Titanium Dioxide Soap Colour

by Jane
(Akron, OH, USA)

I would like to know how to use Titanium Dioxide soap colour.

When I use olive oil in my soap recipe, my soap ends up tan in colour. This happens even when I use colourants.

I haven't used Titanium Dioxide (TD) yet, but I've heard that it lightens dark colours, brightens white soap, and increases the vividness of pigments.

Does anyone know what the usage rate is for TD? By that I mean, do you use a certain percentage of the total ounces of fat in your recipe?

Thanks for your help!

Answer:

As you probably know, olive oil comes in many different grades. Each will colour your soap a different shade. The final soap colours usually range from a creamy white to an off green.

It might be a good idea to start experimenting with the various brands available. Try to pick the lightest one you can. I use Montolivo in the 3 litre yellow striped can available from Superstore. It is a lovely light golden coloured oil and makes a very nice shade of off white soap.

Using Titanium Dioxide will lighten up your soap but it will not produce a pure white bar.

It's usage is usally suggested at approximately 1 tsp per pound of base oils. It's available in two forms, oil dispersible and water dispersible. Neither form will dissolve but will remain suspended in the water or oil it is mixed with.

Since you are wanting to lighten the entire batch, I would suggest buying the oil dispersible and mixing it directly with the base oils at the beginning of the soap process. It tends to clump and I find a stick blender the only way to get it to fully incorporate.

Good luck,
Cathy