End of the Year Lessons Learned

December 27, 2008

It's hard to believe that in a few short days the year 2008 will pass into the eternal past, It has been a very interesting year where soaping is concerned. And I think I have learned a thing or two about making milk soap. It has been an adventure anyway, a saga that will continue probably through most of 2009. I have a lot of experiments planned.

The picture is of two batches of frozen milk soap using the same amount of neon purple. The one on the right accidently got left in the freezer for several hours. The one on the left got taken out in about 1/2 hour like it was supposed to. It's a little hard to tell from the picture but the one that got frozen too long is a duller color. Of course neither batch looks anything like purple. The lesson learned here is the time milk soap is frozen CAN affect the final color.

Now that all the batches are at least a month old, it's time to take a look at what colors are good and which ones are not so good. However I will say this, ever bar of milk soap is, in it's own way attractive.

The uncolored bar of milk soap we used as a control has morphed into a very light tan. This is due I think, to the unrefined cocoa butter I've been using. Previously made batches using unrefined cocoa butter were mostly a nice white after 4 or more weeks.

FD&C lake colors

Batches 19-21 FD&C yellow The water batch remained true both milk soaps morphed into a deep gold. The batch that got frozen has a brighter color.

Batches 22-23 FD&C red both the water and milk batches are a nice red. The milk batches are not quite as bright.

Batches 26-28 FD&C 1/2 blue 1/2 yellow The result here is interesting. The water batch morphed into a light lavender. The two milk batches are a nice blue green. Since I was going for something to match the evergreen FO I am pleased with the result in the milk soaps anyway.

Batches 29-31 FD&C 1/2 yellow 1/2 red All 3 batches are a nice bright orange. There is very little difference between the water and the milk batches.

Oxides

Batches 32-34 brown oxide We got 3 nice shades of brown here. The water batch is light brown. The two milk batches are slightly different shades of a carmel brown. The batch that got frozen is a little brighter in color. More testing will be done on the oxides next year.

The Great Lavender Search

Batches 35&36 are differing amounts of lavender oxide. Both are dull lavender (bluish side of the spectrum) with the bar with the larger amount of colorant being brighter.

Batches 37&38 grape pop, a liquid colorant. I didn't do a water batch this time. One milk batch had twice as much colorant as the other. Both made a nice blueish lavender. The one with the most colorant was a bit more vibrant.

Batches 41& 42 Easter purple lab color These two batches are the winners in the Lavender search. 1 mil of colorant gives you a lovely dark purple. 1/2 mil gives you a nice light lavender. I find it very interesting that you can get two entirely different colors from the same dye.

Lessons learned. If you use enough colorant to overcome the tan in your soap, you can have very beautiful colored milk soaps. FD&C Lake colors will work, but they leave spots and some colors tend to be dull or at least duller than water based soaps. It's too early to make a judgement about oxides, but the brown at least, produces lovely soap. There is very little spotting. Liquids seem to work best. I haven't seen any spots or color abnormalities in the soaps made with liquid colorant. And lastly differing amounts of colorant can give you entirely differently colored soap.

This is the time where I guess I am supposed to tell you what my goals or New Year's resolutions for Marges Soap House are for the year 2009. There are a lot of exciting things I plan on exploring. More testing of colorants of course. I will be switching to a shea based recipe which tends to produce a lighter brighter white soap. The should have a benficial effect on the colorants. The recipe section will be expanding and last but not least, I've started work on some onsite tutorials on the basics of soapmaking. Oh and later in the year I hope to add a section on Melt and Pour, complete with original recipes. So stay tuned. It's shaping up to be a very interesting year.

Have a very Happy New year and may all your dreams and wishes come true.

Marge the Happy Soaper

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