Deciphering feedback for a soap

[penelopejane]

Hi,

I really need some help deciphering feedback for one of my soaps.

The recipe is 40% OO, 30% Avocado, 10% RB, 10% Shea, 10% Castor. 25g of safe FO - BB Crisp cotton (not a keeper!).

In 150g = 5.5 oz of batter I put 1 tsp of BB Ultramarine Blue powdered pigment.

It is now 15 weeks old. The feedback I have received is that the blue part is soft, breaks off, sticks to your skin and is difficult to wash off.

Do you think this is too much colour or not enough cure time? Or something else?

 

[Arimara]

Good question. I can't use micas or my skin would hate me. Maybe you need a longer cure, especially since you have a huge chunk of soft oils there. I haven't tried out anything similar but in theory, that recipe should make a nice soap but would need to cure about a year.

 

[DeeAnna]

1 tsp of ultramarine blue in 150 g of batter -- wow -- that's a lot of pigment in a small amount of batter. I think the usual dosage is more like 1 tsp per pound of oils.

I know I wold put only a few drops of ultramarine blue in glycerin to color that much batter a medium blue.

 

[Obsidian]

I agree, that is way too much mica for such a small amount of batter.

 

[galaxyMLP]

Yep, I think it may have been the pigment. If that isn't mica, that's likely way too much pigment for your batter amount. That's even high for mica though.

I usually add ~1/32nd and up to1/4th teaspoon (and often on the low end) of pigments. Pigments include ultramarines, iron oxide and titanium dioxide. I use the most amount of TD. Reds need to be used vary sparingly or you get staining.

Micas can be added up to about 1-2 teaspoons per cup of batter (8 oz) for full vibrant color that mimics the dry powder and shines in CP soap. This is information from my supplier. I usually add 1 teaspoon~ ppo though. It works out to about 1 teaspoon per 22 oz of batter. And it's still highly pigmented.

Is there a reason you added so much color to this batch?

Did you add full water? 15 weeks should be enough with a water discounted soap.

 

[Arimara]

150g was the total amount of soap made? That tsp was indeed too much. Here I thought that was the amount of soap separated for swirl.

 

[DeeAnna]

I also understood that the 150 g was just a portion of the whole. Even so, that's still too much pigment.

 

[galaxyMLP]

I also understood it as the 5.5 oz were separated for color. Did I miscommunicate that in my explanation?

 

[Steve85569]

That is a lot of pigment in that amount of soap. That's one reason I add colorant in very small quantities( drops in water) until the desired shade is reached.

Just my way of doing things.

 

[DeeAnna]

No, Galaxy, you're good!

I think we're all on the same page that 1 tsp ultramarine blue was added to 150 g of soap batter. The OP's wording implies the 150 grams was a portion of the whole, so I think we're still on the same page on that as well --

"...the blue part is soft, breaks off, sticks to your skin and is difficult to wash off..."

The bottom line for me is regardless of whether the 150 g of batter is the whole amount or whether it is just a part, 1 tsp is still too much pigment.

 

[galaxyMLP]

Agreed! I think maybe there isn't enough soap in there to wash off the pigment well. The good thing is that ultramarines are water soluble at least!! If it was an iron oxide I think you may have some staining in this case.

 

[Arimara]

I guess I just need to take a nap before reading.

 

[penelopejane]

Yes the 150g was just the amount of batter for the swirl that had 1 tsp of ultramarine pigment not mica.

I made exactly the same recipe and put in 1/4 tsp of ultramarine pigment in 150g and it is very very pale so I thought I'd up the dose! Dummy. I just didn't know that pigment could do that. Maybe mine are a bit weaker than others? It doesn't stain at all. I will try and go up in smaller increments next time. I was worried it might have been some other fault, so thank you for the feedback.

My son says it would be good for little kids who are learning to Wash because you have to scrub well to get it off. : )

I've made this recipe lots of times (with more subtle colours) and it seems pretty good at 8 weeks cure. The blue swirl and violet swirl (same proportions) are hard on the bar when it is dry - it's only if it is sitting on a wet shower shelf that this happens. I used 30% lye concentration.