So discourage......color Goat Milk soap?...PIC ADDED

[NMAriel]

I'm a bit disapointed. Today I wanted to make a light red gm soap with jasmine/rose scent. I melted about 1.5 inches of a red crayon (like I read online) and added it to the soap at light trace. Well it completely disappeared and my soap at trace was once again the usual carmel color of gm soap.

I like using gm instead of water cuz it feels creamier. Do I have to use water to get colors? I can't practice swirls, layering, embedding shavings, using pumice or clay or anything else without colors. So my soaps are always cream to carmel color, and that's it. It's getting boring just making the same soap over and over again.

And do I have to use water to make a WHITE soap, for the base?

Thanks for listening.

 

[ChrissyB]

Hi!
You won't get white soap if you use water instead of goat's milk...
the only way to get white soap is to use all white oils, and even then it won't be white white.
OR
You can add titanium dioxide at trace, this is an oxide that will bring your soap to a crisp white colour.
I haven't used goat's milk yet, so I can't really answer anything about that, some one that uses goats milk will come along and answer that for you!

 

[carebear]

first off, I know you all think it's great to use crayons as soap colorants. stop that nonsense and get soap colorants. Tradewinds carries Select Shades and there are others.

RE: goats milk soap. If you can prevent it from gelling you will get a much whiter soap (assuming you don't scorch your lye). I've had NO luck in preventing gel but some do it.

RE: White. Yes you need to use care in the selection of your oils. Some will cause your soap to be yellowish. Also many FOs and EOs will color your soap - vanillas go brown, citrus is generally yellowish, etc.

TD will whiten, but will no MAKE white unless you have a white formula to begin with. It cannot overpower (at least at levels you want to use) vanilla for example. So it can help tip the scales but that's about it.

 

[NMAriel]

Thank you for the reply. When you say white oils, what do you mean? I use Palm KO, palm oil, shea butter, olive oil, coconut oil, castor. Are these oils turning my soap carmel? If so, can I add titanium dioxide to make it whiter? I just want a whiter soap so that colors can be used, but I don't want to make my gentle soap harsh and drying.

 

[NMAriel]

Thank you CareBear. You and I must have been posting replies at the same time.

 

[mandolyn]

Thank you for the reply. When you say white oils, what do you mean? I use Palm KO, palm oil, shea butter, olive oil, coconut oil, castor. Are these oils turning my soap carmel? If so, can I add titanium dioxide to make it whiter? I just want a whiter soap so that colors can be used, but I don't want to make my gentle soap harsh and drying.

The caramel color is the gm.

 

[carebear]

The caramel color is the gm.

I concur.

White oils, off the top of my head, are palm, palm kernel, coconut, lard, tallow. Olive can be - depends on the particular oil, REFINED shea is white, castor I don't know.

 

[Lindy]

I've done a Castille with Extra Virgin OO that was really white - loved it.

 

[NMAriel]

[quote

The caramel color is the gm.

I agree. When my gm is totally frozen, my soap is cream colored. When there's a quantity of it liquid then I get light to dark carmel color.

I guess I'd like a light cream color to white color sometimes so I can use different colors in it.

Does raw shea butter color or it is white

 

[carebear]

raw can contribute to a beige color

 

[NMAriel]

Thank you.

 

[Soapmaker Man]

All I make is GM based soap and lotions. Been using GM as my liquid of choice for 4 years now. Here is a batch of "Black Raspberry Vanilla" I got a pretty decent swirl, white base, using, of course, goat milk, anf a full gel.
I embrace gel, I let my soaps gel every time.

Working with GM takes a bit of getting used to, but once you conquer it, it is very satisfying working with it. I and my customers love my creamy GM-silk-aloe vera soaps. I don't freeze my GM......too much work.

I have a lot of posts here that I explain my GM soap making methods. Check the archives.

Paul

 

[NMAriel]

Thank you Paul.

Your base seems whiter than my lightest cream color. But they're close, hard to tell from memory.

I checked my soap twice and if it gelled, the top didn't show it. I usually don't see any gelling, and I load up the wool blankets for the heat retention. Is there something extra to do for the gel? I've read pros and cons about it. Some say it makes the soap more gentle and they love it, some say they hate it. Any thoughts?

 

[mandolyn]

Thank you Paul.

Your base seems whiter than my lightest cream color. But they're close, hard to tell from memory.

Okay, all this discussion about goatsmilk soap got me draggin' out the soap pot to try my first ever batch of goatsmilk soap!!

Here it is, not quite ready to cut. I used powdered gm. I reconstituted it then sat it in the freezer while I mixed the lye/water & measured my oils. I added it, colloidal oatmeal & some honey powder to the oils, then mixed. Scented with OM&H. It seemed to take longer to trace than my usual soaps, but all went well. It's freezing here, so I sat the mold on the deck & let it freeze. Brought it in a few hours later & unmolded. It's a nice creamy color.

 

[NMAriel]

Here's a photo of my gm soaps. (L) plain, lemon, plain with shavings, choc espresso, new slab rose jasmine (R). I jsut would like to be able to make my cream color alittle whiter. It doesn't have to be pure white, just a whiter cream color. Thanks for looking.

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[SimplyE]

OOHHH!!!! Love both photos, Mandolyn and Ariel! I personally LOVE the creamy look of GM. Just work with it and know that it will tend to be a carmel creamy soap. I have used TD in it ,and it lightens it up quite a bit, especially helps when you are swirling. Just play with it...after all, soaping is one big experiment!

Nice swirls, Paul! 8)

 

[mandolyn]

OOHHH!!!! Love both photos, Mandolyn and Ariel! I personally LOVE the creamy look of GM and embrace it. Just work with it and know that it will tend to be a carmel creamy soap. I have used TD in it ,and it lightens it up quite a bit, especially helps when you are swirling. Just play with it...after all, soaping is one big experiment!

Nice swirls, Paul! 8)

Thanks! I LOVE the creamy color. About 2 hrs ago I did another batch of GM. It's scented with Indian Sandalwood, Gardenia & Patchouli. I used hydrated chromium green to color it. It's gorgimoose. Looks like jade. I'll post pics when it's out of the mold.

I'm on a roll!!

 

[Mary's Soaps]

When working with goat milk in soap, temperature is key. You must keep the temp down during the mixing of lye or the milk will carmalize and leave a tan/brown coloring to the soap.

 

[NMAriel]

OOHHH!!!! Love both photos, Mandolyn and Ariel! )

Thank you. I pre-measure and freeze fresh goats milk from my friend's goat. I'm hoping to get a goat next year, so I don't have to keep asking her for more. Anyway for a beginner I think mine are nice and fuctional. I just want to move on to the next level.

 

[mandolyn]

When working with goat milk in soap, temperature is key. You must keep the temp down during the mixing of lye or the milk will carmalize and leave a tan/brown coloring to the soap.

Yup! I should've done that with batch #2. Even though I froze it outside, it didn't freeze as fast as the first batch (daytime vs nighttime freezing temps) & the jade color morphed to a greenish tan. It also has a faint bullseye.

Also, when I was mixing, I almost forgot the GM. I'd mixed everything into the oil, picked up the lye/water & poured, THEN realized I'd forgotten the GM! So, I grabbed it out of the freezer & whisked it quickly, then as I was pouring it, I saw little lumps. %^&$!!

So, it's a greenish tan with a few bright orange spots from the GM lumps. All in all, though it doesn't look too bad. I'll post pics this evening. The first batch is cut now, too.