I'm fairly new to soaping. My question is about pre- mixing micas and pigments with oil before adding to the batter. Do you use oil from the recipe itself, or oil from a bottle on the counter? If you use oil from a bottle aren't you increasing the oil in the recipe (and therefore the superfat % by some unknown amount), which could potentially lead to softer soap, oily feeling soap, or dreaded orange spots?
pre-mixing mica & pigments with oil
- Thread starter maxine289
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You need to use oil the recipe calls for. For example: If your recipe calls for 300 g of olive oil, you take however much of that oil you need to mix with the colorants, and put the rest of the oil in the bowl to mix with the NaOH/water.
Maxine289, I weigh out my soft oil(s) into the mixing bowl (sometimes only one of the oils, sometimes all of the oils.) Then take a spoonful (I use a stainless steel teaspoon) for each mica & place that into a small mixing cup. Then I put the mica onto the oil in each respective cup. For a bigger batch of soap I may use two teaspoons of oil per cup, but I start with one teaspoon (not an exact measure, but it's what I do) and let the mica soften and stir a it before adding more oil.
If you use any water soluble colorants (some Titanium Dioxide is water soluble, although not all are), then I would deduct the weight of the water for mixing color from the water for the lye solution.
If you use any water soluble colorants (some Titanium Dioxide is water soluble, although not all are), then I would deduct the weight of the water for mixing color from the water for the lye solution.
Thank you Earlene and Susie.
Dahila
Well-Known Member
when I wait oil I add less OO and mix mica with a bit, The same with water, I do steep discount of water so a bit of water for titanium does not hurt, It depens how much soap butter you have in one jar, when I do like 5 colors it is more like 1/4 of mica
