Strangest Thing Ever

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

TheGecko

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2019
Messages
3,929
Reaction score
7,749
Location
Oregon
So I'm finishing up the last of my Christmas soaps (yes, I'm running later). So I decided to make a batch of BB's Santa's Spuce...Brown w/Green Swirl. Add the FO, blend to emulsion, separate out. Add a dash of ZVCS to the green so it doesn't discolor, mix in well. So okay...I'm getting some acceleration, batter is thickening up, not stressing it. Add my brown mica to my main batter...stir stir stir. Hmmm...it's a little darker than I wanted. Grab my disperse TD, add in a couple of tablespoons and OMG...it turned grey! And not a cool grey, but like raw meat that has set too long in the frig. This has never happened before.

Okay...don't panic. Add some more brown. Nothing. Grab the Hershey's Cocoa, toss a bunch in...slightly darker shade of grey. Ah...screw it. Plop a layer of grey pudding, spread it...plop a layer of green, plop the last of the grey, top it with the green. Swirl, swirl, swirl...swirl again. Bang the everlovingcrap out of it in the garage. We'll see.

Oils are fresh. Lye Solution is fresh. All my equipment freshly cleaned. Colorants are usual. TD is usual. Scent is new and I didn't have time to test ahead of time.

ETA - I just made a batch of my Chocolate Espresso...no problems. Used the same brown for the brown part, used the same disperse TD for the white part. Had to really blend to get it to thicken up.

I ran out of Distilled Water and I'm now on Sodium Hydroxide, Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter. Thankfully I can "will call" for all this stuff.
 
Last edited:
So I'm finishing up the last of my Christmas soaps (yes, I'm running later). So I decided to make a batch of BB's Santa's Spuce...Brown w/Green Swirl. Add the FO, blend to emulsion, separate out. Add a dash of ZVCS to the green so it doesn't discolor, mix in well. So okay...I'm getting some acceleration, batter is thickening up, not stressing it. Add my brown mica to my main batter...stir stir stir. Hmmm...it's a little darker than I wanted. Grab my disperse TD, add in a couple of tablespoons and OMG...it turned grey! And not a cool grey, but like raw meat that has set too long in the frig. This has never happened before.

Okay...don't panic. Add some more brown. Nothing. Grab the Hershey's Cocoa, toss a bunch in...slightly darker shade of grey. Ah...screw it. Plop a layer of grey pudding, spread it...plop a layer of green, plop the last of the grey, top it with the green. Swirl, swirl, swirl...swirl again. Bang the everlovingcrap out of it in the garage. We'll see.

Oils are fresh. Lye Solution is fresh. All my equipment freshly cleaned. Colorants are usual. TD is usual. Scent is new and I didn't have time to test ahead of time.

ETA - I just made a batch of my Chocolate Espresso...no problems. Used the same brown for the brown part, used the same disperse TD for the white part. Had to really blend to get it to thicken up.

I ran out of Distilled Water and I'm now on Sodium Hydroxide, Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter. Thankfully I can "will call" for all this stuff.
I used cappuccino mica today and it was lovely, but my brown pigment also turned grey a few batches ago. Not sure why either but if you solve the mystery I need to know 🌸
 
It says the FO discolours to tan - maybe it reacted somehow to the TD and did naughty colour things??
I've used TD with FOs that discolored even darker and never had an issue. I'm going to try again tonight.
 
Back
Top