1. Is there a starting point for measuring glycerin? For water and OO I always use 1TBSP. I make small batches (2lb oil).
Speaking only for myself, I normally don't measure my glycerin. The amount of it that I end up using all depends on how much powdered colorant I decide to use for my batch.
If it helps, this is basically my method of madness: I put the amount of powdered colorant that I'll be using into a small glass prep bowl (the kind of small bowl that lots of folks use for food-prep when cooking- probably holds about 1-oz of water, if even that), and then I squirt into it only enough glycerin that will disperse the colorant and give it a nice amount of workable fluidity so that it is able to pour halfway decently into my batter later. To mix the glycerin into the colorant well, I use one of those mini mixers/frothers (mine is made by Badger and it's awesome for mixing tiny amounts of things).
This is what it looks like.
If I had to make an eye-ball guess of how much glycerin I squirt into my powdered colorant, I'm thinking it's probably not much more than a teaspoon or a 1.5 teaspoons...... or maybe as much as a tbsp. or so if I'm using a tsp. or more of powdered colorant. I should mention right here that my batches aren't terribly huge. They normally range in size from 1 lb. to 2.8 lbs., so I'm not mixing up a huge amount of powdered colorants. Most of my batches contain 1 tsp. or less powdered colorant ppo (depending on the color).
2. is there such thing as using too much glycerin? (and what would that look like?)
I suppose there's always a point of diminishing returns with just about everything, but so far, I have not ever gone too far with the glycerin in my colorants to be able to tell you what it would look like.
If you're careful to mix in only enough glycerin as will disperse your colorants and give them a nice enough fluidity to pour halfway decently into your batter without much fuss, then I really wouldn't worry about it.
To give you an idea of the consistency of my mix of glycerin/colorant- it's much like the consistency of heavy cream poured from the carton, maybe just a tiny bit thicker, but not by much. Basically, I like it to be thick, but fluid. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if it's anything like the consistency of pudding, I know I definitely need to add more glycerin. lol
3. How well do micas mix? I do some swirling on the top of my soaps using gold/silver mica and glycerin, so for that I use a 2oz fliptop bottle with a marble in it to help mix, and it's sometimes hard to get a good mix. For my batter colors I use the "baggie mash and smash" method.
Like I mentioned above, I use a mini-mixer/frother made by Badger to mix all my colorants. I can't recommend it highly enough. It really does a fantastic job at mixing small amounts of things well, which is wonderful because I use small amounts of colorants and I like mixing them fresh for each batch.
4. Can glycerin be used to mix oxides? What about my w-s TD?
I've found that
all of my colorants mix well with glycerin, whether they be water or oil dispersible- micas, oxides, ultramarines, TD, activated charcoal, etc.... they all do great, which is why I prefer to water or oil for mixing my colorants. Using glycerin means never having to wonder whether one's colorant needs to be mixed with water or oil.
Sorry if my questions are weird (I'm a strange duck to start with - add an engineering brain and a little shiny object distraction to the mix... good times) or impossible to answer. I appreciate any attempt to calm my first time glycerin jitters.
From one 'weirdo' to another- no apology needed.
IrishLass
