UGLY soap

[ErinO]

I developed a nasty allergy to a handful of synthetic detergents --MD recommended castile soap, and I realized I could make it cheaper and more to my liking. I just sort of jumped in with hot process so I could bathe, and it worked. Cool. But it was ugly. I tried cold process, also works, but the colors are all the same -- green.
I'm using brambleberry's lye calculator, in small batches, just water and lye and olive oil. 5% superfat. I've got some of nurture soap's fragrances and mica colors. I fish a bit of the measured oil out to blend into the mica. I know mica can do strange things, but since none of them work, it's probably operator error.
I don't have to have pretty soap. It's just for me and the family. I want pretty soap because it's for me and the family. It's a small consolation prize for the embarrassment of being unconscionably precious about how the linens are laundered everywhere I go. I don't have any troubles with colorants or fragrances, just detergents. Are there alternative methods/colorants? Or just the nature of olive oil?

 

[steffamarie]

Are you sure the micas you bought are CP-safe? Sometimes micas are not able to withstand the high pH...but if you bought them from Nurture I would think at least one would work. I think almost all of their micas are CP stable, if not all of them. You can use natural colorants like paprika, turmeric, spirulina, indigo powder, etc. that you can infuse into your olive oil before making your soap. Those colors won't last as long or give you as great a variety as micas will. I have lots of micas from Nurture and none of them have failed so far. Which ones have you tried?

 

[dibbles]

If you are using EVOO, that will make the base a greenish color. You can just use regular olive oil. You could try adding a little TD, white mica or white kaolin clay to the base before adding the colored micas. I use Nurture micas all the time and have good results. One more thought, are you using enough mica?

 

[ErinO]

Thank you both. I may not be using enough, but I'm judging by watching videos. I'm not sure what enough is. 1tsp/lb is not working. I haven't tried the red, and the mocha brown is reasonably brown. I had white pearl, I think, but I've used it in my efforts to get some color.

 

[lenarenee]

Dibbles is right about the EVOO. However, the color will fade - after many months. 100% olive oil soap takes at least 9 months to properly cure anyway.

Nurture's micas are put through the ringer before going up on the website; the owner is meticulous about testing and quality. Were the micas listed as soap stable?

Have you thought about doing a recipe other than castile? That would give you the choice to use "whiter" oils and therefore more control over how the color plays out. Shorter cure time too.

If you still want to do hot process with the idea of using the soap immediately - know that it still needs to cure (castile and non-castile soaps). Curing isn't just about water evaporation, there are still chemical processes happening in the soap that affect it's pH and mildness.

I've used some of those; purple vibrance is beautiful! The white mica doesn't have any affect for me at all.

 

[ErinO]

I've looked at other oils. I'm not into spending on expensive ones, though. I had considered trying a bit of lard and coconut oil, but I really don't want to smell like bacon, though some of us might be into it.
I bought some liquid Dr. Bronners for laundry/immediate personal use.

 

[mommycarlson]

Hi Erin Those mica's look just like the ones I use. Just FYI, I use 50% lard in all my soaps along with OO, CO and Castor. My soaps do not smell like bacon. Lard make's a lovely bar of soap!

 

[ErinO]

I really think it's something I'm doing, I just wasn't sure what. The colors are stunning in the jars. I think I'm going to take everyone's advice and try the lard and coconut. I'll let you know how it goes. Thank you all so much.

 

[lenarenee]

You can reduce the amount of lard (and your fear of the smell) by also using 20% of a liquid oil like olive, high oleic safflower or sunflower along with
about 20% coconut. That pretty much my go to recipe! Very slow moving recipe with plenty of time to color and swirl if you ever become interested in that.

100% coconut oil with 0% superfat (moves quickly, and definitely will gel and get hot) makes a good laundry soap after you grate it up.

 

[ErinO]

That sounds pretty good. I'll have to figure out the proportions. Thank you for helping.

 

[steffamarie]

I'll also attest to my 40% ish lard soaps not smelling like lard at all I typically disperse 1tsp of mica in 1-2tsp oil and then stick blend it in at emulsion/trace. You can get away with whisking it into a faster moving recipe, but if you use oxides like titanium dioxide, you'll need to stick blend to get the best dispersion. I like watching videos from Soapish and Ophelia's Soapery - they both stick blend to emulsion and add dispersed colorants then.

 

[Obsidian]

I use 50% lard and have no piggy smell. It can get a odor if you heat it too much though, just heat oils enough so they are clear, they don't need to be hot.

My go to recipe is

lard 50%
OO or other liquid oil, I like safflower or avocado 25%
coconut 20%
castor 5%

 

[dibbles]

I've used many of those micas and they worked great. I premix my micas in just enough (usually sunflower) oil to get them fluid. I add a bit at a time and stir it into my separated batter until I get the color I want. I usually only need to buzz white and black with my stick blender. If you are using one color for the whole batch, you can just add it at emulsion - or whenever you like. You could even add it right to the oils and blend it in before you add the lye solution. Nurture recommends 1 tsp per pound, so I'm not sure what is causing the problem for you. Are you using one tsp PPO, or per pound of soap?

Also, lard makes lovely soap. I use it up to 40% and don't notice a smell. Lard, coconut, olive, castor and another light colored liquid oil like HO sunflower, safflower or almond will give you a whiter base which will help too.

 

[Dennis]

Plain old classic olive oil from WalMart is cheap and works fine. I have a batch of true castile ageing now. Yes, the EVOO will make your base batter greenish. Correct that and you may find you use less colorant to achieve what you seek instead of just using more colorant. If you're using EVOO.
Lard is the soaper's friend. I too use up to 40% and never smell bacony and I would find that pleasant.

 

[ErinO]

I went with 20% lard, 20% coconut oil, 60% olive oil. I haven't found the plain olive oil that was suggested. This is much better. My black faded to green, but that's probably related to fragrance oil discoloration, which was marked on the label. Thanks, everyone!