Need help premixing pigments

[JuneP]

This morning I watched one of the you tube videos on CP colorants and premixing; but it was a bit confusing, because in the first part of the video the gal said to premix using 1/3 cup glycerine or oil to 1/2 tsp of colorant, and then when using the premix, start with 1 tsp of the premixed colorant per cup of soap for CP soap, and 1/4 tsp of premixed colorant for MP soap Then later the video switched to another gal (introduced as the expert), and she was mixing Neon Blue and said to use 1 tsp of the neon pigment to the 1/3 cup of oil. So which is correct?
I figure I have a bit of time this morning to sterilize some of the mini mason jars I bought and pre-mix some of my colorants, like the chrome pigment, ultramarine blue, yellow oxide, tangerine wow, Fired up Fuchsia, and a few more if I have enough jars and time.
What mixture do you all use and how much premixed do you start with for CP and MP soaps?

Thanks!
June

 

[Obsidian]

I don't premix my colorants but when I mix them up before a batch, I use roughly one part colorant to one part water or oil. I want just enough liquid to smooth out the powder.
I use oil to mix my micas but water for my oxides. I think both will mix into glycerine, you might have to test that theory out though.

 

[shunt2011]

The only thing I pre-mix is my TD. I mix it really well in some oil then strain it to get any clumps out then pour into a squirt bottle, add some Vit E and that way it's ready to go. I make it fairly thick but not too thick. I don't have an exact measure. I only pre-mix my other colors if I'm doing several batches and I have little bottles I mix those in so they are ready.

 

[JuneP]

Followup question

So if you don't pre-mix your colorants, then what do you do if you have some excess colorant/oil or colorant/water or colorant/liquid glycerin left over? Do you just cover the cup or whatever with saran wrap and refrigerate it until next time you make soap, or do you just discard it?

I'm asking, because this time I might just try what you do, but make sure I mix enough colorant that I think will give me the depth of color I want, but also expecting that I might wind up with some of the color mixtures not used up.

Thanks!
June

 

[IrishLass]

I don't pre-mix my colorants either. Through a bit of trial and error, I've now come to know exactly how much of whatever dry colorant I need to mix with however much of my batter to get the depth of color I like in my soap. I just measure out however much of the dry colorants I need for my batch, mix them with an equal amount of glycerin or water or a little oil, depending on which medium they mix better with. And when all is said and done, I never have any left-over colorant sitting around. Nothing is wasted.

I tried pre-mixing once, using AnnMarie's (Brambleberry) method, but it just did not work out well for me. It just seemed like it was forcing me to add too much extra liquid to my soap that I didn't want in there, and I didn't like not knowing exactly how much actual colorant was in the portion of the pre-mixed liquid amount that I was adding to my soap. I much prefer the method I use above. I feel it gives me better control.

You know something, we should probably start a soap coloring thread where people could post pics of their soap and then share what colorants they used and how much colorant per cup or per pound of soap batter they used to achieve the color in their pictured soap. I've done that myself in piecemeal fashion in different threads on the forum, and I've seen others do the same, but it would be pretty cool to have an official, one-stop thread on the forum where color-challenged soapers can get go to get coloring help. Good idea?


IrishLass

 

[Obsidian]

I don't generally have left overs but if I do I'll toss them unless it micas. I'll drip the mica in oil on the tops of the loafs then swirl it around. I have a rough idea of how much colorant I need and only mix up a small amount. Sometime my soap might be a bit lighter or darker then I planned but I'm not so finicky that I care about being exact.
When coloring a whole 2lb batch, I start with mixing 1/2 tsp of my colorant, I rarely need more then that. If I'm doing separate colors, I'll mix maybe 1/8th of a teaspoon in little disposable cups.

 

[JustBeachy]

I found something that worked really well for me on a batch of soap salt last week that I was playing with the recipe on. I was making it with a split Coconut milk for the liquid and thought, I'll just mix my colors in some of the milk. It worked like a charm. Mica's stayed suspended, liquids just blended right in. and it was easy to get out of the ramekins.

It was only one batch, so who knows. But I'll be trying it again and may just make it my method from now on.

 

[JuneP]

I have all my oils waiting to get weighed and my fragrance is mixed and weighed. I've decided to jump in and do a 3 color hanger swirl with my low trace, no palm recipe. To give myself plenty of time, I'll soap at room temp. I found a message on the Internet on more suggestions for slow tracing, and this gal said that she even refrigerates her lye and has found no problem with the oils and lye being a different temperature. I won't chance that today, but may try it in a one lb test some day.

So many of my fragrances have vanilla and new ones arrive today; but I didn't want to put off making this soap. I was going to make this "Guy" sopa with Egyptian musk, but it has 2.4% vanilla, so then I have to dig out all my oils and see if I could find another "Guy" one. I had two tiny (must have been samples)of of a spiced amber, but not enough for my recipe, so I took a drop of it and added a drop of energy, and it smelled good to me and it passed the husband test.

The same internet messages I found on slow tracing gave me an idea of how to pick the amount of oils for base and color. So I did the math, and 50% of the soap will be for my base ivory color, and the other 50% will be equally split 3 ways. I'll weigh the fragrance oil for the larger base batch, and then eyeball it or the other three colors, or use on of the droppers to mete it out as equally as possible without weighing. Since this is going to be a "Guy" soap, the colors will be brown, black and a third color. The third possible color Is considered were a bright orange, chrome green, or burgundy. When I laid the jars of color side by side, I think the burgundy seemed to blend in nicely. Since this is mainly a soap for the men of the family, I'm figuring the orange may not go over that well, and the dark green might not pop enough to make an interesting contrast.

Any other suggestion for that third color, or do you think the burgundy is a good choice????

Now I just have to figure the amounts of colorants to use for this batch, the amount of sodium lactate, mix up some titanium dioxide, before I weight the oils (keeping some olive separate to mix the colorants), etc etc.. And most importantly, pray for some heavenly assistance that I don't make a huge mess of this first hanger swirl! LOL

I'll check back later when my oils and lye are cooling, and see if anyone had any suggestions on my third color choice. Thanks everyone for all your help on this and all my other newbie questions.

When you watch the you tube videos everything seems to go so fast, because they've already done so much of the time consuming prep of oil, lye, colorants, and setting up the work station. I can see why once experience is under ones belt, they seem to be making some pretty big batches at once!


June

 

[JustBeachy]

My first thought was a red, but burgundy sounds great. I also want to add, I think you did a great job laying out a plan for the soap. Keep it up, great planning helps make great soap.