Question about using colorants in HP soap

[anolinde]

Hello everyone!

So I took a 2-year absence from soap making after I tried my first batch and found that I absolutely hated the smell of lye solution (when mixing lye into water) However, I thought I'd give it another try and did the mixing of the lye solution OUTSIDE and it was totally okay! So now I'm back!

I've been trying to figure out how to add colorants/additives into my HP soap. I am looking into using readily available stuff like cocoa powder, turmeric, and maybe food coloring. My question is can I just pour them straight into the soap or does it have to be infused in oil first? If so, how do I do that? Also, when do I add them - at trace or after it's cooked and done?

Another question is, say if it has to be infused in oil (I'm guessing olive oil?), then do I have to figure that as part of the amount of my base oil? Okay .. I'm not exactly sure how to phrase the question .. for example, if my recipe calls for 200 grams of olive oil, should I just use like 150 grams of olive oil and the remaining 50 grams is the infused oil (which brings the total to 200 as called for in the recipe)? Hope my questions make sense and sorry if it's confusing!

Jane

 

[layserbrat]

Welcome back!

I don't infuse the additives in oil, but i do wet them with about 2 teaspoons of glycerin or other oil that I use in the recipe, it blends better. I add them after the cooking is done. (I do the HP double boiler method).

I have infused olive oil once and used the entire amount called for in the recipe. For instance, my recipe called for 11.2 ounces of olive oil. I used the infused olive oil in place.

Hope this helps!