Courtney89 Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 My soap recipe always makes my soaps yellow just because of the oils I use. I decided to invest in some titanium dioxide but it's not seeming to work well. I got the oil dispersable from Nature's Garden. The first time I tried it, it made my soap pretty much turn to ash. I figured I used too much even though I followed directions perfectly. I've tried using it again a few times and it just stays clumpy and won't disperse. I've tried mixing it straight into the oils (which the directions say to do) and I tried mixing it a bit before i put it in kind of like I do my mica. Any help would be wonderful. My recipe only consists of coconut, palm and olive oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Have you tried to pre-disperse it in oil for a few days before you use it? Sometimes it needs to hydrate for a long time. i love the water dispensable from nurture myself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Hmmm.... coconut, palm, and olive oil should give you a nice white bar. Unless you are using a darker grade of olive oil. I prefer the "cooking" or regular golden olive oil which doesn't add and color in my soap. Some OO's can change the color. For example; pomace OO can be dark while some are a light golden colored, and extra virgin can be green. I use the TD from TKB TRading. I use the oil dispersable one but it also dissolves quite nicely in water too. Never used the one from Nature's Garden. If I were you, I would try a TD recommended from a more experienced soaper like TT. I myself have several years experience and trust the TD from TKB. I also trust Nurture's soap supplies so would not hesitate to try theirs either. I put mine directly into my oils and stick blend it in with my oils and lye solution. I use 2 tsp for a 5 lb soap batch. I have also put it in my lye water and blended it in with the solution too. Either way works for me its just that for me its easiest to add directly to my oils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shari Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 I too use the water dispersible TD from Nurture. I just have not had any luck with oil dispersible TD unless I pre mixed it a couple days ahead of time and strained it as I poured into my batter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara AL Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 TKB Trading the water disperable one is the only one I will use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 This is very helpful - I was just struggling with micro lumps of TD in my soap tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponiebr Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 (edited) 10 hours ago, jerry said: This is very helpful - I was just struggling with micro lumps of TD in my soap tonight. One other little trick I learned was to take like a dime or nickle bag and put the TD (or mica) into the baggie and add in your oil or water into the bag and zip the top closed. You can then "knead" the lumps out very effectively. Then when you go to use it just snip off the corner of the baggie like a ketchup packet and splooch right into your batter. The water dispersing one seems to clump up less in my experience and it's the only one I keep on hand now because you can mix it in water or oil and it works just fine. ETA: ONE THING... TD HEATS SOAP UP A LOT. So if you are dealing with a naturally hot soap during cure TD MAY push it over the top... I'm just say'n, BE aware of this. Edited December 10, 2018 by Sponiebr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 7 hours ago, Sponiebr said: TD HEATS SOAP UP A LOT. So if you are dealing with a naturally hot soap during cure TD MAY push it over the top... I'm just say'n, BE aware of this. Being very new - heats it up as in accelerates trace or I'm not sure I know what happens to soap getting hot during curing (again, newbie). I'm off to google. Thanks for both TD tips, @Sponiebr! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponiebr Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 @jerry Actually, (I don't use TD very often), but yeah, I think it does accelerate trace... However, what I was specifically referring to as heating up the soap was that the TD causes the soap temperature to rise rather significantly. The higher the water content the more pronounced this heating effect is. Super heated soap with high water content can do something called volcanoing in which the soap literally BOILS up and out of the mold much like a volcano erupting. Also they can explosively erupt if you have a cooled harder outer shell of soap with a super-heated core BOOM! Ok so... Messy but no biggie... RIGHT? NOPE! First it's OVER 212F in a sticky GEL like substance so it STICKS as it burns the living FROG CHUCKLES outta you, (BUT WAIT!!!! THERE'S MORE) and it has ACTIVE LYE to help with it's destructive tantrum... Another oddity that can happen from the heating of TD laden soap is something called glycerin rivers. It's basically where a TD swirl super heats past gel phase but doesn't actually do anything else and it leaves the weird looking transparent river like structures throughout the soap. They can actually look pretty cool in my opinion, but generally they are considered a "flop" by soapmakers... TD can also make tiny, titchy, pinpoints of transparent dots when dispersed throughout the batter in high water content soap. These are also an aberrant form of glycerin "rivers". Neither form of glycerin rivers will harm the usefulness of the soap. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 @Sponiebr holy smokes - no pun intended - may I never experience the volcano. So good to know though. And those glycerin rivers do sound cool. I am just excited to be trying a third color and trying hanger swirls, lol. Thank you very much for the info, Sponiebr!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Uh, could TD have contributed to/caused DOS? I understand DOS are typically caused by rancid oils, but I have had no DOS with 2 loaves I made on Saturday and now the loaf I poured on Sunday has them. They are not as big or uniformly shaped as I have seen pics of, which is why I'm asking if TD could have contributed to them. Sorry for the mild thread-jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 (edited) 9 minutes ago, jerry said: Uh, could TD have contributed to/caused DOS? I understand DOS are typically caused by rancid oils, but I have had no DOS with 2 loaves I made on Saturday and now the loaf I poured on Sunday has them. They are not as big or uniformly shaped as I have seen pics of, which is why I'm asking if TD could have contributed to them. Sorry for the mild thread-jack. That's very fast to develop DOS - are you sure it's DOS? Do you have a pic? DOS doesn't typically occur until after weeks of curing, not days, unless the oils used were rancid to begin with, but you would have smelled that while soaping. I've never heard of TD causing DOS but have heard of the oil it was used to dissolve/disperse in causing DOS. ETA: I should have added it sounds more like FO spots, than DOS. Edited December 11, 2018 by Jcandleattic 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 2 hours ago, Jcandleattic said: ETA: I should have added it sounds more like FO spots, than DOS. Thank you! It didn't look like the pics of DOS I've seen...FO spots - I was wondering if it was the fragrance oil! I had not used this one before and read on the CS website that it makes soap darker. I can take a pic once I'm home again just for confirmation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Sorry for the crummy photo, but you can see the brown spots. And the air holes because it got thick fast! Thank you for your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 To me it looks like Incompletely mixed FO. The edges are irregular. Those spots are likely to continue to appear as FO cures and oxidizes. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponiebr Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Yeah... That's REALLY FAST for DOS... Uhm... Just a question: Are you using any "used" fats? Like fats that have been used to cook with? (I'm only asking because if so then yeah THAT could cause DOS to appear VERY quickly) But Unless they were put into direct sunlight and left in a HOT place (like in a zip lock baggie on the seat of a car in FULL sunlight) DOS just doesn't form that fast. (Unless you are using rancid or used oils already, but rancid oil smells usually like puke or at LEAST really musty and gross) You DID say though your soap always comes out yellow looking and that IS odd because coconut, palm, and olive oils should give you a nearly white bar of soap... If those ARE DOS they will 1. spread grow outwards, and 2. they WILL smell funny kind of musty and not clean somehow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Those spots look to me as TT said, the FO didn't get fully incorporated so there are "pockets" of unmixed FO throughout the soap. You can do 2 things - let it continue, or you can rebatch your soap. 4 hours ago, Sponiebr said: You DID say though your soap always comes out yellow looking and that IS odd because coconut, palm, and olive oils should give you a nearly white bar of soap... Unless the olive oil used is more on the green side, and the FO is not a clear FO. FO can do some wonky things to soap batter! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponiebr Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 3 hours ago, Jcandleattic said: Those spots look to me as TT said, the FO didn't get fully incorporated so there are "pockets" of unmixed FO throughout the soap. You can do 2 things - let it continue, or you can rebatch your soap. Unless the olive oil used is more on the green side, and the FO is not a clear FO. FO can do some wonky things to soap batter! I agree with both you and TT it's probably FO pockets. I was just doing my normal progression of weirdness in wondering about the really fringy what-ifs... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Thanks @TallTayl, @Jcandleattic, and @Sponiebr - that sounds completely plausible as I reflect on the making - trace was accelerating - yup, didn't get mixed all the way. Can I be super lazy and just let it cure and then use it personally or is there a negative consequence I'm not thinking of right this minute? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 16 minutes ago, jerry said: Thanks @TallTayl, @Jcandleattic, and @Sponiebr - that sounds completely plausible as I reflect on the making - trace was accelerating - yup, didn't get mixed all the way. Can I be super lazy and just let it cure and then use it personally or is there a negative consequence I'm not thinking of right this minute? Only negative would be if the fo is concentrated enough to irritate the skin. Otherwise, I don't think it's a problem for personal use. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 5 minutes ago, Jcandleattic said: Only negative would be if the fo is concentrated enough to irritate the skin. Otherwise, I don't think it's a problem for personal use. Thank you! Maybe I'll try my first rebatch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah S Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 I just want to chime in and say @jerry, that is some beautiful soap! Fast acceleration or not, you did a great job with those swirls! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah S Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 I just want to chime in and say @jerry, that is some beautiful soap! Fast acceleration or not, you did a great job with those swirls! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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