# Indigo powder is green?



## ShelbbyLeighh (Jan 20, 2020)

Good morning,

I experimented with Indigo Powder for the 1st time yesterday in my cold process swirl soap. My indigo powder is a very mossy, earthy green. I kind of thought maybe it would change to a blueish color as the soap hardened, but this morning it is still quite green. Anyone experience this before? Any tips or tricks I should know? I don't mind the way my soap loaf turned out, but it just wasn't what I was expecting!


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## szaza (Jan 20, 2020)

Wow that's a very pretty green you got there! Though I understand it's not what you expected
I've read about people getting different colors from indigo, though personally I've only gotten blue so far.
I'm quite sure there are people on here who can help you more with this.
Meanwhile, here are some good reads on indigo
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/natural-colorant-in-hp-series-indigo.75204/
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/indigo-pink.75897/
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/the-indigo-and-jagua-blues.75531/


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## Dawni (Jan 20, 2020)

I agree. Pretty green and pretty top 

That first link is mine. I tried 3 different indigos - one dark blue, one dull blue grey and a brown with a green tinge - different ways and had different colored soaps.

To make it easy for me - the bluer the powder, the bluer the soap lol

Green or brownish indigo could be the stuff not processed to give blue. It could be the one mixed with henna (or not) and used on hair.


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## Kcryss (Jan 21, 2020)

ShelbbyLeighh said:


> Good morning,
> 
> I experimented with Indigo Powder for the 1st time yesterday in my cold process swirl soap. My indigo powder is a very mossy, earthy green. I kind of thought maybe it would change to a blueish color as the soap hardened, but this morning it is still quite green. Anyone experience this before? Any tips or tricks I should know? I don't mind the way my soap loaf turned out, but it just wasn't what I was expecting!



I love the colors! What kind of indigo are you using? I would like to get some.


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## Todd Ziegler (Jan 27, 2020)

If you used green indigo powder then you will end up with green. To get the blue color indigo, you will have to ferment it with sugar and calcium and it's very messy.



Kcryss said:


> I love the colors! What kind of indigo are you using? I would like to get some.


You can buy green indigo powder on Amazon and if you mix it with henna you will get a dark purple to almost black color. The process to turn it blue is a pain in the butt. I know from first hand experience.


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## lwwh67 (Feb 10, 2021)

Todd Ziegler said:


> You can buy green indigo powder on Amazon and if you mix it with henna you will get a dark purple to almost black color. The process to turn it blue is a pain in the butt. I know from first hand experience.


Will the green color indigo stay green and not fade? It is a pretty green


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## KimW (Feb 10, 2021)

This might be of interest:








						Natural Indigo Dry Leaf Powder
					

Not your usual indigo dye, our dried and ground Tropical Indigo (Indigofera tinctoria) leaves are in powder form and need to be extracted before creating your vat.  Dried leaf powder uses the same method as a fresh leaf extraction, except with a shorter soak time. Cheesecloth works well as a...




					dye.farm


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## AliOop (Feb 11, 2021)

Yup, chiming in to comment that I always get green from unprocessed indigo powder. It changes from green into a super dark blue-black by adding hot water and a pinch of salt, and letting it sit for about 15 minutes. I know this, because I that's how I prepare my indigo power to mix it with activated henna powder to color my hair.

Before mixing it with the henna, it is a dark blue-black. After mixing the processed indigo and processed henna together, my result is a muddy brownish green. Depending on the henna:indigo ratio, my hair ranges from dark brown to auburn to red (the totally white hairs pretty much just turn red).

Haven't yet tried soaping with hot-water-processed indigo to see what color it will produce in CP or HP soap. It would be cool if some sort of blue could be achieved that way.


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## Nina F (Feb 12, 2021)

ShelbbyLeighh said:


> Good morning,
> 
> I experimented with Indigo Powder for the 1st time yesterday in my cold process swirl soap. My indigo powder is a very mossy, earthy green. I kind of thought maybe it would change to a blueish color as the soap hardened, but this morning it is still quite green. Anyone experience this before? Any tips or tricks I should know? I don't mind the way my soap loaf turned out, but it just wasn't what I was expecting!


Hi, this same thing happened to me with the first lot of indigo I bought. Then I discovered that indigo powder for textile dyeing is blue in the packet and stays that way in the soap, unlike indigo intended for use with henna on hair. In fact, it’s a lovely intense indigo blue. Depending on the amount you add, it can transfer onto a white towel, but washes out without stain.


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## SoapDaddy70 (Feb 12, 2021)

ShelbbyLeighh said:


> Good morning,
> 
> I experimented with Indigo Powder for the 1st time yesterday in my cold process swirl soap. My indigo powder is a very mossy, earthy green. I kind of thought maybe it would change to a blueish color as the soap hardened, but this morning it is still quite green. Anyone experience this before? Any tips or tricks I should know? I don't mind the way my soap loaf turned out, but it just wasn't what I was expecting!


I do not have the patience to deal with the intricacies of using natural colorants but I have heard good things about Jo Haslauer's E book. Loving Soap used to sell it but for some reason they say it is out of stock. Here is another link I found. I think this might be her site, not sure.








						Natural Soap Color by Jo Haslauer  - Ebooks, Books and Videos
					

'Natural Soap Color' Ebook and Natural Soap Color Ebook 'Plant Magic', will both be available for purchase in this section- either separately, or as a package deal.  Due to Covid-19 I am unable to ship the physical copy of Natural Soap Color at the moment and have turned off this selection in...




					naturalsoapcolor.com


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## AliOop (Feb 12, 2021)

SoapDaddy70 said:


> I do not have the patience to deal with the intricacies of using natural colorants but I have heard good things about Jo Haslauer's E book. Loving Soap used to sell it but for some reason they say it is out of stock. Here is another link I found. I think this might be her site, not sure.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, I have that book and love it! It gives very good explanations - and pictures! - of different ways to use natural colorants.



Nina F said:


> Hi, this same thing happened to me with the first lot of indigo I bought. Then I discovered that indigo powder for textile dyeing is blue in the packet and stays that way in the soap, unlike indigo intended for use with henna on hair. In fact, it’s a lovely intense indigo blue. Depending on the amount you add, it can transfer onto a white towel, but washes out without stain.


Yes, the indigo powder for textiles has been "processed" to bring out the distinctive dark-blue-jeans blue color that we call indigo. Holly on her Kapia Mera YT channel often demonstrates how to use that. 

The unprocessed green indigo powder (like what is used for hair) does make a lovely green in soap. I still keep meaning to see what color I get when I process my green indigo powder with hot water and salt. The resulting paste is a super dark blue-black before I mix it with the activated henna paste and apply the mix to my hair. This thread has resurrected my motivation to try that just to see!


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## lwwh67 (Feb 12, 2021)

I just made a soap with the green indigo tinctoria leaf with act charcoal layer.  I hope it stays this color green and doesn't fade.  It is a lovely shade of green that I have never been able to get before that actually lasted and didn't fade.


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## lwwh67 (Feb 12, 2021)

ShelbbyLeighh said:


> Good morning,
> 
> I experimented with Indigo Powder for the 1st time yesterday in my cold process swirl soap. My indigo powder is a very mossy, earthy green. I kind of thought maybe it would change to a blueish color as the soap hardened, but this morning it is still quite green. Anyone experience this before? Any tips or tricks I should know? I don't mind the way my soap loaf turned out, but it just wasn't what I was expecting!


Did the green color fade yet in that soap?


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## lwwh67 (Feb 12, 2021)

AliOop said:


> Yup, chiming in to comment that I always get green from unprocessed indigo powder. It changes from green into a super dark blue-black by adding hot water and a pinch of salt, and letting it sit for about 15 minutes. I know this, because I that's how I prepare my indigo power to mix it with activated henna powder to color my hair.
> 
> Before mixing it with the henna, it is a dark blue-black. After mixing the processed indigo and processed henna together, my result is a muddy brownish green. Depending on the henna:indigo ratio, my hair ranges from dark brown to auburn to red (the totally white hairs pretty much just turn red).
> 
> Haven't yet tried soaping with hot-water-processed indigo to see what color it will produce in CP or HP soap. It would be cool if some sort of blue could be achieved that way.


Does your soap keep its bright green color from the unprocessed indigo powder


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## AliOop (Feb 12, 2021)

lwwh67 said:


> Does your soap keep its bright green color from the unprocessed indigo powder


Well, it was six or seven years ago, and I only made a small, four-bar HP batch that was gone in less than six  months. At that time in my soaping journey, I wasn't paying much attention to color fading, or even aware of the fact that other soap recipes might last longer than 100% CO.  So while I wish I could give more details, I really don't know how well the color lasted. You are motivating me to try again, this time with some unprocessed indigo for the green, and processed indigo for the blue.


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