Using micas with bar mold soaps UPDATED WITH PICS

[glenolam]

I attempted my first swirling attempts last night. Holy moly do I need practice!

Let me first state that when you hear people saying "You really only need a little!", you really only need a little!

My first attempt was with lavendar sage and I wanted to swirl with violet. I heated my oils and decided to add my FO directly to the oils instead of at light trace this time. Then I added my GM/Lye mix just as the tutorials did (by using the SB as a guide to reduce bubbles) and almost thought I lost the batch! The oils and GM/lye didn't seem to mix for about 30 seconds, but then after some serious stirring (not stick blending, just stirring so I didn't rush the emulsification) it got to a light trace.

I had my "purple" in a 16 oz cup (I have a 64 oz beginner recipe) and poured about 10-12 oz base in the cup. It turned more blue than purple! :x I had premade some green colerant (meaning, just mixed mica with OO to prep for 2nd batch) and used the same spoon to mix the purple....I washed the spoon off in between colors, but I'm thinking I left some green on the spoon and maybe that's why it turned blue.

Anyway, I was trying ITM (In the mold) swirling and realized quickly that this method is NOT for my type of molds! I don't have loaf molds, I have milky way bar molds. Not individual bar molds, mind you, but the kind that have little partitions on the bottom of the mold to guide you in cutting the bars apart. I'm sure I poured too high and when I looked at the "top" (ie, bottom of the mold) I could clearly see where I poured the colored soap! I tried to mix with my wooden skewer as best as possible, but I'll have to wait until I cut them apart today to really see what happened. Also - I noticed that in this batch I have FO seeping out the top of the mold... :cry:

Here are pictures of the lavendar sage batch:



The second batch I tried swirling ITP (In the pot) and the green blended way more than I wanted. But after cutting this afternoon I guess it doesn't look as badly as I thought. I used Rosemary Mint FO and added it at trace as I normally do and didn't have the seeping problem I did with the first batch.



My question is - does anyone do swirl batches with these types of molds? How do you do it? I'm going to buy a loaf mold, but for now just have a few types of milky way molds.

 

[ChrisShepp]

Glenolam,

I don't have much experience with using that type of mold, but I do have a bit of feedback on your color mutation. Not all Micas are color-stable in high pH environments. On a microscopic level, they are little plates of a mineral substance that are coated with colorant - sometimes those colorants are FD&C colors (aka Lab Colors) and sometime they are pigments (such as Oxides and Ultramarines). While Oxides and UMs are what-you-see-is-what-you-get, FD&Cs sometimes do morph. Lots of FD&C purples come out a shade of hot pink! If you have ever tried to use food coloring from the grocery store, you know that pretty much without exception they either turn a disgusting gray color or they just completely disappear. One other consideration is whether or not your batch goes through gel. Gelled soap will have much more vibrant end results.

Some of the other regulars on the forum can probably offer you some advice from their exerience with Micas that are stable. I believe TKB Trading's POP micas are all color stable, but I may be mistaken.

Happy soaping!

 

[glenolam]

Thanks - I bought these micas from Soapcrafters.com and the website said the color was for CP/high Ph soaps. The baggie the colors came in even had another little peice of paper stating I could not use them in HP soaps.

I will order from TKB Trading as that seems to be the choice for most people here; unfortunately, I didn't find their website before ordering.

I must say, though, that I placed my order on a Monday and got it on Friday!

The green, although a strong color, was true green - I just used too much.

I'm going to try the violet again, using less and a clean spoon!

 

[mychicknpi]

Hi,
My milk soap making book says colors sometimes do unusual things in milk soaps. I wonder if the purple issue might be from the milk.

Anna

 

[glenolam]

FYI - the blue has morphed into a deep purple and is starting to look a bit nicer....

Still - does anyone have any tips for swirling in these molds?

 

[Sunny]

If you're swirling in the mold, go back through with a chopstick and swirl the colors together. And I think your ITP swirl looks just fine!

 

[glenolam]

If you're swirling in the mold, go back through with a chopstick and swirl the colors together.

I did for both - the lavendar sage bottoms look great, but I couldn't get the top of the soaps (the bottom of the mold) to swirl any more than that for fear I would start actaully mixing the colors together.

And I think your ITP swirl looks just fine!

Thanks!

 

[soapsmurf]

If you're swirling in the mold, go back through with a chopstick and swirl the colors together.

I did for both - the lavendar sage bottoms look great, but I couldn't get the top of the soaps (the bottom of the mold) to swirl any more than that for fear I would start actaully mixing the colors together.

And I think your ITP swirl looks just fine!

Thanks!

Looks great
Just wondering how thick your trace was.

 

[glenolam]

I thought I did the lavendar at a very light trace, but I think I might have gotten the purple colored base too thick, which is why it didn't blend as nicely.

 

[soapsmurf]

I thought I did the lavendar at a very light trace, but I think I might have gotten the purple colored base too thick, which is why it didn't blend as nicely.

Sounds like a very plausible explanation. What was the consistency after you added pigment? Did you not try to "swirl" the batch with the skewer for very long and only did a few passes? In any event, still very successful batches

 

[BakingNana]

Hey, Glenolam....I think they look TERRIFIC!! I'd be pretty happy with that result. I especially like the green one. Soft colorations...gorgeous! I just started using the POP micas and they're very true so far. I saw a tutorial by someone swirling in the type of molds you're using. It was a very fine swirl, but can I remember where I saw it??? NOOOOO. If I do, I'll post a link.

 

[Sibi]

I think your soaps look lovely just the way they are. But another method you could try is an "in the pot" swirl. there's probably a tutuorial on this method around somewhere in the tutorial section.

Here's a couple of pics of in the pot soaps that I did with pop micas that came out nice:

 

[Half Caper Farm]

I think they look very nice. Once you cut the bars apart, the "pour" effect won't be nearly so noticeable.

Your base looks very light-coloured for goat's milk soap. Are you doing anything different? Mine comes out a much darker tan than that.

 

[bodybym]

Pop micas (TKB Trading)are stable (with the exception of Strawberry that turns orange, but they warn you about that on their site) and the blue stays blue, which I can't say about many blues.

I do in the pot swirls for fancy molds (which I've just started doing) and it works better. Just take out a portion, color it, pour it into the pot and then pour into the mold. I find that if I swirl the color with a chopstick in the pot then when I pour I just get a pastel color and not a swirl.

good luck!

 

[glenolam]

What was the consistency after you added pigment? Did you not try to "swirl" the batch with the skewer for very long and only did a few passes?

The lavendar sage (purple) batch was not at a very heavy trace when I poured the purple in, but I really think that the base was at a lighter trace than the purple base. At first I tried to swirl very little, but when I realized the "top" of the bars wasn't swirling I tried to swirl with my skewer a little more.

BTW - I noticed yesterday on the purple batch that some spots are turning bright blue again (just in very little dots, not full colors) and more oils are seeping out. I really think I messed something up with adding the FO when I did as well as when I poured the lye/milk mix in. I was trying something new, which I think wasn't the righ thing to do.

I barely skewered the green batch and it's turning out to be a lovely soap!

Your base looks very light-coloured for goat's milk soap. Are you doing anything different? Mine comes out a much darker tan than that.

I don't think I'm doing anything different. I use frozen "fresh" goats milk (I put fresh in quotes b/c it't not directly from my goat, it's been in the freezer for a bit) and break it up into chunks in my stainless steel pot, which is in my sink with ice cubes surrounding the pot. Then I pour in my lye, which is beads, and immediately begin stirring and breaking up the chunks so my milk doesn't burn. My milk usually stays a nice creamy white color, although for the purple batch it did turn a little more brown than usual. I would say my GM/Lye never gets above 95 degrees. I like working with lower temps because of the milk.

But another method you could try is an "in the pot" swirl. there's probably a tutuorial on this method around somewhere in the tutorial section.

I used ITP swirl for the green batch, and that's what I'm going to continue doing whenever I use these molds for swirling. It was just easier!

I would love to see the tutorial on someone swirling with these molds. I googled and couldn't find anything :?

 

[dcornett]

I love the marbled look you got with the green! Very pretty!

 

[Half Caper Farm]

I don't think I'm doing anything different. I use frozen "fresh" goats milk (I put fresh in quotes b/c it't not directly from my goat, it's been in the freezer for a bit) and break it up into chunks in my stainless steel pot, which is in my sink with ice cubes surrounding the pot. Then I pour in my lye, which is beads, and immediately begin stirring and breaking up the chunks so my milk doesn't burn. My milk usually stays a nice creamy white color, although for the purple batch it did turn a little more brown than usual. I would say my GM/Lye never gets above 95 degrees. I like working with lower temps because of the milk.

Hmmm. That's what I do too. My milk goes yellow though. I've done it with the milk just frozen to a slush and also with it frozen solid for a few days and then thawed to a slush. I always use that day's milking, not milk that's been in the fridge for a while. Maybe more ice in the sink! [/code]

 

[glenolam]

You said you freeze it and thaw it out to a slush - I don't let it thaw out too much; I take it out of the freezer and usually mix it with the lye about 10-15 min later, so it's still in frozen chunks. It takes me a few minutes to get the milk/lye mix creamy.

IMO It doesn't hurt to use milk that's been frozen for a few days, either - so maybe you should try to freeze yesterday's milk just after milking and use that...

 

[Half Caper Farm]

Worth a try!