TAH Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Hi, I made soaps for awhile a year or so ago. Now I'm planning to make some CP soap to clean my brushes that I use for oil painting. I wanted a light exfoliant in the soap and I have some "ground marble" a/k/a Calcium Carbonate (the ground marble is not from my soapmaking supplies its an art supply thing). Is this a safe ingredient? I don't seem to have any other exfoliants in my collection of leftover soap making supplies except maybe colloidal oatmeal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 If it were me I would add ground pumice. It really gives an excellent exfoliation while still being safe for your skin. Not sure about the marble. Another ingredient you could use that you probably already have in your kitchen is yellow cornmeal. Also skin safe and gives a powerful scrub. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAH Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 I wish I had some pumice! I just don't want to order more soap making supplies. I like the cornmeal idea. Thanks Candybee. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 For oil paints, most manufacturers recommend using solvents to thin the residue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAH Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 (edited) Right solvents are the way to clean oil paint. I do use solvents, but sometimes I need to wash the brushes too. I like the way a good CP soap is for washing my brushes. Edited February 1, 2017 by TAH 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I would steer clear of abrasives unless you want to permanently damage the fibers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAH Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 Thanks you guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponiebr Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 HEAR YE HEAR YE!!!! THE CRIER DOTH DECREE!!!! MAKE YE WAY FOR THE SPONIE OF THE REALMS OF BAD... TAKE YE DO NOTICE AND WATCH YERSELV'S 'Cause this ought'a be interest'n... o.O Hi TAH! On 2/1/2017 at 0:17 PM, TAH said: Right solvents are the way to clean oil paint. I do use solvents, but sometimes I need to wash the brushes too. I like the way a good CP soap is for washing my brushes. Upon reflecting about this... You can't beat some naphtha and that's really the right way to go, but for the LOVE of everything BEAUTIFUL DON'T buy solvents from an art supply! (shudders) 1 gal of Naphtha (Kleenstrip) would run about $13-15 in Florida. Hardware stores will have this stuff, hell Walmart even carries it. You can get Distilled Turpentine from Kleenstrip too and Walmart has that as well. But... THAT wasn't YOUR interest in THIS thread, was it? So oil paints are colored varnish (basically). Lye is a VERY effective varnish stripper. Were it me... I would make a slightly caustic soap (free lye left over, think of it like % of hypo fat instead of superfat with the added benefit of eating your flesh away), and what with it being CAUSTIC I would make sure it looked and smelled as flat out evil as you could get. (Octagon soap springs to mind) But, that caustic soap is ONLY good for your handles and NOT for the natural fiber bristles of the brush. Hair relaxer is basically a lye solution with some polysorb, mineral oil, and petrolatum and it can eat the HELL outta hair. IMPORTANT!!!! NOTE!!!! If the ferrules on your brushes are aluminum (which is VERY common) a lye heavy soap is going to eat the hell out of the aluminum. I'd also agree with TT and stay away from the abrasives unless you really want to transform your brushes into pom-poms. Honestly, solvents are really the right way to go. They'll be cheaper, and yield better results. Personally if I have to clean a brush with suds, I use a detergent. Soap just leaves too much baggage behind. HTH, Sponie: King of if-it-can-be-melted-I've-got-THAT-solvent and other hallucinogenic fuming services. (Oh chloroform, oh Chloroform, how lovely are your ethanes! You clean the oils off th... (thud....) ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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