# As promised, the yellow dock batch



## surf girl

As promised, here are the results of my latest yellow dock batch. All pics are from the same log. I made it about a week ago. This time, instead of adding the powdered root to traced soap, I added 1 1/2 tsp ppo (total oil weight of the batch) to the olive oil I was using (at around 65-70%).  Infusion was for 60 hours (no particular reason for that length of time, it's just when I got around to soaping).

The top of the log was a very pretty raspberry pink.  Here are some stacked soaps that show the tops:







However, the cut sides were a different colour, quite yellowy tan.  They have mellowed into a pinker colour over the course of the week, but if you cut an edge off, you can see that original yellowy tan colour.  Here's a pic of, from left to right, a freshly cut egde, the brightish pink of most of the sides, and the more dusky pink of some of the outside edges:






And here is a side-by-side of the duskier pink that some of the sides are and the brighter pink that other sides are: 






I don't really have any explanation for the difference in colour.  It may be that a more full gel occurred in the brighter pink - it does seem to be the end bars that are dusky.

Anyhow, despite the odd colour variation, sometimes within bars, I do very much like the pink I got.


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## Guest

That is very cool soap surf girl. I love the pink color , it will be interesting to see what happens with the color , over time. Beautiful shade of pink.

Kitn


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## vivcarm

Wow, loving that pink!


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## Guest

I love the colour. Thanks for sharing your pics. I shall infuse the YDP next time


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## topcat

Love, love, love the colour and the textured tops are beautiful!

Tanya


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## ChrissyB

They are great. Pink is my favourite colour for soap. Do any aussies know if we can get yellow dock powder over here? TC?
And I am loving your textured tops too, I am doing that with all my soaps too lately and I love them.


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## artisan soaps

..


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## dagmar88

yes, that top is wonderful!


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## LJA

I swear I can't figure out how you get that pink.  It's maddening.  LOL!  Thanks for the awesome pics!  Was this root you ground yourself again?
They look really really pretty!


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## eucalypta

Beautiful pink - a nice surprise.
Never heard of yellow dock - going to look that up 
Like the tops too!
Great overall job


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## studioalamode

These pinks are absolutely lovely.  Nice job.


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## heyjude

I wouldn't know yellow dock if I tripped over it, but I sure am loving the colors of your soap! Awesome tops as well.    

Jude


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## surf girl

Thanks for the nice comments, guys!  Yes, I did grind up the dried root as per my previous batches. It's ground very, very fine (not pleasant if you inhale a bit by mistake).

[edited to fix a typo]


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## Godiva

It all looks great!


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## heartsong

*x*

:shock:  love that pink!

thanks for posting the pic's-this is officially on my hit-list of things to try.


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## Lindy

Wow!  Love it - that colour is fantastic!


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## rubato456

surf girl! very impressive pink! i've messed around w/ ydp a number of times now and never been able to get such a nice pink....amazing. you mentioned you ground your ydr....where did you get the root. i've only been able to find the powder on ebay and i'm wondering if it's really the real thing..... you rock! 8)


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## pepperi27

That is an amazing color great soapy!


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## surf girl

rubato456 said:
			
		

> ....amazing. you mentioned you ground your ydr....where did you get the root. i've only been able to find the powder on ebay and i'm wondering if it's really the real thing....



Hi rubato!  I get the root from my local health food store.  It comes as sort of golden (to maybe greenish/tannish) dried up small root chunks.  I use a coffee grinder to grind them.

As an aside, I pulled a few up from my yard when I was weeding the other day, and I am drying them to see if it turns out well in soap.  The health food store stuff was pretty cheap, though, so it's not a real cost-saving measure, just an experiment.


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## shutejute

Surf Girl,  I luv that rose pink color.  What fragrance did you use?   Could you give me some clues on drying and grinding the yellow dock root?   I collected some today from fields around my home.  I've washed the roots and have them layed out for drying.  Is there a way to speed dry them?   I've seen this weed all my life and played with the seeds...but never imagined I'd go LOOKING for it...much less putting it in soap...LOL.  
Thanks...
Shutejute


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## surf girl

shutejute said:
			
		

> Could you give me some clues on drying and grinding the yellow dock root?   I collected some today from fields around my home.  I've washed the roots and have them layed out for drying.  Is there a way to speed dry them?



Urm... I kinda forgot I was even doing this.  My roots are lying on some shelf in my cupboards.  Oops.  

I buy the pre-dried root, so my home-drying experiment may turn out to be a bust... I'll let you know.  FWIW, a food dehydrator or oven on low would probably help dry those suckers out more quickly, especially if you sliced or shredded them...

Let me know how yours turn out!


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## mandolyn

The heat during gel phase does play a role in color. 

I soaped a lilac soap last week. I used Lab Colors - Lavender for a lavender scented soap. At pour, the soap was a dusty pink. "Uh oh!!" I thought. About 1/2 hour after pour it was a horrid flesh color!! I panicked & decided to force gel. Once in full gel, the soap was a really, really dark purple. "Well better than flesh color for a lilac soap." I thought. Twenty four hours out of the mold & the color had morphed a third time into the most perfect lilac color!!! What a ride!!


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## pink-north

That soap is FABULOUS!!!!!  I absolutely love it! Thank you very much for sharing. I will definately be using this technique. THANK YOU very much!


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## pink-north

shutejute said:
			
		

> Surf Girl,  I luv that rose pink color.  What fragrance did you use?   Could you give me some clues on drying and grinding the yellow dock root?   I collected some today from fields around my home.  I've washed the roots and have them layed out for drying.  Is there a way to speed dry them?   I've seen this weed all my life and played with the seeds...but never imagined I'd go LOOKING for it...much less putting it in soap...LOL.
> Thanks...
> Shutejute



What does Yellow dock look like (the plant) I don't think I've ever seen it. If I can I'd love to collect my own.


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## shutejute

do a google search and you will find pics galore....


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## eucalypta

Kind of a late reaction, but I love those colours (more and less pink).
Have to look up Yellow dock root....


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## pink-north

shutejute said:
			
		

> do a google search and you will find pics galore....


Duh!    Oh my goodness! I'm a little slow on the up-take. Thanks


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## shutejute

Well,  I tried my hand at making yellow dock root soap.  My first attempt was CP.  I grated some YDR and place it in some olive oil and microwaved it to the point of boiling.  Then I let it sit overnight.  I filtered it thru a coffee filter to remove all fibers.  Then, I used this infused OO in my total weight of OO in my recipe.  When I added my lye water..it turned a deep purple/rose color.  This pretty much stayed the same thru sap and gel.  It turned out a bright  lavender/pink...with some yellowish highlights.  I used grapefuit FO....and the color is perfect for the fragrance.   
Then, I decided to do the same with CPHP.  I used less Yellow Dock in my OO infusion.   This batch turned a salmon pink....lovely.   I used Hobby Lobby's Sweet Pea FO in it.  It's a decent batch.  I'm quite pleased with both batches, in fact.  Fascinating to see colors develop...with natural herbs.  BTW...my YDR was fresh..not dried...for the first infusion...on the second batch, it had dried a couple of days after grating.   I have plenty of YDR growing around me...no need to buy it.


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## shutejute

*pic of  ydr soap...I  hope*


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## soapbuddy

That's a pretty color! I'll have to try this yellow dock; one of these days. Right now, I'm just busy with restocks.


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## topcat

Surf Girl - how is the colour of your yellow dock batch looking now?  I have found a source for the dried root here (Chrissy I got it from Austral Herbs http://www.herbsupplies.com.au/ ) and I am keen to try this for myself.  TIA!

Tanya


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## ChrissyB

Thanks Tanya, I've never heard of them before.


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## rubato456

*shere alchemy??*

this yellow dock thing is shere alchemy.....i got some dried cut root thinking if i ground my own it might be better. the trouble is this root is like extrememly hard and like grinding tree limbs. i added alittle water to try to get a paste, with not much succuess. so after dirtying 3 different grinding implements, i put some in a container of olive oil and im letting it infuse in the texas sun....that'll heat it up real fast


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## gekko62

ChrissyB said:
			
		

> They are great. Pink is my favourite colour for soap. Do any aussies know if we can get yellow dock powder over here? TC?
> And I am loving your textured tops too, I am doing that with all my soaps too lately and I love them.



Just did a google...Apparently yellow dock is a weed,found in all parts of Aus.No pics cos the links are tooooo long,butI reckon the nearest vacant block would have some,but I wonder if home root drying is ok??


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## ChrissyB

One of the other girls had it in her backyard, I think it was Artisan Soaps. I wonder how she got on with it?


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## gekko62

topcat said:
			
		

> Surf Girl - how is the colour of your yellow dock batch looking now?  I have found a source for the dried root here (Chrissy I got it from Austral Herbs http://www.herbsupplies.com.au/ ) and I am keen to try this for myself.  TIA!
> 
> Tanya



I completely missed the 2nd page of this thread! Thanx for that link Tanya-they've some fantastic stuff! hmmm more goodies to spend $$$ on  

Surf girl,that ydr pink is lovely.Its light & bright & pretty..


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## topcat

They have some awesome stuff!  I get herbal teas from them and spirulina powder and have quite a few botanicals to try in soap now too.  The ydr is quite hard - almost like wood chips I think.  I don't really want to use my new coffee grinder to crush it to powder, so I will be using it infused into oil for my batch - when I get around to playing :wink: 

Tanya


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## oldragbagger

That color would be a natural match for a rose petal fragrance.


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## soapbuddy

oldragbagger said:
			
		

> That color would be a natural match for a rose petal fragrance.


Good idea!


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## pink-north

Just an update for you. I've tried the YDR, in a batch of CP, but it's not pink  . Instead it's sort of a beige (working on pics). I'm not sure what I did wrong :? . Any suggestions?

I purchased the YDR from a health food store. I'm wondering if maybe the powder I have is from the leaves/stem instead of the root. 

I made a new test batch this morning, using the powder directly instead of infusing it. I will let you know how that goes.


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## Bunny

What beautiful color!


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## Bnky

Those are beautiful!  That is a great natural colorant!


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## alwaysme07

Love the color and the tops.


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