Episode 4: Colorants

The Soap Opera

The Soap Opera was created by Dallas Wheatley. If you liked what you heard, please rate and review the show in Apple Podcasts, or tell your friends and family about it! Spreading the word makes all the difference.

If you have any questions about soap, tools, or ingredients, you can contact me on Patreon, on Twitter @ShireSuds, on Instagram @ShireSuds, or you can email me at [e-mail]!

Many thanks to Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for the music (Licensed under Creative Commons 4.0). The tracks used in this episode are "Ripples" and "Finding Movement".

If you want to challenge your soapmaking skills some more, I recommend checking out Humblebee and Me, a wonderful website with tons of science-based soap, skincare, and makeup recipes!

If you want to purchase any of the soap I made for this show, you can find it at shiresuds.com. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Soap Opera! Happy Sudsing!

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The Recipe

SOAP CALCULATOR http://soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp

IMPERIAL WEIGHT

• 17.64 oz Olive oil

• 2.22 oz Lye

• 4.5+ oz Water

• 0.5-1 oz Essential oil of your choice

METRIC WEIGHT

• 500 g Olive oil

• 63 g Lye -125-150 g Water

• 15-25 g Essential oil of your choice

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FRAGRANCE OIL

• Alpine Frost

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COLORANT

• Ultramarine Blue Concentrate

• White Liquid Concentrate

• Brilliant Blue Lab Color

• Titanium Dioxide

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INSTRUCTIONS

1) Assemble all your tools. Make sure you have plenty of space to work!

2) Measure out all your ingredients -- use the glass container for the water and the large bowl or pot for the oil.

3) Add the water to a glass container. Don’t use too much water, or your soap will take much longer to harden!

4) Gently heat the oils in the microwave or on the stove until they have melted. Don’t let it get too hot!

5) While wearing the mask and gloves, slowly add the lye into the water, mixing it up while you do so. It will get very hot, so be careful!

6) When both the oils and the lye have reached room temperature, mix them together.

7) Using the immersion blender on the lowest speed, gently pulse the blender until the soap has reached “trace” stage. As the soap thickens, increase the speed of the blender. Stop before it gets too thick to pour into molds.

8) Add your fragrance or essential oil into your batter, and gently fold it in with a spatula.

9) Slowly start to incorporate the color you want to use by adding a few squirts at a time, and then folding it in with a spatula.

10) Carefully pulse the blender a few times to fully incorporate the essential oils into your soap batter. Be careful not to let the batter thicken too much!

11) Carefully pour the soap into your mold, using the rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl.

12) Set the molds to cure in a cool, stable location.

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HOW TO IDENTIFY TRACE STAGE “Trace” is the term for when you drag a spatula across a liquid material and it leaves a valley behind. A “thin” trace happens when the valley disappears quickly. A “thick” trace happens when the valley disappears slowly, or not at all. A thin trace can be found in most cream sauces, thicker soups, and products like buttermilk and heavy cream. A thick trace can be found in sour cream and whipped cream.

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