Mica, when can I apply it?

[Pinkynoodle]

Hello, started making soap 4 months ago. Make some ugly a$$ soap a month ago and wanted to try a make it pretty by adding mica splatter effect.
Can i use Mica after a soap has cured to make a galaxy effect?

 

[jcandleattic]

It probably wouldn't stick to the soap after a 4-6 week cure, and probably not even after saponification and before the cut, but after it's put into the mold and is still wet batter you can and it should stick to give you the effect you want.

 

[penelopejane]

You can use 1 part mica to one part oil on newly made soap. The oil gets reabsorbed. Not sure it will work on 4 month old soap.

You can make another batch and use a tiny amount of the batter as a paint or with a piping bag to add decoration like a cake. It sticks well to new soap - not sure about 4 month old soap but you have nothing to lose trying it.

 

[Pinkynoodle]

Thanks! i tried with alcohol and now just directly sprinkle, meh. we"ll see.

 

[Pinkynoodle]

You can use 1 part mica to one part oil on newly made soap. The oil gets reabsorbed. Not sure it will work on 4 month old soap.

You can make another batch and use a tiny amount of the batter as a paint or with a piping bag to add decoration like a cake. It sticks well to new soap - not sure about 4 month old soap but you have nothing to lose trying it.

Thanks, great idea

 

[IrishLass]

I use sparkly gold mica mixed with a little bit of glycerin to 'paint' on the surface of my finished soap. but it's on a very small area- just to accentuate where I've stamped my soap. I stamp and paint during the first week of cure, and it takes a few weeks to dry (see the bee):

As wonderful as the technique works on small areas, there's no way I would ever think of attempting to paint swirls over the whole surface using this technique. That would be very messy and troublesome indeed.

The only 'after-the-fact' mica thing that I ever apply over the whole surface of a soap is with my Salty Mariner soap. Basically, I take a dry paintbrush, dip it in sparkly iridescent mica, tap off the excess, and then I dapple it all over my freshly cut soap -just to give it an all-over iridescent sheen. But that's as far I ever go.


IrishLass

 

[Moebym]

Like others have said, it likely won't stick well if the soap's already been curing for weeks. You should create the splatter effect when the soap is still soft.

I've seen soapers mix mica with an oil like sweet almond and drizzle it over the top of the soap batter while it's still pretty soft. Another option is to divide some of the emulsified soap batter up into small cups, mixing some mica in, and drizzling that over the top; I presume it would look more three-dimensional that way since it's soap batter rather than oils.

 

[SunRiseArts]

You can. I always paint my MP soaps with mica / alcohol. BUT as soon as it hit the water it will fall us. If it is for décor or picture. Then yes.