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Happy Stamping

I had it on good authority that Lasercutz on Etsy is the place to get a custom made soap stamp.  I've tried a couple of others before but have had more than a bit of trouble with stamping.   Not to be deterred from a mission, I finally turned to Dave at Lasercutz.  He was able to create a stamp based on my logo that another company was unable to produce.  I could not be happier with the results!  As you can see here, even stamping challenged souls like me can get wonderful results with a little practice.  I also found that rubbing the stamp with a little glycerin left a clean imprint and easy release from the soap bar.

I got so excited I took this pic with my phone and the lighting was obviously terrible!  This is the blue soap made with the imprint mats from my previous post - the actual color is much richer - it looks grey here :(   But....love, love, love this stamp and can't wait to use it more and more!

If you're thinking about purchasing a stamp, be sure to talk to Dave - he will totally hook you up!

Now, a request for advice - I used mica for the color here.  The little white dots are hard and a little scratchy.  The soap already has a really nice lather, but what are these little crispy crystals?  They seem to smooth out and disappear when the  sample bar gets wet.  I hope it's not lye, but I don't think so.  It seems to be from the colorant.  Can anyone give                                                 me some input on this mystery?
 

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Comments

  1. UnknownMay 1, 2014 at 7:35 PM

    Did you mix you mica in oil or water? My guess is the dots are the pigment.
    I looked into the pigments and some do better mixing in one (oil) or another (water).
    That and I often use a stick blender on the color mix for quite some time, so it is incorporated.I still get dots though especially when using clay additives.
    There are test strips available for checking ph,it will give a approximate value,well...at least an idea of your balances
    You have sold me on the stamp it is a very beautiful bar of soap even with the polka dots.

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    Replies
    1. Angie T.May 5, 2014 at 5:38 PM

      Hi Tracy - I mixed with oil from my batch, before adding the lye. And, yes, this recipe did include a white clay. I've had some other soapers say the same thing, probably clay and mica that just didn't incorporate with the oil fully. Thank you for the compliments. I'm really enjoying using the stamp - I love it! I would recommend the company to anyone who will listen. :)

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