Soap Colorant Bleeding-Ooops!

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SoapHappyNYC

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The colored part of a bar of soap I made lathers red but does not stain. Is this an indication of too much coloring used? I used red oxide powder.
 
It does sound like you might have used a little too much. How much did you use? There was a discussion about red oxide recently but I couldn't find it; however, you might find the article about Coloring Cold Process Soap by Amy Warden (Great Cakes Soapworks) helpful.
 
Thanks, Hazel. Come to think of it, I should have reduced the amount of oxide but hadn't realized I didn't divide the soap evenly. Details...
 
It happens. I'm terrible about dividing batches for coloring. I use Ball freezer cups and just eyeball it - not the most precise way. :lol:
 
BTW, there is a thin white non-caustic film on the top of some soap. Do you know how to remove that or prevent that? I rubbed the top with alcohol but if I can prevent it, even better!
 
could be soda ash. Its hard to prevent, but sometimes covering the soap batter with something helps. I've heard something like saran wrap touching the soap especially helps. Some say specific ingredients make it more likely, and it seems smaller molds cause it frequently. There's various youtube videos on removing it including a soaping 101 one. Alcohol, water, and steam are all used by various people to remove it. I tried to steam some off recently but probably didn't have hot enough water, so instead I just used the water directly and my finger to help get the entire layer off.
 
I used alocohol and it took most of it off, I hope. Will definitely try the saran wrap and steam and check out you tube. Thanks for info! :-D
 

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