# Indigo Root Powder



## Neen (Dec 26, 2017)

Hello!
My first post!  Thank you to those of you who offer your knowledge and advice to us newbies.
I tried to make a luxurious soap (read expensive oils) to use as Christmas gifts and at trace I added Indigo Root powder.  The powder didn't dissolve and now I have off white soap with blue flecks.  When the soap gets wet, the bubbles and water runs blue.  Failure.
Two questions:
Next time, when should I add the Indigo powder? 
Is there anything I can do now (the soap has been curing for about a month) or am I stuck with the soap the way it is?
OK... three questions....
Will the Indigo powder stain face clothes, tile grout lines?
Thank you!
Neen


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## Kittish (Dec 26, 2017)

I can answer some of your questions. 

Indigo works best when you prepare it ahead of time. The most effective way is to steep a teaspoon or two of indigo in hot water a day or so ahead of when you plan to make the soap. Use that water to mix your lye solution. You can strain the powder out of the water or not. Not straining will make darker blue specks through your soap, but (in the batch I made that way) there's no colored lather at all. 

ETA: Link to a thread with pics of my soap colored with indigo- http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=64932

Oil infusion is another way you can prepare it. Mix one to two teaspoons of the powder per pint of your soft oil of choice. Let it sit for several weeks, giving it a shake every day.


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## earlene (Dec 29, 2017)

Here's another link about using indigo powder mixed with you lye solution with lots of photos to show the intensity of color with differing amounts of powder:

https://www.greatcakessoapworks.com...how-to-use-indigo-to-color-cold-process-soap/


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## psfred (Dec 31, 2017)

Indigo is a pain to work with.

Definitely do NOT add it at trace, it will not "dissolve" and you get blue specs.  

Indigo is a strange dye, the blue form (oxidized) is completely insoluble in water and the soluble (reduced) form is dull yellow.  Sadly, it's very easily converted from one to the other, and in soaping you need to get it dissolved or very finely dispersed (depending on oxidation state) and then keep it oxidized.  Dharma Trading has some "pre-reduced" indigo powder -- it's not actually reduced, it's micronized oxidized indigo as far as I can tell, synthetic origin -- but it will disperse very nicely in the lye and give you good color.  

Too much in my case, I have some soap that is dark navy blue and will probably stain everything for a while, I was adding just a little bit more because the previous batch was too light....  

I also used some BHT in a batch with indigo as I've been having DOS problems, and found that BHT bleaches the indigo right out to colorless.

For the root powder, infuse it in oil or lye, you will get much more reliable color.  You will need to be careful not to get any of the powder in the soap if you don't want blue specs!

Bottom line, I'm probably going to use blue micas instead of indigo in the future.


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## Neen (Dec 31, 2017)

*thank you*

thanks to those of you who have replied - I should have done my homework before making the soap.
much appreciated!
Neen


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## penelopejane (Dec 31, 2017)

earlene said:


> Here's another link about using indigo powder mixed with you lye solution with lots of photos to show the intensity of color with differing amounts of powder:
> 
> https://www.greatcakessoapworks.com...how-to-use-indigo-to-color-cold-process-soap/



Excellent, thank you.


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## Vicky_b2G (Jan 3, 2018)

Don't give up on Indigo for a natural blue coloring. I have used it for several years and have never had a problem. I mix it with a little coconut oil before I add to my soap swirls.  I've used Indigo powder from a couple different sources, my current supply is from nuturesoap.com and it has worked just fine. Also you could always re-batch your soap if you don't like it the way it is. (I used 4 tsp for approx 88 oz soap)


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