Acrylic paint for soap coloring?

[Maddie]

I'm an art student and I have a few ideas for a show I'm doing in a few days. The soap wont be used at all, I'm just wondering if acrylic paint would mess with the texture or setting time of a clear glycerin soap? If anyone has ideas all are welcome- the only reason I'm using paint instead of something like a dye is because I can't find a dye in bright florecent green. Also considering glow stick fluid but again, may ruin the soaps' texture.

Last question- could I pour melted soap over something textured, like ice, and have it set in an odd 'drippy' way? Just wondering if the water from the melted ice would, again, mess with texture/setting.
Thanks so much!

 

[BattleGnome]

Are you painting on top of the soap or mixing the paint in the soap? You can paint on top of soap. SoapFantasy on YouTube uses paint for embellishments like eyes in animal shaped molds. I don’t know how mixing paint in would work.

Brambleberry lab colors (https://www.brambleberry.com/Basic-Colors-Kits-C174.aspx) are very bright. They used to have a shade called “spring green” that turns out near fluorescent. I think the apple green is the closest they currently have but the lime may be what your looking for. There are also neons in the mica world. I don’t think Brambleberry has any but Nurture Soap might (I haven’t bought colorants in a while and can’t remember who has what right now). There are also glow in the dark powders available if you are going that direction.

While I’ve never tried it, I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to pour m&p or ice or other textures. You’ll have to keep a close eye on temps. Most bases melt around 100F, a flash freeze might be in order to even out the temps happily.

Topics and keep us updated. This sounds like a fun project and I’d love to see what kind of technique you come up with for the ice textures

 

[SaltedFig]

These people have got a neon green for glycerin soap (no idea what they are like to deal with, but the colour looks a bit like what you are after) ... they are in Ohio.

https://www.naturesgardencandles.com/soap-coloring/neon-green-fun-soap-colorant

 

[Maddie]

I'm going to try to mix the paint or dye in first, I'd like to keep the clear look of the soap to resemble gemstones in a way. I may also mix a bright green dye in and place tiny blacklights under/ on top of the soap for the show to make it pop. Ill keep the thread updated with techniques and pictures, thank you so much for your help!

Thank you- I will check them out. Hopefully it's fast shipping if I end up choosing them, Im setting up the show late next week I'm guessing.

 

[SaltedFig]

This might be interesting for you to look at: http://adkaromatherapy.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/terra-crystal-tutorial.html

(Originally referenced here on the forum in 2013, by the maker of the tutorial)

 

[earlene]

Steph's Micas & More (Facebook pre-buy group) has some neon M icas that are very bright in CP soap, but I have not used them in MP. And the drawback is the ordering window and shipping to you may be too long for your project.

As long as the soaps will only be for art and not used on the skin, I'd try the acrylic paint. I have used acrylic paint to color silicone and it worked perfectly. It's easily accessible, you can do small testers to determine the correct amount for the effect you want. And from what I have learned, it is not flammable, so should not be a problem if you decide to re-melt one of your soaps, although it could be messy during re-melt.

If you read up on MP soap, there are guidelines somewhere about how much extra additives you can add to it and it still set up nicely.

As far as glow stick fluid, I have no idea how the chemicals in it would interact with MP. The only way to find out would be to try, but I would first read up on the cautions that may be available to you regarding the components in glow stick fluids and what interactions might be undesirable.

PS: I have seen videos of MP soaps with lights under and I think inside to give that effect you mention. They were on YouTube about two or three months ago.

Here are a couple of such videos. If you watch, then more similar videos should also be listed as suggestions. I recall seeing a few interesting ones with underlighting.