said no never not even with activated charcoal. I thought I was doing something wrong even though I knew I wasn't. If I use dark colors in my soap which I don't do anymore cause of the color running. Even on our washcloths the color would be on the washcloths but the soapers I asked said nope doesn't happen with my soaps. I watched a ton of youtube videos still do to keep up on new ideas and I watched several girls and guys use way over the recommended amount of mica and I would ask them about color running or color on washcloths and they would say nope. I know it doesn't stain thank goodness but I almost quit soaping recently because I couldn't figure out why I'm the only soaper that when I use dark colors as a base in my soaps they run. Thank you CMZAHA for answering my question. Now I know it does happen to someone else. I love soaping and love colors and I also would put that note on my soaps about not leaving them set on ledge put in container plus it saves on the soap if it's not sitting in water and I would note that it may color washcloth but won't stain. I am so thankful to you for answering my question I just couldn't understand why I was the only soaper that encountered this issue. Thanks a million. So glad I came here.
Are you sure about that? I follow quite a few YouTube soap makers and what you see can be very misleading...from the size of the batch to the amounts of ingredients and additives. One of the things I struggled with in the beginning was stick blending. It took me a bit to understand that quite a few of them were making much larger batches of soap than I was...a one to two pound difference can have quite an impact. As does what oils and butters they are using as some recipes can be slower to trace than others. And a lot of times they are using the stick blender like a spoon...they don't actually have it turned on.
Then there are a lot of different teaspoons and tablespoons out there and what you see on camera can be misleading. What you might think is a teaspoon is actually only a half a teaspoon or even a quarter a teaspoon, or a tablespoon is actually half a tablespoon. It's even more misleading if the colorant has been dispersed in water or oil (or other liquid medium) at a rate of 1 teaspoon of colorant to 1 tablespoon of oil/water.
And not all colorants are the same. You have Micas, Clays, Pigments, Oxides and Natural Powders. I remember the first time I used Pigments/Oxides instead of Micas...what a mess my soap was. You would have thought a Fourth of July celebration had vomited in my shower...I had red, white and blue running everywhere! When I made the soap again, I only used about a third as much...got the same colors, but without the pudding and bleeding.
And another thing...black oxide and titanium dioxide are your friends when it comes to darkening and brightening your colors.
