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smeetree

smeetree

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I am having a very hard time keeping my soaps white. So what I noticed is pomace and my EOs are the biggest culprits in making it yellow. Coconut and Palm are my other staples and they keep it white so long as I don't add EOs. Would you guys say this is accurate?

Do you have any tips on how to keep a bar white?
 
pomace and evoo are both darker than plain olive. I find palm is a bit beige, too. lard, tallow, coconut, pko all make a very very white bar. some fragrances can cause discoloration, but i don't use EO's very often.

If I want to keep the soap white I add TD.
 
As was stated above, tallow, lard, CO and PKO all make a white bar..however I add Kaolin clay to most of my soaps, and just a touch of weak TD
 
I find Palm very yellowing. My olive oil pomace never seemed to effect my soaps but I think I am in the minority on that one. Most of my eo's don't seem to darken the soap unless its Orange or maybe patchouli or something.
 
I use TD if I want my soap to come out white, provided I'm not using an FO with a high amount of vanillin, that is. In that case, I'll end up with brown/dark tan soap no matter how much TD I use. lol


IrishLass :)
 
At what point of the soaping process is TD added? And are there any complications with it? I try to avoid additives since that's why I started making soap, but I might give it a try. First I am going to try a Crisco/Coconut/castor combination since they're all pretty white and see how that works. I notice some EOs make the white part of my batter turn greenish yellow.

I attached a photo of my most recent soaps. In the left soap (french green clay/lemongrass) the right corner is supposed to be white, but you can see it turned yellow. In the blue and white (peppermint-rosemary) soap, the white swirl is more yellow than I would have liked for the christmasy idea I was going for...overall I am content with these soaps but feel they'd be better if white.

soaps.jpg
 
I'm going to say that gelling will also increase the yellowing a little. Ungelled soap have a lighter, creamy look. Using TD and not gelling gives me perfect white bars. If I'm adding TD to the whole batch, I mix it into the lye water. If I'm only coloring a portion of the batter, I mix a little TD with a small amount of water and add it at emulsion.
TD can cause what is called steric crackle/glycerin rivers, especially if the soap is allowed to gel or you use full water.
 
Obsidian said:
I'm going to say that gelling will also increase the yellowing a little. Ungelled soap have a lighter, creamy look. Using TD and not gelling gives me perfect white bars. If I'm adding TD to the whole batch, I mix it into the lye water. If I'm only coloring a portion of the batter, I mix a little TD with a small amount of water and add it at emulsion.
TD can cause what is called steric crackle/glycerin rivers, especially if the soap is allowed to gel or you use full water.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree. I had a little leftover from the loafs above and didn't cover it. It didn't gel, and it appears significantly whiter. I'm experimenting more with not gelling... I'm just not convinced I know how to stop it and I don't want partial gel ever (I really can't stand the look at all).
 
Do you use wooden molds? If so, freeze them for a hour or so before you pour your soap. Soap cool as you can, put the molded soap in the freezer for 24 hours then in the fridge for another 12. Bring to room temp before cutting. I usually put my molds in the fridge for 6 hours or so but depending on the recipe and scent, it can heat back up once it hits room temp. Keeping it in the freezer for a long time generally prevents that.
 
Obsidian said:
Do you use wooden molds? If so, freeze them for a hour or so before you pour your soap. Soap cool as you can, put the molded soap in the freezer for 24 hours then in the fridge for another 12. Bring to room temp before cutting. I usually put my molds in the fridge for 6 hours or so but depending on the recipe and scent, it can heat back up once it hits room temp. Keeping it in the freezer for a long time generally prevents that.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I only have the silicon molds. I really want a wood one but I am strapped for space in my apartment, and the ones I saw looked pretty large. I will look some more and if I find a small one I'll buy it.

Would freezing a silicon mold help at all? When you say soap at a low temp would you say 90 degrees or even lower?
 
Can someone recommend to me the best TD to buy? Something that does the job at a good price I don't need anything fancy. Time to address this yellowing! (Sometimes I dig it, but not when I need white).
 
I doubt freezing a silicone mold would help but it certainly won't hurt. Soaping temp depends on your recipe, find out which oil has the highest melting point and aim for a bit warmer. I've found 75*-80* is a good temp for most recipes unless working with butters, steric or beeswax.

Check around with the different suppliers and go with whoever is cheap, TD is pretty much all the same. There is two version though, one mixes with water and one mixes with oil. I use the water soluble one because its what I found local. A lot of people prefer the oil soluble as it seems to have less issues with streaking.
 
Last edited:
smeetree said:
At what point of the soaping process is TD added? And are there any complications with it? I try to avoid additives since that's why I started making soap, but I might give it a try. First I am going to try a Crisco/Coconut/castor combination since they're all pretty white and see how that works. I notice some EOs make the white part of my batter turn greenish yellow.

I attached a photo of my most recent soaps. In the left soap (french green clay/lemongrass) the right corner is supposed to be white, but you can see it turned yellow. In the blue and white (peppermint-rosemary) soap, the white swirl is more yellow than I would have liked for the christmasy idea I was going for...overall I am content with these soaps but feel they'd be better if white.
Click to expand...

I add my TD after trace and after I've added my E/O or F/O. I always use TD if I want a white soap.
 
I use TD from SoapGoods, {http://www.soapgoods.com/Titanium-Dioxide-p-670.html} and I mix it with water..usually a weak mixture, and I add it at trace. I soap cool..usually 100 deg or cooler. I have never gotten speckles or rivers...not so far anyway :)
 
Do you guys know what this seller is talking about and whether this td would work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Titanium-Di...A-/201215290798?ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

I asked if it was oil or water soluble and he wrote, "[FONT=&quot]Hello this produt is dispensable (as apposed to soluble) in both water and oil, thanks to it special surface treatment it is a high coverage Anatase from Germany brand name KRONUS1000, it is slight faster to disperse in water than oil but it is great in both media."

Does this make sense?
[/FONT]
 
smeetree said:
Do you guys know what this seller is talking about and whether this td would work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Titanium-Di...A-/201215290798?ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

I asked if it was oil or water soluble and he wrote, "[FONT=&quot]Hello this produt is dispensable (as apposed to soluble) in both water and oil, thanks to it special surface treatment it is a high coverage Anatase from Germany brand name KRONUS1000, it is slight faster to disperse in water than oil but it is great in both media."[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Does this make sense? [/FONT]
Click to expand...
There is a td that is soluble in both oil and water. I personally prefer oil soluble td and have no crackling problems. I used to have a lot of problems with water soluble td. He price is high. WSP or soapsupplies.net are better prices
 
cmzaha said:
There is a td that is soluble in both oil and water. I personally prefer oil soluble td and have no crackling problems. I used to have a lot of problems with water soluble td. He price is high. WSP or soapsupplies.net are better prices
Click to expand...

Thanks, do you know what "[FONT=&quot] dispensable (as apposed to soluble[FONT=&quot])" means?
[/FONT] [/FONT]
 

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