Adding color after TD will give you a pastel color, its best to use the purple by itself. If the purple turned pink then its not PH stable for CP, purple can be tricky. When you buy your colors, make absolutely sure it says they will not morph in CP.
How big was your soap batch and how much purple and fragrance did you use? Most people don't realize the actual amount of scent required. For a 1 lb batch, you generally use .5 to 1 oz of fragrance oil. That's by weight, not volume.
I used a lot of purple and just a few drops of the oils. I used these same color in my melt and pour and everything turned out beautiful.
Greetings all. First of all, I am so grateful for this community as I have learned SO much in a short period of time by reading the many posts shared here. As a beginner, I continue to learn, of course, and figure out what I would like to bring to this fascinating creative and scientific endeavor/hobby and find myself literally reinventing myself daily. One of the things I have always been googly-eyed about are transparent soaps and I jumped into finding a way to produce my own long before I knew even some of the basics regarding soap-making. I can be impatient that way at times. Anyway, I have discovered and slightly modified a technique beautifully described in Catherin Failor's
Making Transparent Soap, the alcohol/lye method.
In this method, the lye and oils are mixed to trace, heated at 160+ degrees in a crock pot, MELTED stearic acid is added and then the denatured alcohol. Be careful of the rapid bubbling up that occurs and the fumes. This process should be undertaken in a well-ventilated area and your mixture should not fill more than half the crockpot volume. Mixing while slowly adding the alcohol will minimize the bubbling up. All of the components are mixed well and allowed, with crockpot lid on, to cook for a period of 1-1.5 hours. Try to keep the lid as tight as possible to minimize alcohol loss/evaporation. Also make certain that the mixture is steadily boiling, but not boiling over. I have become familiar enough with my crock pot so that, initially, I place it on high to reach boing and then place on low to main a steady, but controlled boiling. Do not be too far away as you do not want your mixture to boil over. If it appears that it will, gently mix the mixture w/o adding too much additional air. Mixing too vigorously will add air to the alcohol mixture causing it to bubble up more. You may need to scrape some of the insoluble soap back into the mixture. After it gently settles, put the lid back on to allow the mixture to continue to gently boil. Most, if not all of the stearic acid should be in solution as long as you keep the temperature of your mixture above 160 degrees.
The beautiful thing about this method is that I don't do anything but boil my mixture for 1-1.5 hours. There really is no need to mix. That's it. After that time, you will likely have some insoluble debris and film, but that is par for the course. I then add the required amount of glycerin and sugar solution and gently hand mix. Mixing too much and quickly adds additional air in the form of bubbles and you don't want that. I cook for another 15 minutes. I turn off the heat and I then allow the mixture to sit for about 15-20 minutes before adding any fragrances/essential oils or dyes. I immediately pour into molds through a sieve to catch any insoluble material. Remember, below 160, the stearic acid begins to solidify. This type of soap hardens relatively quickly and looks great.
I always know if it's worked by looking at the transparent state of my mixture as I am pouring. Here is my recipe for about a pound of soap:
Lye Solution
76.55 g distilled or soft water
36.9 g caustic soda
Oil Blend
113.4 g coconut oil
73.71 g castor oil
45.36 g stearic acid (melted and added separately when lye/oil mixture is at least 165°!)
82 g ethanol (denatured with isopropyl and np-acetate. I would have preferred everclear, but could not find a source locally)
After 1-1.5 hours of cooking:
Solvent
45.36 g glycerin
Sugar Solution
28.35 g distilled or soft water
45.36 g sugar
I hope I have explained myself clearly (no pun intended
) enough. Please ask if there are any questions. I am working on a recipe that will replace the stearic acid all together, so this method will be entirely vegan AND palm-free!
