Question about micas

[Hippie13]

I ordered some micas and have been wondering, when I add them to my soaps, should I mix them in olive oil first or is it okay to put it in as a powder? Is there a reason to do it one way or the other or is it to each their own?

 

[artemis]

I ordered some micas and have been wondering, when I add them to my soaps, should I mix them in olive oil first or is it okay to put it in as a powder? Is there a reason to do it one way or the other or is it to each their own?

In my experience, when I don't mix them in oil, I end up with spots of unincorporated mica in my soap.

 

[shunt2011]

I generally mix them with a bit of oil from my soap batch or mix with some glycerin. I have added them directly to my soap batter without much issue but find they mix a bit better mixed first.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

If you're making everything one color, you can add to the whole batch of oils and the SB will get them mixed in as you move toward trace. But if you're adding after anything but the lightest trace, it's better to have them pre-mixed into a bit of oil or glycerin so you don't get lumps. It's just like making gravy.

 

[toxikon]

I agree with the above!

When I'm doing a multi-coloured soap, I will add the different micas to smaller containers. Then after melting my oils, add a tablespoon or two of the oil to each container and use a mini spatula to thoroughly mix the mica. Chunks of mica in your soap isn't fun!

 

[Hippie13]

How much oil should I mix them in?

 

[BrewerGeorge]

How much oil should I mix them in?

Depends on how much mica, I suppose. But for typical amounts, I use 2-3 tablespoons of oil from the main batch.

But you need to be a little careful if you have a lot of hard oils because the little amounts can cool much quicker and thicken/harden up on you.

 

[toxikon]

How much oil should I mix them in?

Just enough to get it liquid. Add a bit of oil at a time - it'll start as a thick paste then just keep diluting until it's just barely liquidy. That's what I do anyway.

I don't masterbatch my micas, I just use them powdered as I need them. So I just take the oil from my warmed oils in the bowl so it won't effect my superfat.

 

[earlene]

I usually take approximately a Tablespoon or two from the soft oils only (OO or RBO or Almond, or whatever soft oil I am using) before adding any hard oils to the mix. Then I don't ever have to worry about hard oils cooling down too fast and making the mics mixture solid. In other words, I weigh out my soft oil of choice, then dip the spoon in, take out enough to soften my mica and carry on as usual with the rest of the recipe.

For TD, I usually use about twice as much oil as for the micas because it thickens up very fast on its own accord.