White soap - which oils and TD?

[renata]

Hello everyone!

I could really use some help.
My friend asked me if I could make a green&white soap as a wedding favors. That means around 90 pieces of soap. Since I'm quite new to soap making I need your help please.

My recipe:
- 20% coconut oil
- 30% palm oil
- 35% olive oil
- 5% castor oil
- 10% rapeseed oil

- 5% Lye discount
- 5% Almond or grapeseed oil at trace
- Fragrance oil

I want to make white soap with green (I dont know yet...layers, swirls, maybe polka dots).
And here the problem appears. All my soaps are light green or beige because of olive oil. Do you think that titanium dioxide will make it look white? How much TD do I have to use?

I have to use olive oil because I have to cut the costs down to a minumum and olive oil and rapeseed oil are the least expensive oils in my country. I suppose I could cut the costs down by eliminating castor and almond oil but really want to make a good soap. I tried this recipe and it is my favorite so far.

When I make soap by this recipe the trace is reached really fast. Could it be because of castor oil? Will TD speed the trace even more?

I would be really happy if you could help me with your answers and maybe some comments how to cut the costs down a bit more.

Thank you so much,
Renata

 

[Saswede]

Hi Renata,

I don't use palm oil, so don't know how that would impact on color. But if you want the soap to be as white as possible without TD, use light colored oils and butters and consider adding kaolin (white clay) to the portion that you want to keep white - its lovely in soap, and if you do add any EOs, its also supposed to fix the fragrance.

Shea butter or mango butter would be interesting, and you could also consider rice bran, sunflower, argan or safflower oils if you can get hold of any of these (argan oil is pretty expensive, so could be a budget buster - but you only need a small amount and I believe that it enhances the moisturizing properties of the soap).

Good luck with the order!




Sent from my iPad using Soap Making

 

[lsg]

Extra virgin olive oil often discolors soap, either greenish or yellowish colors. Pomace olive oil does not discolor much. If you are using rapeseed oil, I suggest adding a few drops of Vit. E to prevent DOS>

 

[judymoody]

I would omit the rapeseed and make up the balance in olive oil. If you use pomace or grade A (don't know what it's called where you live), it shouldn't discolor. The grade A is a pale yellow rather than a greenish color.

I premix my titanium dioxide in bit of olive or castor oil so it doesn't streak or clump. I don't really measure, I just add a little at a time into my oils and stick blend. Then after I add my lye, I adjust the color as needed.

I have made wedding favor soaps and they are pretty time consuming. I would do a pretty swirl rather than complicated embeds. Just my opinion.

Have fun and enjoy!

 

[renata]

Saswede, thak you for your suggestions. I tried shea butter in my soaps an I love it. But if I want to cut the costs down I can't use it...here in my country it is really expensive, so is mango butter and argan oil.

I will try kaolin, I have it at home. It sounds interesting how it reacts with FOs.

lsg and judymoody is sunflower oil more stable than rapeseed oil? I've allready searched for pomace oil but it seems like it is impossible to buy it here. Or maybe is pomace the same thing as refined olive oil? Maybe it is a dumb question but sometimes translating in my language is mission impossible.

And TD...well I can only get water soluble titanium dioxide. I guess that means I have to mix it with lye solution?

Would it be better if I use liquid white color from Gracefruit (instead of TD)?

Ahhh...here in my country all these ingredients are really expensive - believe it or not - only ONE store sells soapmaking supplies, and if I order from England the shipping is really high.

 

[jenneelk]

Ok.. am just skimming around here but have to cut in to ask.. is there a 'rapeseed' I don't know about? I thought original posted just spelled it wrong both times or had a sticky 'g' key but others are calling it the same?

 

[Nevada]

75% lard
25% Coconut oil
6% SF
At Light Trace split the batch and color half green and do the swirly thing.
Hard, white, and Moisturizing bar.

 

[lsg]

If you can get high oleic sunflower oil it is more stable. If you can't get the high oleic oil add several drops of Vit. E to your oils. It always works for me.

 

[judymoody]

Ok.. am just skimming around here but have to cut in to ask.. is there a 'rapeseed' I don't know about? I thought original posted just spelled it wrong both times or had a sticky 'g' key but others are calling it the same?

rapeseed is the same as canola, or rather canola is a genetically modified version of it, first grown in Canada, hence the "can"ola.

 

[sistrum]

You really should be fine using rapeseed at 10% at least for me I've never had dos at that level. In fact i use a recipe like that for a lot of my soaps. That being said the recipe from Nevada will,give a nice white bar and shouldn't cost to much.

 

[renata]

I never had dos with my recipes either.
I have to figure it out where I'll get lard...at least to try it out. For wedding favors I have to use all vegetable oils. I ordered titanium dioxide and I can't wait to recieve it. I'll try it and see how it goes.

Thank you for all your help

 

[kazmi]

"Or maybe is pomace the same thing as refined olive oil?"

Is refined olive oil what you have been using and getting a light green color?

 

[renata]

Well, so far I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Refined Olive Oil. EVOO makes light brownish green color and Refined OO gives lighter beige color. I dont mind this color but for the wedding the soaps need to be really white.

I did my homework and searched for pomace in my country but there is nowhere available

 

[renata]

I made quite a few batches since I opened this thread and I learned what it works best for me to get nice white soap.

- I use water soluble Titanium Dioxide. About 1tbs per 500g of oils. It works like a charm.
- If white is the basic color of my soap, I prevent gel. After pouring soap in a mold I put it in a freezer for few hours, then in refrigerator for 1 day and then I leave it in room temperature for one more day before cutting it.
- If I use FO that might color the soap, I put it in colored parts of soap batch and leave the white unscented. The whole loaf then smells like FO anyways.

That's it. I hope anyone find this helpful

 

[shunt2011]

You could also do 100% Coconut Oil with a 20% superfat. That will give you a really nice hard white bar of soap.