How much Activated Charcoal to use?

Hi guys!

I am wondering how much activated charcoal to use to colour my soap black but so as not to colour the lather.

I have came across varying recommendations frm 1tsp ppo to 1tbsp ppo.

Does anyone have any advise?

Thanks!

I used AC in one recipe so far at 1/2 teaspoon ppo. The soap seemed a little gray at first, but I used it for the first time yesterday and after it got wet, it has turned back to black and looks great. The lather was barely gray, if at all.

I used 3 teaspoons to 1 kg of oils in this recipe. Australian teaspoons are 5ml - not sure if it's the same elsewhere. So approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons ppo.

The soap is quite dark as you can see, but doesn't have a grey lather.

Hope this helps

I used 1 tbl sp for 56oz/3.5 lb batch. I thought it came out good. But I wonder what it would do if I doubled that amount. I've only made a couple of batches.

1 TBS ppo is more what I would call black. Less is gray or dark gray. But that much even in a swirl will bleed some grayish lather. It's all a compromise. For my own use I don't really care. If anyone else asks, you could say, "Oh, that means it's working!"

topofmurrayhill said:

If anyone else asks, you could say, "Oh, that means it's working!"

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Ah yes, I like that! Must remember it :razz:

I discovered something about AC today.

I make a bar for my son and I thought I had it all sorted out as a no fail easy soap to make!!! Ha ha. I will tell you all that if I can master this soap making then anyone can.

I found out that if you SB the AC into the batter it turns about twice as dark as it would if you just hand stir the AC in.

Picture one: 600g batter with 1tsp AC mixed with 1 tsp water and hand stirred into batter.
Picture two: 450 g batter with 3/4 tsp AC mixed with 1 tsp water and hand stirred into batter.
Picture three: 800g batter 1.25 tsp AC (so actually a fair bit less than pic 2) mixed with 1 tsp water and stickblended into batter. Black as black as black can be. It has confetti and deliberate salt in the mix of the top and bottom so just look at the black parts.

The white spots are deliberate and are salt in the batter and the swirl didn't work in the second on due to a colouring FO. But just try and compare the base grey colour.

After suffering my usual emotional break down trying to see if 1 tsp measure was the same as the other one, DH (Science teacher and paint chemist) worked this out and explained that this is very understandable because the SB makes the AC disperse more easily into the batter.

If the soap turns the water grey I will confetti it.
Confetti is piling up at my house by the truck load.
Oops just realised i forgot the cinnamon line on the latest soap. I have a recipe I think I just need to read it while I am making it.

Ah well, there you go. I stick blended mine as I was worried about it not mixing through properly.

That middle soap is awesome, I love it. So that's cinnamon? I have yet to master the mica line. Love your confetti bits.

with 800 grams of butter and 1.25 tsp you will probably have a grey lather. AC in bigger amounts will dry the skin out, so moderation is the key here )
I make and sell a lot of AC soap, but i do swirl , I do experiment on my hubby and my skin, For 1400 g of oils I use 1 or less tsp

SuzieOz said:

Ah well, there you go. I stick blended mine as I was worried about it not mixing through properly.



That middle soap is awesome, I love it. So that's cinnamon? I have yet to master the mica line. Love your confetti bits.

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This is easy! Just sprinkle a little cinnamon on the wet soap. You can be pretty generous but make sure all the cinnamon gets wet. You have to SB the bottom layer or leave it until it will hold the top layer. Sprinkle the cinnamon then pour over the top layer.

It makes a real mess if the bottom layer isn't set enough!!!! So I often make 2 soaps at a time and do a double pour to avoid SB the base.

Dahila said:

with 800 grams of butter and 1.25 tsp you will probably have a grey lather. AC in bigger amounts will dry the skin out, so moderation is the key here )

I make and sell a lot of AC soap, but i do swirl , I do experiment on my hubby and my skin, For 1400 g of oils I use 1 or less tsp

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The top two actually have a higher percentage of AC than the bottom one.

The top two do not colour the water grey. It will be interesting to see if SB in the AC and making it darker makes the water grey.



Do you SB in your AC or do you stir it in?

In your experience is there a difference or was my soap just an aberation?

That's good news. I go easy on AC because it dries the skin up. To get really black color add a tiny bit of black oxide)
I use SB to stir , I am too old to stir with spatula tendonitis
I do not think the stirring has influence on it. Wait and see. It likes to change color gradually and it is always dark grey. I use titanium to have tri color and white somehow shows AC better