Micas from JoAnn's craft store...anybody CP with it?

[michelleB]

I just bought a couple small containers of Royal Blue Mica powder from JoAnn Fabric yesterday because they were on sale, and I just used them on a 4lb batch of Downy April Fresh scented soap that's gelling as I type. Has anybody used the micas from there in CP before? The employees assured me they would work, but I've got my doubts because they don't appear to be quite right.

I wanted the soap to be an overall lt blue tint with a darker blue swirl, so I pulled out about 1/3 of the mix to use for the dark swirl. Added the mica to the main pot...nothing happened. Added more, still nothing. No color appeared. Added a total of about 2 teaspoons to the main pot with no results. Started working on the smaller portion and added twice as much...it turned PEACH! Like a salmon colored PEACHY-PINK! I looked over at the main pot and it is a pale cream color! (was white)

So....My two-toned light blue soap with a dark blue swirl is SALMON & CREAM colored! Will this change after gelling?? I need some soap fairy traps to put in my kitchen FAST! Them buggars are spoiling EVERTHANG!!

[Rebecca_IA]

You have to use an awful lot of most mica's to get your base colored with the same depth that you would with, say an FD&C colorant. A lot of it.

I would suggest using the mica's for swirls only or sprinkling some on top of the bar or at the bottom of your mold or with stamping the bars. Otherwise, it's not really cost effective.

And I doubt those colors will turn to blue after the gell. The chemical reaction that takes place while making soaps cause some micas to morph to a completely different and unexpected color. That's one of the reasons why not all mica's are CP safe, even if they are soap safe. They'd work in MP but not CP.

[elle110]

first of all, next time you add mica, to color your main pot of soap, you want to have either pre-mixed your mica with some oils from the pot and then some soap to add back to pot so that you don't get speckles from mica not dispersing. You will want to do the same with soap you want to swirl with.

Really don't know what color of soap you will end up with, I have a lemon Yellow that is the brightest color orange until after gel. Another time I colored a soap green (fresh cut grass FO) and came out brown (wanted to call it Freshly Sloshed Mudd).

Post us pic after you unmold so we can see

(Next time using untested micas pull some soap out at light trace and test it to see what color it turns b4 dumping it in and ending up with disappointing results)