Alkanet root soap - what is your experience?

Hi All! So, finally I managed to get the color I quite like using infused olive oil with alkanet root I have picture with my previous lavender batch - witch was greenish since beginning, as I couldn’t figure out how much infused OO I should use. So this time I used 20% (of total oil weigh) infused OO. Quite a lot in my opinion, as I was always told to be very careful with that stuff, as a little of it gives strong color.
What is your experience with alkanet root? Is it likely that the color will stay, or it tends to change over curing time?

Mine changed to a grey/blue within a couple of weeks. But I hadn't thought of doing a lavendar soap with it like you did. I think yours is pretty and even if it changes color it will still look nice with the lavendar buds on top.

My infusion was 2 tablespoons in 5 oz of olive oil and I've had great results with it.

It has stayed true to what is in the picture.


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My experience has been variable. I find if you store it in a dark place, the color stays better. There has been a lot of discussion about whether changing the superfat has an effect on the final color as well as if you gel or not. Most people agree that the color of your base oils and your fragrance has the most effect on the color that you get.

Here's one I made recently. The color has stayed true:


This is one that I made early on in my soaping career. The color became more blue/gray over time.

Kazmi, thank you! I could add a bit more of the infused OO but I was bit worried that I’ll get very dark soap - as I see unnecessary, as is 20% of colored oil and still quite pale.
Houseofwool - WOW, I’m dreaming to get such an affect! It looks wonderful! My soap will be newer that white, and never that purple, as of great percentage of green EVOO – here is not possible to get any lover grade that is bit brighter in a soap :\

Judymoody, your soaps are beautiful! Gold mica I’m aware of all of those aspects. I had heard that the safest way using AR is to add a bit to the EO/FO around 1h before adding it to soap mixture. So it was recommended ¼ tsp ppo - I didn’t try it yet, as I still had me infused OO. But I think next time I’ll go for it!
Judy, can I ask you how much of infused oil did u add to get such deep color?

Thank you all!

I got a dark purple berry color using the alkanet and it stayed true. I added the powder right to the batter. The lather was white I thought it might be purple.

I've never used Alkanet in any of my soaps so I appreciate the info being provided on this thread. Also, Twiggy, I thing your soap looks lovely.

I regularly make a lavender soap with alkanet. I package my soap in boxes, and the color stays true, but I make loaves for one of my stores that sit out on a shelf, and they lose almost all color over the course of a few months. I'm going to switch over to a combination of ultramarine blue & red clay to do the purple loaves on the next batch.

Savonierre is good to know the suds stay white even with the dark color of the soap!! But is the powder doesn’t make soap a bit scratchy?

Forsenuf, thank you for that information - I’ll keep my soaps away from sunlight! Actually I already put them away to my “linen” kind of rack, is darker there and my little ones can breathe

Thank you all for sharing!!

I think it was probably 20% of my total oil weight but it had been infusing for a few months and the oil was very dark, almost black. I filled my container 1/3 or 1/2 full with the root and then poured the oil over it to the top. The lather has a hint of color but is not dark.

The copper mica was from Camden Grey, I believe.

Thanks for your questions.

judymoody said:

I think it was probably 20% of my total oil weight but it had been infusing for a few months and the oil was very dark, almost black. I filled my container 1/3 or 1/2 full with the root and then poured the oil over it to the top. The lather has a hint of color but is not dark.

The copper mica was from Camden Grey, I believe.

Thanks for your questions.

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My oil was infused about 5 months now – very dark too, but maybe your AR was more concentrated than my was. I will try with larger amount of root next time!
Thank you for answer!

Mine has faded over the course of six months or so, but seeing how much some of you add, I will bump it up! I've been adding purple Brazilian clay to keep the color more purple, and that works well too, although it's more of a lilac color.

O! That clay sounds very interesting. Is that pure clay, or with some mineral adds to make it purple? I think the color must be very pretty tho!

Twiggy said:

O! That clay sounds very interesting. Is that pure clay, or with some mineral adds to make it purple? I think the color must be very pretty tho!

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It's this clay. I love it, even though it is pricey. I love purple, would prefer to use natural colorants, and have somewhat given up my purple micas in favor of this. http://www.brambleberry.com/Purple-Brazilian-Clay-P5497.aspx

trick to getting purple from alkanet?

I have Googled until my eyes are about to pop out, one person says it doesn't work, the next says they get grey, or blue, or pink even. Then I see all these posts on this forum from people who say they use it successfully all the time. Most discussions I see, relate it to the PH of the soap. In her book Susan Cavitch Miller has a section on using alkanet and in it she says "for darker shades of purple (in less alkaline soap) and blue (in more alkaline soap)". She states that a PH of 8 will give lavenders and 10 will give blues, depending on the alkalinity of the soap mixture and the strength of the infusion.
Isn't soap the highest PH when you first mix it and then gets lower as it cures? Wouldn't that mean it would go from blue to purple, not the other way round? So, what affects the PH of soap batter? From what I've read, salt, sugar, and oils don't really have a PH, that leaves the water, the lye, and the fragrance to affect alkalinity, right?
This salt soap was a beautiful purple when I poured it, indigo an hour later, and blue the next day. The alkanet/OO infusion was a fabulous dark red, I added it to the salt/FO mix. I like the color but it wasn't what I wanted. Does anyone have a 99.9% success rate method for getting purple from the alkanet?
Mine was finely ground, I probably could have added the powder itself to my oils but I had read an infusion was the way to go because the powder could add scratchiness, but I've read more on it and now I'm wondering if the person who wrote that was maybe referring to cut and sifted. When I got mine, I did not think about it coming in different forms. I still have lots of the infusion left to play with so any advice is greatly appreciated.

I have no advice for you, but that blue is fabulous!

The final pH of the soap is dependent on the different oils you put into it. And of course if there's any free lye.

I haven't used alkanet enough to claim consistent results, but I found that infusions faded over a few days or a couple of weeks, while straight powder stayed the same color or close. The powder I bought is not scratchy. I get gray-lavender shades with the powder. When I was trying infusions I got an almost-black purple that faded to lavender, and using less infused oil gave me a lavender that faded to grey.

In my recipe, at least when I do hot process, the alkanet turns a murky green until almost finished. It makes it a good pH indicator for making hot process soap.

judymoody said:

My experience has been variable. I find if you store it in a dark place, the color stays better. There has been a lot of discussion about whether changing the superfat has an effect on the final color as well as if you gel or not. Most people agree that the color of your base oils and your fragrance has the most effect on the color that you get.

Here's one I made recently. The color has stayed true:

Click to expand...

What beautiful soap!!! How did you do the mica lines? Did you sprinkle mica directly on the batter or did you mix the mica with a bit of oil first?

TVivian said:

I have no advice for you, but that blue is fabulous!

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Thanks TVivian. I really liked it too. Now, here's the kicker, I looked at them last night and the swirl is now showing a touch of influence from the clay in it--very slightly greyish but still looks nice. But the blue is now showing a distinct lean towards a lilac/lavender type of shade and has gotten lighter. It is in the spare room on a shelf in the closet, in the dark but open to the air, wonder what it will look like next week? Ah, the magic of soap!