Question about coloring.

[Konacowboy]

I really like the CP soap we make but I'm not sure I'm crazy about the colors were getting. I like bright vibrant colors, for swirls obviously non-bleeding. Currently I've got blue ultramarine, yellow, black, red, and green oxides. Maybe I'm not using enough to get what I want. My soap batches are pretty small so in the case of a swirl I'm using about 1/8 tsp of colorant to about 8-10 oz of oil for example in a batch with a total oil weight of 28 oz. The swirl looks just fine I think but the color is muted.

What products do you guys use for bright colors and how much do you use per pound of oil?

Also, I've noticed with the oxides the colors can run in the shower and especially with the red oxide the lather can be a little pink. Is that normal for colorants in soap or just oxides?

Thanks in advance for you thought!

 

[youreapima2]

I have been using neon colors from TBK Trading for my vibrant colors they are stable in cp soap and I am very happy with them. They don't bleed in the shower either!
So far I have used yellow, green, red, pink neon's.
I also use Omega blue which I am very happy with

 

[youreapima2]

Sorry I forgot to add how much I use:

Well that depends really on what color it is
I usually use 1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon and mix with double that in oil to swirl. It depends on how many colors I am using in the swirl. The most colors I have swirled so far is 5, and I had to work fast.
Most times I only use up to 3 colors including the base being TD (titanium dioxide).

With Titanium Dioxide I use 1 teaspoon per 2 Lbs of soap, which is approximately how much you are making, and I have not had any problems.

If I want to make lets say red bars then I will use 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of color for the 2 Lb batches I normally make. It depends on the color. Some are lighter in CP.
Really you just need to order samples of colors and play around with them until you find the ones you like and then order them in larger amounts.
You will find that some are not CP soap stable, and that way you aren't wasting a lot of product or money.

 

[foresthome]

Off topic, but Konacowboy do you have a storefront or a market where you sell your soaps? I will be on Kona in February and would love to see your soaps.

 

[Konacowboy]

Don't I wish, I'm in Texas! That's the Cowboy part....

 

[Konacowboy]

youreapima2 - So are you using 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of the neon powdered colorant. Is that per pound or per 2 pounds?

Also have you tried any of their liquid colorants in glycerin? If so how many drops have you used per pound of oil?

Thanks

 

[Konacowboy]

youreapima2 - One more thing. Since you are using powered colorant and it is purchased by the ounce. Do you know how many tea spoons you can get per once of powder?

Thanks

 

[youreapima2]

youreapima2 - So are you using 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of the neon powdered colorant. Is that per pound or per 2 pounds?

Also have you tried any of their liquid colorants in glycerin? If so how many drops have you used per pound of oil?

Thanks

The neon color is per 2 LBS. CP soap approximately 28-32 oz total oil.
There are many videos available on youtube about swirling cp soap. I was not sure how much to use at first it was a learning process. The TD I use I asked on these forums as I never used td before, and was told 1 tsp. per 2 lbs of soap or the soap will crack, and be hard to work with.

I have used the liquid coloring for M&P soap from "Soapy Love Jewel colors" with some decent outcome. I go by site of how much color I want, I usually start with a few drops (but this also depends on whether I am mixing 2 colors to get like orange or purple color). I cannot specify the weight of the soap, as most times I do M&P it's in very small quantities. One of my holiday molds only hold 1 1/2 Cups of liquid. (So they would be guest soap size). ALSO with the liquid colorants in Glycerin M&P I noticed that the color and the FO fades in about 6 months, which results in me melting them back down adding more color and f/o.

The last couple of batches of M&P soap I used mica colors from TBK trading with beautiful results. They created more darker richer colors than the liquid colorant.

I am old fashioned and very rarely do I measure things. I am what my sister calls a "gifted" person; as I cook without measuring anything, I go by sight.
The only thing I ever measure out is when I make CP soap.

Hope this helps.

 

[youreapima2]

youreapima2 - One more thing. Since you are using powered colorant and it is purchased by the ounce. Do you know how many tea spoons you can get per once of powder?

Thanks

No I do not.

So far I am using samples of the powder colorants. I have approximately 30 different colors, Some of which I have not tried in CP yet so I don't know if they are even cp stable.

I purchased the samples to be sure they were cp soap stable, as you will notice on TBK's website most of the reviews are from ppl using their colors to make cosmetics. When I have used any of the colors in CP and know they work, I try to go back and write a review for it, so that others are aware that they work well in CP.

I have only been making cp since May of this year. It's been a learning process. Some soaps come out wonderful others not so good. I get a lot of info from reading other posts in these forums and asking A LOT of questions. There are also videos here somewhere, I stumbled upon them by accident, so I cannot provide the link. You just have to take time to go thru the many pages in these forums; and more than likely you will find your answer in someone's post.

 

[Konacowboy]

Thanks youreapima2, you have been so helpful!

 

[Konacowboy]

I doubled the ultramarine in the last batch I made and this is what it looked like. Sorry for the crappy phone pic.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[youreapima2]

It looks very nice. I love the ultramarine blue in soap

 

[Marilyna]

Beautiful!

 

[whitetulips]

Bramble berry tells you if a color fades or turns a different color in CP soap, right on their website.