Oil for colorants - include in total of recipe?

[Deborah Long]

You guys just let me know when I've taxed your patience with my dumb newbie questions, k? lol

So, up til now I have not included any colorant as an additive. I'm not sure if I should, actually.
I have some new colorants that need to be combined with oil. Do I remove some oil from my total oils that I've prepped to prep the colorants or will 1 TBLS of light weight oil (like Sunflower oil) not change anything enough that I'm safe for one color.
Then, if safe for one color, what about 3?
lol
Thanks ever so much for all of your help!

(Off to figure out how to do YELLOW!)

 

[steffamarie]

Many people do use their batch oils to disperse their colorants. I am not one of those people - I find that I never know how much colorant I'm going to need, so I disperse in a couple tsp of oil (usually RBO which I have the most of) before adding a little at a time to my batter. If your batches are small, of course the oil will make a bigger impact on your SF and potentially your lather. I make 3lb batches at a time and haven't noticed any real dent in my bubbles.

Just use your best judgement and if you know you're going to use a lot of colorant/oil, you can always take your SF down from 5% to 3% or so to help account for extra you'll add during the coloring process.

I have some annatto seeds infusing in oil right now in the hopes that I'll end up with a gorgeous yellow

 

[Deborah Long]

@steffamarie - good luck! I'd be interested to see how that turns out! I tried some annatto powder and ended up with a lovely orange! lol

 

[cmzaha]

I totally agree with Steffamarie, I never use my batch oils since they would all need to go back into the batch. Most of the time I use glycerin for my colorants since it works with oil or water colorants, if using mica I usually just add the color straight into the batter without diluting

 

[Deborah Long]

Thanks, both of you!

 

[shunt2011]

I too use a bit of extra oil or glycerine.

 

[mx5inpenn]

I use a bit of extra olive oil.

 

[amd]

I'm the oddball, if I have to pre-disperse a colorant and it is not an oil locking mica, I use water. The risk of this is glycerin rivers, but I like they way they look so the rare occasions they happen it's a good thing. I soap at the max water so I do usually pull a tbsp out of what I measure for soapmaking (BEFORE adding lye).

 

[Obsidian]

I just add mica directly to the batter, it mixes in quite well without having to be dispersed in oil first. My oxides are all mixed with water and I use just enough to disperse the pigment, often its well under 1/2 tsp water for a 1-2 lb batch.